The Barrington public library had an interesting event. . . a banned book reading. It's not like it is hard to find a book that's been banned by someone. According to Kathryne Tirrell at BarringtonPatch, guests read passages from banned books, listened to music and ate some tasty food Sunday evening.
So what were the naughty books they read from? Lady Chatterley's Lover? The Awakening? Nope. Try Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" , VC Andrews' "Flowers in the Attic" (that was a messed up / good book) , Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" , Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle In Time" , and Stephen King's first novel, "Carrie."
Doesn't reading a book you know is banned make it taste just a little bit better? Just the sheer naughtiness of it is delightful. In High School, it was great when teachers would screw up their noses and say, "you read Stephen King?" Implying that I was wasting my time. But think about this, King is just now getting some serious attention as a truly great writer. . . and I'm about 30 novels ahead of my English teachers! I believe the correct word is "moo-hahhahaha!!!"
Years ago when I worked in a bookstore I always made displays of banned books, and even spoke to a couple AP English classes in a local high school about them. I read from DRACULA, LOLITA, and NAKED LUNCH. Can't recall if I read any King; I may have read from 'SALEM'S LOT. Lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteI helped organize an event in Ottawa last year called "Censored Out Loud." It was a cabaret of readings of banned books and performances of banned songs. The biggest takeaway? That EVERYTHING has been challenged at least once. "Wouldn't it be nice?" by the Beach Boys? Yup. Roald Dahl? Sure.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, today TIME posted a list of the top 10 banned books. While SK didn't make that list, it was still interesting to read that article and then this post. Number one on the list--good 'ol Mark Twain.
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