Hello all! Happy Sunday (gosh I just love Sundays!) Anyhoo- I always find Sundays make the perfect day for chilling out and doing a tag. And because I am evidently not done with this topic yet- I thought it would be the perfect time to do the Freedom To Read Tag! Thank you so much to Roseread who not only runs a brilliant blog, but is also a total mind reader in that she knew I wanted to talk about this before I’d even posted anything!!
As a child, were you ever explicitly not allowed to read a book(s) by your parents/guardian and which book(s) was it?
Unfortunately yes- there was more than one. For a lot of different reasons. One author I wasn’t allowed to read because of his views. One book, East of Eden, was physically taken off me because apparently I was too young for it (I didn’t agree!). I got my own back by reading all the books I wasn’t allowed to in secret!
Invisible
Has a parent/guardian ever challenged a book you were reading in school? Did the book get withdrawn?
Not that I can recall. I don’t think anyone paid enough attention to what I was reading at school apart from me!
Do you agree with the practice of banning books? Why or why not?
Not at all- not even slightly- not even when they are the most controversial books on the planet! I’ve elaborated on this a little in my last post, but for the sake of clarity, I believe that censoring “bad” books only gives legitimacy to “bad” ideas. If the ideas are wrong, it is cowardly to ban them rather than confront the ideas. And if those ideas transpire to be correct- how much worse is that to have the truth censored?! The freedom to read and share ideas is the basis of a free society.
Have you ever read a book that shocked you enough that you thought it should be challenged/banned?
No! I’ve read plenty of shocking books- some I liked, others I didn’t. But personal feelings aside, I could never see a reason to ban them.
Should libraries/schools monitor their books in case some people find them offensive?
Absolutely not. I agree with Rosereads- “monitor” is not the best word- cos isn’t that a librarian’s job? But I also take issue with the term “offensive”. What are we to deem offensive? Who is to decide these parameters? What is not offensive to some people might be offensive to others and vice versa. It is such a subjective thing- and we can all think of a time when something we are or do or think is offensive to someone else. It is all very well to call for censorship, but what happens when *you* are the one being censored?
Have any of your favourite books been challenged/banned?
I’m sure they have- even in one of my school libraries Noughts and Crosses was banned for sexual content.
Have you ever read a book specifically because it was challenged/banned?
Yes- see above- I read Noughts and Crosses in spite of it being banned- and it’s one of my favourite books. And books like Lolita, which was banned in the UK and US at one point, are always finding their way onto University syllabuses. Which just proves that if you want a book to gain notoriety and a wider readership than it would have otherwise had, then you should just go ahead and ban it.
Alrighty then- let’s share the love for banned books!
I TAG:
And you!! Because even if I haven’t tagged you directly- this is such an important tag to do!!
Great post! And I completely agree with everything you say!
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Thank you very much!!
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Yay! So glad this was perfectly timed! 🙂 I’d really like to read Lolita at some point.
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It really was!! 🙂 Ahh it’s a very well written book- made me a little queasy though! The subject matter is hard to past!
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I agree with everything you said! 🙂 I read Lolita too and I liked it. I definitely do not think that libraries should monitor their books.
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Thank you! Awesome- I’m actually quite conflicted about how I feel about that book cos it is very well written, and I get why it’s a classic, but it also made me really grossed out. But I completely agree!
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Same! It grossed me out as well but it was well written, so I felt like I had to finish it!
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I totally get that!
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Great tag and I freaking love this topic! 😀 Haha…
many thanks for nominating me, I shall defo have a go at it 🙂
Hmm… I hadn’t heard of Noughts and Crosses before… I better check it out!
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Haha i know!!! 😉 Awesome!!! Ahh it’s amazing!!! One of my favourites- can’t recommend it highly enough!
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Thanks for the tag. Banning books?! Hell no!😠
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Haha my thoughts exactly! You’re welcome!!
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Great tag! And I have recieved the book and oh my it is gorgeous!!! Thank you so much ❤xx
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Thank you!! Ahh I’m so pleased!!! Yay!!!! 😁
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Thanks for thinking of me – yeah, the timing is perfect, considering we were just talking about this subject!
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You’re welcome!! Haha exactly!
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Thanks for the tag. Looking forward to answering the questions although can’t think of anyone brave enough to tell me I couldn’t read something 🙂
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You’re welcome! Well that’s very good!! 🙂
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Awesome post! Thanks for the tag! I might have trouble with a few of these, but I’m sure I’ll find something to write about. 🙂 I say no to banning books. Lol
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Thanks! You’re welcome 🙂 awesome!! Well good!! Haha
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Very important to talk about! Love your post.
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Agreed- thank you!!!
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Great post. When I was a kid, my Mum forbad me to read Enid Blighton, because her stuff was so awful. I was pointed instead to Arthur Ransome and C S Lewis. Far better choices. I did actually read odd bits of Blighton, but my Mum was right. The stories were terrible.
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Haha i thought you were gonna say cos she was a bit of a cow (which she was) but that’s a very legitimate reason!! Ahh that’s very sensible of your mum!
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Great tag!! You know how I feel about banning books as well, no matter what the reason is behind it. Fifty Shades of Grey should be available to all of us to suffer from xD. Thank you for the nomination!! ❤
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Thank you!! Haha yes! I fundamentally agree with that- prior should be free to suffer the awfulness that is fifty shades in peace! 😉 You’re welcome!!
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Since it’s so poorly written, maybe we should try out the French translation of it ;).
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hahaha what a great idea! That certainly can’t be worse- and I’d be so busy concentrating on how to translate it I wouldn’t even notice how bad it was (although “oh my” is bad in any language)
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Hahaha, I guess it would translate to “Oh la la” in French 😉
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Hahahaha yes!
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Thank you for the tag, this is a brilliant one! I haven’t taken part to the special week or even shared about the subject so I’ll make sure to do it soon!
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You’re welcome! Awesome (haha i totally missed it too- I just already made the excuse that “is good to talk about all year round” so didn’t want to sound like a broken record lol!) 😉
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My blog doesn’t receive pingbacks D: So I totally missed your tag.
But we have a lot of the same sentiments. I will always fight for my freedom to read. And I actually have noticed that some of my favorite books tend to be ones that are challenged. A lot of amazing books are banned/challenged, but that doesn’t stop millions of people from reading them. In fact, they become more popular. So ha!!
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Ahh no worries!! At least you saw it 😊 and I’m glad we share the same sentiments about this! Yes exactly! I consider it an ironic revenge that when you try to censor amazing books, they only have more success!! Looking forward to reading your answers!!
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Great post, and I agree with everything you’ve said! I think I might do this post even though I haven’t been tagged. Like you said, it’s incredibly important.
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Thank you!! Ahh wonderful!!! It’s such an important topic that I hope you do!!
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