Tuesday, February 2, 2010

English Trivia Question 1

Which of the following books was not banned?

a. The Catcher in the Rye
b. Lolita
c. James and the Giant Peach
d. 1984
e. Trick question: all of these books have been banned

The answer is E, its a trick question! Indeed all four books have been banned in some way.

The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations. Bans on books can be enacted at the national or subnational level, and can carry legal penalties for their infraction. Books may also be challenged at a local, community level. As a result, books can be removed from schools or libraries, although these bans do not extend outside of that area. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books – a historical example being the Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Between 1961 and 1982, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, was the most censored book in high schools and libraries in the United States. The challenges generally begin with vulgar language, with more general reasons including sexual references, blasphemy, undermining of family values and moral codes, Holden's being a poor role model, encouragement of rebellion, and promotion of drinking, smoking, lying, and promiscuity. French officials banned Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov, for being "obscene," as did the United Kingdom, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. James and the Giant Peach, a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl, has become a regular target of the censors because of the story's occasionally macabre and potentially frightening content, and is no. 56 on the American Library Association's top 100 list of most frequently challenged books. 1984 (also Nineteen Eighty-Four), by George Orwell, is a dystopian novel about the totalitarian regime of the Party, an oligarchical collectivist society. Like most dystopias, Nineteen Eighty-Four has been, throughout its history, either banned or legally challenged as intellectually dangerous to the public.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

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