5) 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald
'The Great Gatsby' was banned because of the language and the sexual references used in the novel. Reading it now, in the 21st Century, it feels extremely tame - a brilliant example of how censorship has changed over the last ninety years.
4) 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley
It's no big surprise that 'Frankenstein' got banned. It was written back in 1818, so the fact that a woman managed to write a novel of this standard AND get it published was revolutionary enough, but the fact that it's one of the earliest examples of science fiction also led to challenges. It was officially banned in South Africa, for being objectionable and obscene.
3) '1984' by George Orwell
In the first of two George Orwell novels that I've chosen, '1984' was banned by Stalin, because he believed the satire was based on his leadership regime. Even if it wasn't true, me thinks the lady doth protest too much - he definitely proved that his leadership was overly controlling of the people.
2) 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell
As soon as banned books are mentioned, my mind instantly jumps to one of my favourite classics of all time: 'Animal Farm'. This novel was also banned due to criticism of the Russian government regime, but more recently it was banned in the United Arab Emirates because of the depiction of talking pigs.
This is probably the most random book I've seen banned. I mean, come on, what could be wrong with this one?! Well, apparently China just don't like the portrayal of anthropomorphized animals and they worried about the fact that 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' might lead people to hold humans and animals in the same regard. Looking at the dapper Dodo pictured above, I can't see why anyone wouldn't want to respect and love animals as much as humans!
I hope you enjoyed my Top Five Wednesday - post the banned books you love down below, so we can keep rebelling together!
I've always found it interesting why books get banned, some of the reasons are just crazy in my eyes especially looking at it from this century! Books are still getting banned today and I freely admit it doesn't make a difference to me because if it sounds interesting I'll read it ;)
ReplyDeleteMost recent post on Enchanted by YA: http://enchantedbyya.blogspot.com/2015/09/disney-book-tag.html
I think it's brilliant publicity for the novel if it does get banned! There was the case of a book in New Zealand a few weeks ago - I can't remember which - but they did a whole banned books display and put it in a paper bag in the middle of the windowsill, because they weren't allowed to display it. :')
DeleteI've only read Animal Farm and Frankenstein, but the others are books that I've always wanted to read. Especially The Great Gatsby. I never got to read it in high school.
ReplyDeletehttp://emmalikesbooks.blogspot.com/2015/09/t5w-banned-books_30.html
You should definitely read it! It's only a short one, but it's jam-packed full of stuff. I love the recent movie adaptation too.
DeleteI've read all these books and I found them fantastic, maybe my favourite is Frankeinstein but I'm not sure :)
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein is really good - I found it difficult to come to terms with the language when I read it because I was a bit younger, but I'd love to re-read it now with a more mature viewpoint.
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