Banning Tolkien, some questions - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Encaitare · 06-14-2005, 11:48 AM

Over the past hour or so as I've read this and some related threads, I've come to realize what a fascinating country I dwell in. We love our freedom to be offended just as much as we love our freedom of speech.

I've been looking over some lists of banned and/or challenged books and have come across the most unlikely titles, from "The Merchant of Venice" (oh, that wicked, wicked Shakespeare!) to "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (funny poems for children). Many of the books I've seen have been required reading for me, such as "A Farewell to Arms," "The Catcher in the Rye," "Death of a Salesman," "Flowers for Algernon," etc. I could keep going. I think its a shame that the offense taken by a few people ruins it for everyone.

Another thing I've come to appreciate is how much I love attending public school, where just about anything is acceptable (except drugs, drinking, smoking on campus, and the like). Some girls I know just formed a book club that I joined, and the first book we decided to read was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". This book has been challenged or banned in the past, but there were three lovely copies in our school library. Apparently our school has this principle that even if you're not supposed to teach about certain books in class, students still cannot be denied access to them. I like this idea very much.

I did not come across LotR in any recent book lists, so I guess it has not become too big of an issue like HP did. I just have a difficult time comprehending any kind of book banning, never mind LotR!

06-14-2005, 11:48 AM	#38
Encaitare Bittersweet Symphony Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: On the jolly starship Enterprise Posts: 1,814	Over the past hour or so as I've read this and some related threads, I've come to realize what a fascinating country I dwell in. We love our freedom to be offended just as much as we love our freedom of speech. I've been looking over some lists of banned and/or challenged books and have come across the most unlikely titles, from "The Merchant of Venice" (oh, that wicked, wicked Shakespeare!) to "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (funny poems for children). Many of the books I've seen have been required reading for me, such as "A Farewell to Arms," "The Catcher in the Rye," "Death of a Salesman," "Flowers for Algernon," etc. I could keep going. I think its a shame that the offense taken by a few people ruins it for everyone. Another thing I've come to appreciate is how much I love attending public school, where just about anything is acceptable (except drugs, drinking, smoking on campus, and the like). Some girls I know just formed a book club that I joined, and the first book we decided to read was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". This book has been challenged or banned in the past, but there were three lovely copies in our school library. Apparently our school has this principle that even if you're not supposed to teach about certain books in class, students still cannot be denied access to them. I like this idea very much. I did not come across LotR in any recent book lists, so I guess it has not become too big of an issue like HP did. I just have a difficult time comprehending any kind of book banning, never mind LotR!