With Banned Books

This week is Banned Books Week! A week where we get to look at all the books that have been deemed unfit for society. And maybe break a few rules. 

The idea of censoring knowledge has been around since the beginning of time, seen as the pinnacle of totalitarianism in both fiction and reality. Despite all that, you would be surprised at the sheer amount of banned books, and the lame reasons for banning them. 

Now I understand that there are inappropriate books, and books that should be censored, but, for instance, the dictionary? yup, the dictionary was banned for explicit content. George Orwell's 1984 was banned by the Soviet Union because Stalin felt it was mocking him (well if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...). The adventures of Huckelberry Finn by Mark Twain was banned because it features crude words like "sweat" and "itched";  along with the "n-word" (which to be fair was common back then). Harry Potter was banned in private schools in the UAE and in Iran because it promotes magic. And that's just a few! Check out this wiki list of banned books.

That's of course not to say that I'm completely against banning , I just believe censorship should be better managed. For example I cannot fathom how shades of Gray is allowed on our shelves, while most political books are banned.

To celebrate this week I'm reading a book that I've been wanting to read for ages: Lord of The Flies. Which was apparently deemed too vulgar for shelves at one point! So, come one, live on the edge! Pick up a "banned" book and see where it will take you. 

With The Gift of The Magi - A Short Story

The Gift of The Magi is a short story written by O. Henry in the early 20th century telling the story of a married couple that don't have enough money to buy each other Christmas gifts. I would recommend this story to anyone who wants to read English stories but doesn't know where to start, or anyone who wants an easy, short, story to warm their hearts. Frankly, I would recommend this story to everyone, whether or not they enjoy reading. As a matter of fact, here you go: Read it now before proceeding to the rest of this post: (it's super short, so don't worry; you won't be gone long)

http://www.online-literature.com/donne/1014/

Now that you've read it (I hope you did), wipe away your inevitable tears and lets look at it a little bit more closely. Della and Jim both essentially want the same thing. They want to make each other happy. Unfortunately though, neither of them have much money, and it is almost Christmas. 

In my opinion, the child-like innocence of both characters and the unwavering love they have for each other makes this story slightly unrealistic, but the moral of selfless gift-giving remains, as well as the masterful and simple narrative.

And before you pass this off as another story with an unfortunate ending remember that although Jim can't get his watch back; at least Della's hair will grow and she will be able to wear the combs.

Perhaps one could read more into the theme of this story and morals that aren't initially apparent, but the story is beautiful as it is, and forcing metaphors wouldn't do us any good.

Tell me what you thought of this light read. shed some light on things I may have missed. Lets get a discussion going!

With Bathos

My favorite quote (from a novel) of all time, and I know many people would find it weird, is not your traditional inspirational quote. It's not a quote about love. It's not a quote that will lift your spirits, or make you wonder about the meaning of life…

It’s a quote that is well written.

The moment I read this line, something in me clicked. I couldn't move on to the next sentence, I just kept reading it over and over again.  The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.

The beauty of this line isn't in what it tells you, but rather in what it doesn't. The line, in and of itself is redundant. It does not actually describe anything. And I find that utterly fascinating.

The ships hung in the sky

This part would suffice, but even this doesn't tell you anything new. All space ships are in the sky  (it is  a sci-fi novel).  And if you're in the sky, you're not falling.

In much the same way that bricks don't

Brilliant!  We know from the first part, that the ships aren't falling. And YET they are compared to bricks (which generally do nothing in the sky but fall). 

You know the most magnificent part? This is not how similes work. In a simile, we use words to highlight the similarities between two things.

"Calculus is like a pebble in my shoe"

Here, we are highlighting the fact that Calculus is making me uncomfortable. Hindering my ability to walk long distances or, move forward with my education (all true)

But this simile does nothing of the sort. It does not highlight the similarities between two things. It does not help in explaining the state of the first. It does not even provide any useful imagery, nothing. 

After reading the sentence we are not any wiser as to what the ships are like…  

The exact literary term is Bathos. It is when a seemingly serious and useful sentence ends in a plain and mundane way; creating this beautiful, satirical line.

In my opinion bathos mock the whole institution of literature. They mock the whole belief that sentences should in the very least, mean something.  They are probably one of my favorite literary techniques ever.