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.