Banned Books Week

OK, I know it's an AMERICAN Library Association thing, but this Canadian is celebrating Banned Books Week. I mean, I'm not throwing a party or anything (though that could be a GREAT theme party!), but I DID order in a couple of books through the loverly libarary to read this week:

Foxfire (Joyce Carol Oates)- I wanted to read this one years ago after I saw a preview for the movie (which I still haven't watched) and found out we couldn't get the book at the school library. I just finished it yesterday... pretty good, though I found it hard to get into. Having a narrator who has issues with sentence structure makes for some awkward reading at times. I can see why some of THEM would consider this a dangerous book: it's about GIRLS. In a GANG. And REVENGE. With VIOLENCE.


The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)- just started this one after I finished Foxfire- Holy Totally Different Books, Batman! All I can say so far is that this is NOT a book to attempt when you've got a migraine and the whole world seems like you're looking at it reflected in muddy water*. Bigger, longer, more challenging... I'll let you know how long it takes me to get through this one, compared to the 2 days Foxfire lasted.

(Is it wrong that every time I look at the cover of this book all I can hear in my mind is Bridget Jones saying, "Salmaaaaan... salmaaaan... Isn't it a shame about Chetch-NYAAA?" )


So that's my reading for the next little while. Looking over the list of banned classics, I see I've read a few already:

• The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
• The Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
• 1984 (George Orwell)
• Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
• Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) - Huh?
• Animal Farm (George Orwell)
• Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne) -again I say: Huh?
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey)
• Lady Chatterly's Lover (D.H. Lawrence)

So there you have it. I'd love to know why Charlotte's Web and Winnie the Pooh have been banned or challenged. Oh, and speaking of "children's" books, toss the Harry Potter series and 2/3 of Phillip Pullman's "Dark Materials" trilogy on my "already read" list.

I'd also love to know which banned books YOU'VE read- classic or otherwise. Recommendations?

*You may or may not know what I'm talking about... just take my word for it. It sucks.

Booooks

When I sign into Windows Live Messenger (as I do every day, hoping with all my heart that there will be SOMEONE I can talk to), the "Windows Live Today" box pops up. I usually glance at the titles of whatever they think is important at that moment and close the box- As pressing as such issues as "10 Nude Scenes We Didn't Need to See" are, I just don't have any patience for them.

BUT- here's one for ya: "10 Books That Caused A Commotion*" was actually fairly interesting. It's not an exhaustive list of controversial books by any means, but it's a sampling of what we've found shocking, disturbing, or just WRONG in the past and today. "To Kill A Mockingbird" tops the list- what was once controversial was part of my 10th grade English curriculum. I've been meaning to re-read that one... onto the list it goes!

Why did this list show up today? Well, there's this book coming out in English- it's already sold more than a million copies in German- called "Wetlands" by Charlotte Roche. You can, uh... you can read that article if you want to see why it's controversial, or if you're feeling REALLY brave, you can Browse Inside to read the first 15 pages or so. Definitely not for those with weak stomachs or those who are easily offended; the book's 18-year old narrator/protagonist is talking about anal sex on the first page. That and hemmheroids.

And yet... I might just read the rest of it. That, and some of the other books on the list. My mind's not getting any bigger if I'm only reading things that re-affirm what I already know and believe.

Tell me what you think: Why do you read? WHAT do you read, and where do you draw the line? Where's the line between mind-expanding and offensive? What book have you read that's been the most challenging to or different from your own way of thinking?

Seriously, comment on this one, OK? (Yes, this means you)



*This link will take you to the full article from HarperCollins, not the abridged Windows Live-linked version.

Repetition

One more note from yesterday:

We were at Value Village, and I found a Winnie the Pooh book called "When Pooh Got Stuck"

HA HA HA HA HA!!!

I'm sure we've all been there at one time or another... alright, let's just move on then, shall we?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Today was just weird. Not all bad, but definitely different. On the positive side of the balance sheet, the TV was off a lot more today than it usually is. I was happy about that- any time Simon isn't asking for the TV to be on feels like a victory for me. The kid loves the TV- singing along, dancing, acting out scenes from movies... it's pretty funny, actually, but I'd like for there to be less it- the TV, not the dancing, etc.

Instead, we sang a silly song. Actually, that's not entirely in the "positive" column... he made me sing it over and over and OVER. You know the song:

"Clean up, clean up
Everybody everywhere,
Clean up, clean up,
Everybody do your share" ?

Well, now you do. I was singing that when we cleaned up (yes, really) and Simon wanted it "Again? Again? Sing a song again?", so I started making up different verses. It started out with things like:

"Simon, Simon,
Simon has a chubby cat,*
Simon, Simon,
now, what do we think of that?"

Brilliant, I know.

By the time it was time to go to the grocery store (where we were NOT singing), I was on to:

"Simon, Simon,
you're my silly buddy boy!
Simon, Simon,
please go away, play with your toys"

and

"Simon, simon
I love you and you love me,
but please, dude, leave me
alone, 'cause Mommy needs to pee!"

He wanted more singing when we got home, of course, and was asking for verses like, "Sing 'bout Simon's foot. It's stuck."

"Simon, Simon,
let's stop now, no ifs ands or buts,
all this singing
is driving Mommy nucking futs!"

By the time AJ got home, the sweet potato fries were burning, I was sitting in a corner, rocking, and Simon was singing "Simon, Simon... make Mommy cwy..." **

The rest of the day was filled with occasional laughter, much crankiness from both children, and a three-year old in denial about the fact that he'd pooped at the grocery store. Definitely not ready for potty training, that one.

Now it's 9:15, and I'm almost certain that the boys are both asleep. My biggest boy is out playing basketball with some other big boys***, so I'm going directly to bed- not passing GO, not collecting $200. Goodnight.


* The chubby cat in this song was a stuffed toy, but it could just as easily be about our Gus- chubby bugger.
** It is entirely possible that only the part about Simon singing is literally true, but I was totally rocking and burning things in my mind.
***The last time he played basketball, it was in a different city with different guys, and all I know is that someone used farting as a defensive strategy. I don't ask questions about these things anymore.****
**** I enjoy footnotes.