@divisionten:

So basically for no legitimate reasons whatsoever. Typical. :P

How come Hunter S Thompson books arent on these lists? They are incomplete!

Im actually quite proud of myself that I have read about a dozen of these books.

To hell with the over-sensitive society! I mean c'mon, lighten up.

@TimeChaser:

James was banned for the title character being disrespectful to his relatives (despite the fact that his aunts were worse than the Dudleys from Harry Potter).

Also, Grapes of Wrath was deemed socially unacceptable in California, for portraying their state badly in the Depression.

@Ducky:

My thoughts exactly. Lord of the Rings is pretty much the second most blatant Jesus analogy ever written, and it is glorious.

As for other ones, I think they shoved Grapes of Wrath up there under "too political" simply because there was no category labeled "too infernally boring". And this is coming from someone who likes Steinbeck. Heck, Of Mice and Men is one of the only stories with a downer ending that I legitimately like.

Oh, and I'm gonna have to reread James and the Giant Peach to see what exactly it was that Roald Dahl got people all riled up over. Jeez, there's some tame material in here. I'm just glad these geniuses haven't stumbled across Miyuki Miyabe's work yet. Who knows how they'd categorize my favorite author, given how dark her stories get.

They need a "just really, really dumb" category to contain the works of one Stephenie Meyer.

@Ducky:

Seems like some of these things are just... only in someone's warped mind. Like Fahrenheit 451. It's socially offensive to warn about the consequences of the very thing people who want to ban books are doing? I just don't think they want anyone to be intelligent enough to speak out and fight back.

I'm amused that several of these books are ones I read in high school for various English classes.

Scarlet Letter is just a bad book IMO, but that lies in my deep-rooted hate for Hawthorne.

As soon as I saw the "Too Much Sex" category, I knew Judy Blume's name would pop up.

Also -- WTF? How is Lord of the Rings irreligious? That makes about as much sense as To Kill A Mockingbird being socially offensive. (The only reason Tolstoy's Anna Karenina isn't under that category is because it's Russian. *brick'd*)

@Miss Anonymous:

But it has wizards! And magic! Which is probably the feeble-minded excuse people have for wanting to ban it. I'm surprised they aren't out to ban all fantasy, though I bet there are a few who wouldn't mind that. >>;

Read read read! :D

Even though I'm not a big book reader person, I've still read some of the ones on this list. Surprises me that LotR is on this list though. o_O And for being deemed irreligious at that.

Well maybe I'll pick up To Kill A Mockingbird again, just for this week. :3

@MewMew:

Yeah, school sucks that way. >3<

@Shinmaru:

I'd consider it a badge of honor if I wrote something that offended people in a socially significant way. :D

@TimeChaser:

totally would but i have so many other things to read for school gahhh

@TimeChaser:

Catch-22 is a very dark comedy/drama parody of military life. I need to read it again.

@AnimeArchAngel:

Yep. Pick a book on this list or the one in your English class and read it this week. :3

And thanks, Trip. :D

@divisionten:

I need to be more well-read. Expand beyond the scifi and fantasy. :P

I remember reading Scarlet Letter. Of course like most students, I just found it boring or annoying and not offensive. I remember reading Of Mice and Men in jr. high, and the only thing that 'offended me' was the ending. It was just so cold and empty. It made me angry. D8<

@Neko Nana Mode:

I have Catch-22. I'll read it this week. ^^

Yeah. I've never actually read James and the Giant Peach, so I don't know what's 'socially offensive' about that one. And Anne Frank is probably on the list due to the whole budding teenage sexuality thing she was also going through at the time. But yeah, you really have to question the motives of some people who want to ban books like these.

Of just those you listed, I've read:
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Animal Farm - George Orwell
1984 - George Orwell
Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
The Lord of the Rings trilogy - J.R.R. Tolkien
Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The Color Purple - Alice Walker

Of that list, I'd really recommend Clockwork Orange, Brave New World, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Animal Farm. Didn't like Tess of D'Ubervilles or the Scarlet Letter though. Boring and way too drawn out. They actually removed those books from the curriculum with so many student's complaints. A Handmaid's Tale replaced them, and while not as good as the ones I recommend, better than Tess and Scarlet.

I also think Sherlock Holmes should be required reading, but, that's just me.

@:

Yeah, the penguins book was a big issue a year or two ago. I remember reading about that.

@Ryu:

Franklin's autobiography is one that's been 'sanitized, at various times in it's publishing history. Mainly due to certain essays in it, like on advice to young men on how older women make superior lovers. :P

I'm with you on the Twilight thing.

Read Harry Potter, LotR, Scarlet letter was a mandatory read in high school (though due to it just being bad, I would never recommend it to anyone), so was huckleberry finn, and Mockingbird, and the grapes of wrath (prequel to A Raisin in the sun ^_^)
How the hell was James and the giant Peach socially Offensive?
Loved Catch 22.
The diary of Anne Frank, written by her, in the exact time it happened... is socially offensive? I thought it helped depict the horrid time.

I laugh at a lot of the "need for banning" some groups seem to have.

Let's see . . .

Animal Farm
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
4/7 Harry Potters
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Dece'.

I loled at the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (and then once more for putting down the author) but headdesked at everything else. Huckleberry Finn? To Kill a Mocking Bird? ROALD FREAKING DAHL?!?! AND WHY THE !@#$ ISN'T TWILIGHT ON THIS LIST UNDER THE INTELLECTUALLY CRIPPLING HEADING?!

-Ryu

It would be the greatest moment of my life to write something people deemed "socially offensive". That would totally make it on the cover of any reprints.

EDIT: Also, I've read 24 of these books (counting the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter books individually). Need to step up my game. =/

My English teacher has a poster in the back of the room with banned books on it. I never have time to waddle back there and see what books are on it, though. I know the second Harry Potter book is on it, but I'll check for the others on Tuesday. I think my English teacher said we're going to be reading Anne Frank this year too. o3o I see at least three other books that were mentioned in History last year as well.

Hmm... well, that's interesting. And pretty stupid. I'll definitely try to participate in Banned Books Week.

And Chase, your sig is awesome, dude. :p

@Nehszriah:

Yeaaaaah... I think some people just look at the surface, and don't bother to dig into the backgrounds of the authors and that maybe these works were statements about their views on faith and such topics.

It would be interesting to know if the Narnia series has ever been challenged or banned... *strokes chin*

I'm reading the Lord of the Rings series at the moment (almost to the fourth book) and I find it hilarious that something written by a very Catholic man who was at an internal conflict over whether orcs had souls or not apparently wrote a saga deemed too irreligious.

I wonder if Narnia's in this list, being as Lewis was another very Christian writer. Funny how that happens, you know?

@MewMew:

Read it again this week as a statement to those who want to ban it. ^^

@:

Exactly, I noticed the same thing. There are people who, for some reason, really love living in the dark ages and want to drag us all back there with them.

I also find it ironic that people want to ban Fahrenheit 451, considering it's about a society that has attempted to destroy all literature.

And I think "Irreligious" is the single dumbest reason of the whole group.

I have a copy of Catch-22. I should read it this week.

a farewell to arms was mad friggen good tho D: