Top 10 Banned Books! My ten favourite books banned by countries
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 лип 2024
- Subscribe and turn on notifications for a new video every day at 5pm UK time, noon Eastern, 9am Pacific
___
Join my Discord to chat books and stuff: / discord
___
Books discussed:
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
1984 by George Orwell
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
___
Currently accepting crime, pulp and horror books for review. Email CriminOlly (at) gmail.com
___
If you'd like to support the channel you can donate via Ko-Fi or buy me a book from my Amazon wishlist.
Ko-FI: ko-fi.com/criminolly
Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/...
___
Music: Who's Afraid of Halloween by Alfred Grupstra from Pixabay
Banned books are fascinating. They contain the necessary information we need to know about the other aspects of the world.
Interesting list. Yes, we in the U.S. are living in a twilight zone episode. 😨 I went to a Roman Catholic school in the late 60 s early 70s and we read many of these books and the Lottery. Good discussions about them too. Times have changed. 😞
Yeah it does seem a strange place over there at the moment.
Thank you for this video. When I worked in my bookstore, I always set up a display of "Banned" books. And always a card with the book saying why it was banned. That display got more attention than any other display that I would put up. It got people talking and asking questions. So, thank you for putting a sort of spotlight on this topic. 😊
What a great sales Strategy! And it'll help counter the banning!
I love that idea! Glad you enjoyed the video
That’s the thing: banning books just makes more people read them 😂 until the government starts cutting people’s heads of for it, of course 😣 I’m from Germany. We had our fair share of banning and burning books (and people) in the 30s and 40s. All the more reason to be vigilant when banning books starts becoming a thing 😰
I had no idea The Lottery was banned. It’s one of my favorite short stories. I read it in middle school (let’s just say a long time ago) and still remember it vividly. I found the writing and the ending quite powerful.
Yes it's such a great story
It's weird to think that it was banned. I started reading Shirley Jackson because I read the Lottery for HS English and then found the collection at the library.
Fantastic list, Olly, and for once I have read quite a few of these, and several sprang to mind when I saw your thumbnail!
I reread "Frankenstein" in the original 1818 edition for Halloween this year. I had unwittingly read the 1831 edition (which was the standard text for reprints at the time) as a teenager. I only learned of the difference after watching Steve Donoghue's Penguin Classics video! Suffice to say, I loved it. That an 18 year old girl wrote a novel is remarkable enough, that said novel should become a classic, and spawn one of the most famous monsters in history, all while raising important questions which plague us to this day, simply boggles the mind.
Thank you! And yes it boggles the mind that she wrote it at 18.
My wife grew up in Franco's Spain and when she borrowed Lady Chatterley's Lover from the library all the rude bits were blacked out. She said that's how they used to do things in Spain. Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers had a different cover design just for Spain.
Oh wow, that's fascinating
Peyton Place! - My first “dirty” book. It mysteriously appeared on my parents’ G-rated bookshelf, so I grabbed it and read it as fast as I could. Good thing I did, since it just as mysteriously disappeared soon after.
LOL!!! Both at the appearing and the disappearing
Mine too, my mum who wasn't a big reader did read this so I read it too being such a precocious reader.
I didn't know there was a fuss about "The Lottery." It is a fantastic story and was in my high school curriculum.
It's great!
I’ve read all of these (many of them in school in the 80’s), I particularly love anything by Shirley Jackson, many of her stories move me to tears. Great list as usual! Much respect from Virginia 😊
thank you! I love Jackson's work, especially her short fiction
I've read most of these some recommended to me by the world's best 7th grade history teacher(some,ahem,decades ago). So much good and valuable stuff! I will be rereading several of them now. Especially the early version of Frankenstein. Always motivating your comments 💗🦋🌿😁
Really glad you find the channel motivating! Your teacher does sound great!
I've read half of the list so it's great to have some new ones to add to my "want to read list". Thanks!
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is definitely a good one.
Excellent! Hope you enjoy them!
Wow, I had not heard that about Deathnote, though it does make sense once you mentioned about that aspect of society.
Yeah I was very surprised!
Bigoted and ignorant as some American school boards are, they seem to have a talent for banning really great books. They would probably be appalled if they realized the unintended consequence of actually promoting the very books they are so fearful of.
Ha! That's a good point. There's no such thing as bad publicity!
Handmaid’s Tale ( banned in Spain and Portugal) was one of the scariest books I read
Really? I didn't know that. Great book
@iandoherty3752 But it’s not banned now, right? 😳
Interesting list Olly! Did you know that Black Beauty, the children's story of a brave horse, was also banned during apartheid South Africa. Apparently they had problems with the title.
Really? Wow - that's crazy but makes a kind of sense
American Psycho was also banned in Canada. Of course, my mother ha to have a copy. We lived on the US border (before you needed a passport) and would frequently go cross border shopping. I remember the thrill of buying the book in an American bookstore and then hiding it to smuggle it back.
Oh, I don't think Wikipedia knew that!
Frankenstein is one of my favorite books. It has my favorite quote “Excellent friend! how sincerely did you love me and seek to elevate me to your ways.” I even love the odd punctuation.
It is an absolutely great book - really looking forward to rereading it
I’ve read most of these; all great reading. Nothing attracts me more than something being banned😃
Haha I know what you mean. If they don't want me to read it there must be something good in there!
Having a book banned is every writer's dream but having one pirated is a lot more likely.
Very true!
Being pirated is still better than being ignored, which is the fate of most books.
.
My book was banned in ebook version due to its extreme content, but I can't say that was a dream of mine. 😂
Great list. I've read all but two of them. Orwell is a genius.
Homage to Catalonia almost made the list as well!
I read Peyton Place as a kid and loved it. I reread it years later as an adult and still loved it but of course, found it so much tamer.
I definitely need to reread it
So happy to see you championing 'Lolita' - it's a masterpiece and definitely my favourite banned book.
03:22 There's a lot of sex in 'Brave New World', including a scene depicting young children involved in 'a rudimentary sexual game', so it's not altogether surprising it got targeted.
Yeah Lolita is really a great work. I'd forgotten that but of BNW!
@@CriminOllyBlog I find that, of the books of Aldous Huxley I have read, there's not much that sticks in the memory, so I can't say I blame you. I can't remember much sex in the book either, but I'm sure it was implied rather than explicit because that kind of thing would almost certainly have been banned at the time. It didn't take much to upset people back then. Lolita isn't remotely salacious either but it got the reputation for being naughty because everyone was so buttoned up that almost anything would send them into a frothing, snorting frenzy.
@@jshaers96 Good point about Lolita!
I am guessing that the one item was described as "Banned in Boston," because the phrase was for many years a well-known idiom used in the United States to communicate the idea that the banned item was of high quality, but that the vulgarians had heard of it and chosen to limit of access to it.
Ha! Really? That's amusing!
Banned in Boston has an interesting history.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banned_in_Boston
.
Excellent list. I remember when I was in high school there was a big to-do when the school announced they were banning Rosemary's Baby and Slaughterhouse 5.
Those dumb motherf*ckers! Two great books!
Hi Olly, during my high school days I read the animal farm because I was into politics and my librarian recommended it. As an animal lover, at the beginning of the book I identified myself with the horse (I am a hard worker, always was, always will be), you have no idea how much I cried when he was taken thinking that he was going to retire and unable to open the door. That part of the book changed my life. I still working hard, but I hate the idea of staying more than 2 years in only one place or about get retire. I am craving 1984, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a beautiful movie, I hope one day have the time to read the book. Now, I am curious about "The Lottery". I enjoy your channel and envy your bookshelf, thank you so much.
Thank you! So glad you're enjoying the channel! 1984 and The Lottery are both really great. It really does sound like Animal Farm had a profound effect on you!
Lolita is a classic that I first read in college English Lit in 1970, I wonder if anyone still teaches it in the modern university? Even Shakespeare is a bit too triggering these days. By the way, Fahrenheit 451 is the greatest book ABOUT book banning.
Great point about F451! I suspect Lolita is still taught, but don't really know!
Great vid and thank you for sharing your recommends! I've read 1984 and American Psycho. Both definitely disturbing and excellently written. I picked up Naked Lunch in a library once and browsed the first few pages but put it back. Guess the content was a little much for me that day lol. I've seen Deathnote the movie and didn't know it came from a book. The movie is actually pretty decent. I'll be checking out the others on the list!
Yeah Children of Men was a hard read at times!
A good list. Naked Lunch is a favourite of mine - also a very funny novel, as well, of course. American Psycho is also very funny. I believe Ulysses was banned in both Britain and the USA. I don't know if it's true, but I heard that school boards in some US states have banned Fahrenheit 451, which is the height of irony. Most famously, The Satanic Verses was banned in many countries, and still is - and was publicly burned in many others.
Yeah, Ulysses was banned, but I haven't read it so it didn't make the list!
So glad I just found you! Oddly, I have read all the banned books but some need a re-read. I just finished Demon Copperhead- I loved it….. she ( Barbara Kingsolver ) is brilliant. Loved your take on Drood….. think that will be my next. Thanks so much for the reviews!!!!
Thank you! Glad you're enjoying the reviews! I've not read Kingsolver but I've heard great things about her
I always see a section in my Barnes Store with the banned books . I always try to support all Authors . I’m intrigued.
Were they all modern books? At my B&N they almost always are. Which kind of rips my nips. A ton of the classics have been banned, by both sides of the political aisle. People seem to think it's a modern problem. it isnt, at all.
Yeah, sections like that intrigue me too!
@@CriminOllyBlog 😊 curiosity of amazing books
A Clockwork Orange was banned in some US states. The film was not shown in the UK until after Kubrick 's death after his family received death threats. It was openly available in Australia when I read it.
I read Naked Lunch in college and it was just completely confusing to me. It’s off-putting content has not made me want to try to read it again.
I’m afraid that today the satire of American Pyscho misses many readers. I felt that the satirical critical nature of the book doesn’t always come through.
However, no book should be banned.
Great video!
Thanks Brian - I definitely didn't understand Naked Lunch but I was fascinated by it!
Catch 22 was also banned in South Africa. A friend had to smuggle it on for me from Swaziland.
That's some unusual contraband!
I read American Psycho back in the 90s, and I remember reading an artical from Stephen King saying that this was one of the most violent book he had read and it should be banned, and I thought that was rich coming from him. I thought it was a very written book, yes there was lot of violence but it was a satire of 80s yuppies and greed and money.
I984 was a great book I read that when I was at school.
I'm amazed at King calling for any book to be banned, I thought better of him!
I have enjoyed some of these band books just a very few.
There is a childhood favorite of mine that was only band in US libraries and schools called scary stories to tell in the dark which is a very good collection of folklore in short stories, and the artwork done by Stephen Gammell, was amazing and nightmare inducing. The artwork was one of the reasons why it was banned and challenged when I was a child.
Ah I didn't know that book had been banned. I have it on my Kindle but haven't read it yet
@@CriminOllyBlog yeah it was one of the most banned and challenged books of my childhood. There’s a whole documentary about it on Amazon.
I highly recommend you read it it’s very good, and the artwork from the original is stunning it’s nightmare inducing. You really should read it physically though for the artwork alone.
@@jamieserrano827 thanks! I’ll check it out!
Thank you for some good recommendations. 1984 was already on my list of i want to read. But i found some other books that i also want to read 😊
Brilliant - hope you like them!
Hi Olly. I think it's so important that we go out of our way to read what "they" don't want us to read. I was searching your channel to see if I could find a review of The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis (and ended up landing on this video). I'm about midway through right now, but I'm really loving it and I am extremely interested in your opinion of it if you do read it.
I've read - and enjoyed - every single one of the books you listed here except Peyton Place. That one hasn't ever gotten on my radar. I'll check it out and see if it might be something I'm interested in. Happy Reading!
Omg you give me a new sub genre to obsess over every episode 😅!
Ha ha sorry not sorry
In Australia, adult magazines have to be sold in wrappers with an R (restricted) rating label on them. American Psycho is the only book I know of that has to be sold the same way. Censorship here is a bit weird with different states having their own laws on top of the federal ones, and Queensland used to be particularly notable for banning films (usually horror titles) that were allowed in the rest of the country. But the mere fact that AP is illegal in Queensland doesn't mean you can't get it fairly easily there anyway...
I have the say the idea of a book being sold like that would pretty much guarantee that I'd read it!
Lovely Top 10 and what a unique take on the topic. 👏🏻👏🏻 Proud to say I own a few on my shelves plus Perks. 😊 Maybe I’ll read one or two for the challenge. 😎- 📚
Thanks MJ! You should definitely read them!
You can pick up Naked Lunch and open it up to any page and read. It will make as much sense as if you had read it from the beginning. Basically, it isn't supposed to make sense. It's a grotesquerie. I love so many of the books that have run afoul of the law in other places.
From my memory of it that sounds very true!
@@CriminOllyBlog Burroughs was the one who described it that way. Personally, I found the book more of continuous stern warning. "Drugs are bad, mmmkay?" 😁
@@authenticpoppy LOL
Have you read The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? That book was banned in the Soviet Union. An excellent work of nonfiction.
Amazing and disturbing at the same time.
Yes! Quite a hard hitting book and so rich in what were for me previously unsuspected insight into specifically how hard and terrible the gulags were.
I haven't, but it's one I definitely want to get to one day
I understand something like American Psycho not being in school libraries, or only being available to 16/18+
equally, I also recognise that it's the beginning of a slippery slope to start making rulings like that.
Yeah it is a tricky one. I wouldn’t necessarily raise too much of an eyebrow at it not being in school libraries though
It’s so odd to me to realize that I haven’t read many banned books, so this list just inspired me to get on that asap. Thanks for another great video!!
(I was also surprised to learn Death Note is banned in China??)
Edit: def understand why American Psycho would be banned but also find it hilarious because it’s satire. People who misunderstand its purpose don’t surprise me but also it makes me sad because it’s such a solid book and conversation piece.
Yeah I think in some ways American Psycho was a victim of its own marketing. It’s been pushed so much as a shocking book that its other qualities often get overlooked
The Anarchist Cookbook is my favourite banned book. I should point out, no sports books have ever been banned in Australia. 😉
You and your non fiction
It took me three tries to read naked lunch and I listened to 1984 on CD back in the day.
Yeah Naked Lunch is definitely a tough one!
Flowers in the attic saga will always be my fav !
That is a classic!
that still gives me shivers. so wrong
I wonder whether any publishers intentionally try to get writers to publish books that are as shocking and outrageous as possible, with passable literature merit, to sell as many copies as possible?
They've certainly done this in the past!
I think it’s very interesting to see what books are banned where and when - it says a lot about the “time” country and decisions they are making or made at that time.
Completely agree!
I've read all of your top ten and do agree with number 1 and 2. Fantastic works. One of my favorite Turkish books is Orhan Pamuk's, Snow, which is banned there. It seems from a brief scan of the Wikipedia list that The Satanic Verses is quite a popular book to ban. If you haven't read The Autobiography of Malcom X (banned in South Africa) I highly recommend it.
Fascinating topic.
One could almost think that books like "Frankenstein" were banned in order to make people read them - you know, the lure of the forbidden. But, alas, seeing which country did it, that was probably not the reason.
On a slightly different note, I think it'd be fascinating to hear someone who's familiar with the matter talk about the sociocultural aspects of book banning and book "challenging". I'm from Germany and from all I know, "challenging books" in school or public libraries (or challenging curriculum textbooks), all of which seem to be somewhat of a national sport in the US, is entirely absent over here. I've been long wondering whether this is linked to what I perceive to be a much greater sheltering of young folks in the US than here.
I don't know of anyone among my peers (and it certainly didn't occur in our household) that parents prohibited their children from reading certain books. I think my parents were happy that I grew up a reader but they never tried to steer me away from any particular books; not sure if they even knew and cared about all the stuff I was reading. In fact, my father is a huge Stephen King fan and seemed to be happy that I took a liking in King books myself. I started to read through his collection at a fairly young age.
The US has always seemed like a place of strange contradictions to me - like all these books getting take out of schools, and yet their film classification allows kids of any age to go and see movies you'd have to be 18 to see in the UK as long as they are with an adult.
Here in America, in SOME parts of the country some thoughts are not to be thought, books that encourage thinking are not to be read.
We are currently trying to literally whitewash history, so that the parents of children are not embarrassed by the history of race relations in America. We are supposed to believe that slavery was uplifting and that the American Civil War was not fought by the South to expand slavery. The Southern states began seceding before Lincoln even became president - the first Republican president - but that was when the Republicans were the party of civil rights and the Democrats were accusing Republicans of being Socialists.
In America, our children won't recognize that history is repeating, or echoing, because it will all be new material to them - just as their parents are told it should be.
We put our history down memory holes. Winston Smith has nothing on us.
.
There was only one book I haven't read, that was Death Notes...I was put off by the cover; of all things. The presentation looked childish with an aura of Anime about it. About the The Lottery...we covered this
short story when I was in first year of High School.( I was about 12 years old) I had already begun to cultivate an interest in Dystopian Culture and hard Sci Fi. Must say it made an impact and it has stuck with me over the past 55 years.
Yeah Death Note is quite juvenile, but it is fun. The Lottery is such an amazing story
I am Australian (Victoria) and my Dad read American Psycho when it came out. And he hated it. He literally nearly there up when he read it. So... Thanks, Dad! 😂
LOL I'm kind of not surprised
@@CriminOllyBlog my Dad likes some horror. He is a huuugggeee Stephen King fan and a fan of Richard Laymon when he was younger (thus beginning my love for Laymon, so thanks, Dad!). He tried to read Off Season by Jack Ketchum but found it too hard to stomach. And I, a fourteen-year-old, read a book that my 58-year-old day couldn’t read. It’s sort of funny, to be honest. But I am used to violence.
I was shocked about the Frankenstein one us I did that school and I’ve got the book of Frankenstein from one of my book collections
Yeah I was surprised!
Great video thanks! Please may I check whether one of the editions of Frankenstein is generally thought to be better to start with?
Most people seem to prefer the 1818 version
@@CriminOllyBlog Thank you so much!
my favorite books are anything written by Dr Seuss that has been banned. They actually stopped printing and selling his book anywhere. I had friends who actually agreed with banning his book. I am against banning books but I am for takings some out of school libraries because of inappropriate content for young children. When they are old enough to really understand and discuss it, then the book should be read.
I didn't know that about Dr Seuss!
The 1818 version of Frankenstein is probably my favorite book of all time
Oh fantastic! Looking forward to reading it
Such an interesting video! Greetings and have a good day🙂!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Olly, I have been enjoying your book reviews. Thank you for that.
I had an issue with your comments on banned books in the US. I thank you for differentiating between a country and libraries banning books. While I wouldn’t agree with local libraries banning a book because of the ideas they may present, like 1984, I do think making more sexually, or violently, graphic books available to children is not recommendable.
BTW, other than trying to make a point, it is impossible for a library to effectively ban a book in the age of Amazon.
My work involves school boards, and what I have seen being banned or protested over are LGBTQ+ books. They are not graphic, in a sexual or violent sense. In my opinion, this is homophobic and transphobic. Every child, gay, straight, cis, trans, black, brown, white, indigenous - however they identify - deserves to have a safe and supportive learning environment at school. Recognizing sexual orientation or gender identity is not sexualizing or grooming. I want to be really clear: I am not saying that you, Juan, are homophobic or transphobic. You stated a valid opinion. I’m just describing what I’ve been seeing.
Completely agree that banning books locally is a pointless act nowadays in many ways, But I do think that it still has a negative impact on the kids in schools.
The vast majority of the "bans" I've read about seem not to be about explicit content, but more politically motivated
Thank you Paula - that's exactly the kind of thing I meant
My personal favorite by Orwell is not one of his novels. It's called Down and Out in Paris and London, and it recounts his experiences being poverty stricken and trying to survive in both places. Grim and realistic - has stayed with me for years.
I read that one as a teenager and remember it being great
Interesting list! I thought you might mention The Satanic Verses, one of the the most controversial books of all time
If I'd read it I might have, but it never really appealed to me.
Read Peter McDonald, The Literature Police, and Christopher Merrett’s A Culture of Censorship to see the extent of censorship we had in South Africa in the apartheid era. As a newspaper book reviewer I used to pick out new arrivals l suspected would get banned, rush through them and send in reviews. Quite often the review would appear after the book was banned. Lots of fun getting one over on the System, as we called it.
Ha! I love that idea. It hadn't really occurred to me until I researched tis video that South Africa would have been somewhere with lots of censorship, but it does make sense.
Fantastic video! So many books were banned and are banned in the present. And will be banned in the future. I loved Lolita when I read it many years ago, I think the humor of the story is amazing, so ironic and cynical, and for me, it was a very beautiful love story also a very hard critic of the American society, how they are so hypocrite. And it was during the Cold War, so that did not help for the book. The movie by Kubrick is also very good also. Thanks to remind us how literature is a fantastic way to help us, teach us, become a mirror of what we are.
I've not seen the movie, I really should
I remember hearing that a prisoner in one of the high security jails remarking that he had no desire to read about a pedophile when asked about the book Lolita. It seemed a very succinct statement of literary criticism.
well, clearly not, if he hadn't read it
Succinct, but wrong.
"Lolita" is disturbing, but worth reading. I was encouraged by women in a book discussion group to finish it. I am glad I did.
"Naked Lunch" is disturbing. I did not finish it and I think I got enough from the portion I did read.
A lot of books are disturbing. Some are disturbing because they are showing us things we do not want to see about society. Some are just rude. If these were just rude, they would not sell enough to be banned anywhere.
.
My Personal favorite banned book that I just absolutely loved was called The chocolate war and especially in today's society I think it's very prevalent to explore these
Ah I remember that one from when I was a kid. Can’t remember if I ever read it or not
Whenever I hear about the book 1984 I am aware of its message and that it’s an effective and realistic alternate history book. BUT because the UK made film version of it is so strange and weird whenever I hear “George Orwell’s 1984” I have to think about that huge bush , if you know what I mean.
Ha! I think I watched the TV version but I don't remember the huge bush!
My favorite band book is "I'm with the band."
But seriously, folks, I read 8 of those books.
Recommend "The last temptation of Christ," which was banned by the entire Greek orthodox Church, and also (I think) Greece, and, when made into a movie, provoked cries for censorship in the USA, too.
The author also had something banned in the USSR.
The lottery is hands down my favourite Shirley Jackson work.
It really is excellent
I enjoyed Harry Potter. That's been banned by several school boards.
Edit, Dungeons and Dragons was banned by the Catholic church. Those are books.
My point is all the books on the list are rather serious but some rather innocent childlike books get banned too.
That's a very good point!
How can you find a banned book? Sorry, but I suppose I'm a bit of a "voyeur" myself. And as far as banned books in schools, the schools in Texas banned "The Tales of Uncle Remus", which IS a historical novel about the stories an elderly slave gentleman told to the son of his owner. BUT they didn't ban "The Exorcist" which is EXTREMELY graphic. These people are sick.
As aware of Frankenstein like everyone i read the junji ito adaptation and very much enjoyed it, I was only aware of the
original film (which i've not seen) .. also American Psycho i have right in my book group, i listen to the audio book now and then
the version narrated by actor pablo schreiber is amazing
I do need to read the Junji Ito adaptation
from australia and yes i had to show ID when buying american pyscho! its wrapped in a plastic film so you can't flip through it in the bookstore either!
Wow, that seems crazy to me!
Whenever anyone refers to “Doctor” Frankenstein, I always think, “He wished. _Grad student_ Frankenstein was all he was.”
LOL!
My husband and I both read 1984 and Brave New World. So the question is which universe, if you had to pick one, which world would you live in?
My husband and decided that Brave New World would be the better universe to be in.
Yes, I'd agree with that!
Loved this! I own every one of these books.
Fantastic!
When you put your books on your bookshelf, do you put them in any particular order? Alphabetical, Author, by series etc
By size and then alphabetically by author surname - so top shelves are hardcovers or large paperbacks, lower shelves are paperbacks :)
Responsible societies are very careful about books and ideas that they want their young people to be exposed to.
That's the whole point of _good parenting_ and even to a certain extent _good governing_ .
Really good and interesting video. I've read most of these books with the exception of NAKED LUNCH and LOLITA. I intend to read them both.
Regards,
Gerard Denza
Author of THE EDWARD MENDEZ, P. I. series
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video
I read Lolita thinking I’d absolutely hate it, but found it a really interesting and uncomfortable read. One can only imagine the power of Frankenstein when the book came out….
Yes - Frankenstein must have blown people away back then!
@@CriminOllyBlog I suppose books were the blockbusters back then… their version of Star Wars, jaws, godfather, were these literary classics.
@@Toracube True!
I wish I knew British history better. Just the history that doesn't make it into books. A while ago, an American tv news show called Sixty Minutes did a story on how American Generals knew we couldn't when the war in Vietnam, but we still sent men to die. The Network (CBS) was sued, and after losing millions, and millions of dollars the Network still won. The lawers told their clients, "You couldn've just bought controling interest in the network, and stopped news stories you don't like." So, that's what happened. They didn't have complete controling interest, but they had influence. I think a religous group bought the Network ABC but there interference lost the network loads of money. They ended up sell cotroling shares to another far right political faction. Anywho, the news has never been the same. The same people bought out the publishing houses, and they Clamped down on what was being published. They had to be careful to not be to obvious. That was when far right figures started getting million dollar book deals. People had great fun pointing out that a book that cost millions was in the dollars stores six months later. Anyone would tell you, those people don't read books. One of the less known changes was publisher stopped hiring as many editors. Often famous writers would get bad contrats with publishers, but they used the money to pay editors for writers who only made maybe twenty thousand dollars a book. The truth is many writer were not that great at writing, and could never be published without heavy intervention of editors. Another problem that came about was they stopped publishing the lower books. From the forties to the eighties anyone could walk into a drug store and buy a lewded book off the rack. Right in plain sight were paperback books with half naked women, guns, and monsters. There were always groups that hated those books. They believed the books corupted society. The general public comdemded the books but read them. Honestly, it was consider kids stuff. So the nineties hit, and fifty years of lewded books vanished from the public arena. It affected movies, and even youtube fights monitization of horror channels. That's why your channel is so important, and why we should read those type of books. The powers that be, don't like us reading them. Thanks Olly.
Thank you! I do think the role of capitalism and pressure groups on what we consume is really interesting (and scary)
While obscene is most often used in a sexual context it can also be used when something goes against moral principles, which one could argue Frankenstein does.
True
We're any of Henry miller's works banned, like tropical of cancer, etc?
Love William Burroughs, I think I have read nearly everything he wrote, multiple times! Read all this list except the Lottery.,I really don't like Humboldt Humboldt or whatever his name is in Lolita, he's way too creepy and whiney for me, but the rest I really enjoyed. Was Crash on here? I really liked that too.
I don't think Crash was on this list, but it's one I'm keen to read soon!
And yeah he was creepy, but I enjoyed the depiction of him
My opinion : banning books are measures set in place by people who are to teach critical thinking.
And great list! I agree that all these books! 😁
Thanks, Celeste!
I heard death note was banned because kids i school made "death notes" were they wrote the names they wanted to die as a way to bully others or be edgy
That does sound like the kind of thing kids would do
I listened to Frankenstein on Audible while walking outdoor trails. It was the most boring book I’ve ever endured. American Psycho was very good. I read the Orwell books many years ago in school and remembered liking them but tried to read 1984 recently and could not get far. It was way too depressing.
I loved Battle Royale. I believe it was banned in Japan for nearly a decade. Great book, though disturbing to say the least.
Really? I didn't know that! Great book
I find it ironic that Farenheit 451 is a banned book, about a society that bans books, lol.
Ha very good point
I've read all of your top ten banned books except Death Note. Admitting that could get me in trouble down the line. You might already know this but the government of New Zealand had a war against a lot of potential GarbAugust books. For a country now seen as progressive they banned a heckuva lot of mainstream books.
War on GarbAugust! This is terrible!
Jump to 2.40 when he finally gets on with it 😉
😂
Let's get naughty with banned books 📚😈
Fahrenheit 451 and Huckleberry Finn are banned in US schools I‘ve heard.
That seems awful to me
@@CriminOllyBlog It is a kind of Fahrenheit !
@@ninagorjian759 indeed!
@@CriminOllyBlog ❤️
From here across the pond, I can tell you I am extremely concerned by the book banning going on in our country. Very disappointing and a reflection of the terrible influence of religion on our society.
It does seem a bit rampant over there
@@CriminOllyBlog Sadly, more than a bit....
@Sarah Marie “With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.” Steven Weinberg
@Sarah Marie And which "majority" would that be? Which of the tens of thousands of religions is correct? Which "god" is the right one? What proof is there that "humans by nature are evil and selfish creatures"? That's a pretty broad statement that plays into peoples' prejudices unsupported by anything other than anecdote. People do not require religion to be good, despite the claims of the religious. People can be good all on their own. This discussion began over book banning. What group other than religious zealots advocates the banning or burning of books with which they disagree?
@Sarah Marie For someone who thinks they know a lot, you can't seem to answer a few basic questions. Not surprising. No religious person can. And FYI, I was the op in this thread....
Wasn't Clockwork Orange banned, or rewritten??
Quite possibly
I read 120 days of Sodom for a Banned Book challenge because it's pretty much the most banned book in history. I think it was banned in France for about 280 years
I'm reading that one soon!
I didn't read the book. I remember my teacher of literature at the University that told us, talking about the Marquis de Sade, that to be aware of reading the 120 days because you will enter a huge depression reading it. I remember the movement he did with one of his hands on is face. We were following a class about Rabelais and for him, if you are depressed just read Rabelais, but not Sade. When I saw the movie by Pasolini, I was depressed many days and I banned Pasolini from my list of good Italian directors. But I was wrong. Pasolini was a very good director, a very intelligent man, a poet, a writer, someone who understood the nightmare of our society. So be aware when reading the book! 😉 And if you see the movie... also.
@@Lydioski for the record I don't recommend it to anyone either. It has no value, except perhaps to understand how profoundly evil and selfish people can be.
I have not read any of deSade's books, but I have seen the movie version of the Doug Wright play, "Quills".
Geoffrey Rush does a spectacular job as deSade, who won't let being locked up and deprived of writing material stop him from writing.
I had thought that the heliocentric books by Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and others were banned for even longer, but they were not.
I will consider reading the book.
.
Have you seen The strange things about the Johnsons ?
I haven't
I'm surprised that The Satanic Verses didn't make the list!
I haven’t read that one so didn’t really feel I could include it.
frankenstein did have the protagonist digging up dead rotting corpses and making a human out of them. I think thats obscene. Brilliant book espcially since it was written by a teenage girl at the time.
Fair!
Banning books make them more desirable
True!
Books sometimes get banned for very odd reasons.
Handmaid's tale is a great read too