Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Library Thing Tuesday (73) + Picture of Emmy

Today's question from Wendi is in honor of Banned Books Week: Do you have any banned books in your Library? If so, how many? Do you remember having any strong reactions or feelings when reading these books? Were any of the books on the list particularly surprising to you?

I have 20 books in my LT library that correspond with the books listed in the BannedBooks LibraryThing account. Since I haven't listed ALL books that I've ever read in there, I'm sure there are a great deal more.

Here are 4 of the 20 and my reactions:

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. I read this while on vacation in Burma and I remember it taking a while for me to get into it. I can understand that the violence would turn a lot of people off. My memory of it now is so intermingled with Stanley Kubrick's movie version that I can't really separate them. What strikes me about the book version is the 21 chapter, which was omitted both from the movie and American versions of the book prior to 1986. In it, Alex has finally reached the age of adulthood (21) and renouces his former love of violence - obviously a radically different ending.

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. This is one of my least favorite books of all time. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen but it was all this drug induced stream of consciousness nonsense that I strongly disliked. I can't believe I even finished it, though I guess I read this at a time when I finished all books I started no matter what.

Native Son by Richard Wright. This was assigned reading in my high school American Lit class. I know some of the parents complained about this one (not mine). I don't remember too much about it now, but the disturbing scene where he stuffs the girl he accidently killed in the furnace is one that is burned in my memory.

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes. I read this last year and I'm very puzzled as to why someone would want to ban this. I don't recall there being any objectionable content. It was just a sweet book about a pre-teen girl being confronted with death for the first time.

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Whenever we bring a new box into the house, the kittehs must try it out. Usually one at a time, but we recently caught them sharing nicely.



23 comments:

Ana S. said...

I don't think I'd enjoy Naked Lunch much myself either.

And lol...what is it about kittehs and boxes?

Amee said...

Aw, so cute. I actually thought my cat was just a weird cat because she likes boxes so much. I didn't realize it was a common thing. :P

bermudaonion said...

I have to come by and get my weekly Emmy and Finn fix. I read A Clockwork Orange in high school and remember loving it. I wonder what I'd think of it now.

Anonymous said...

I don't remember liking Naked Lunch either.

Staci said...

I love your Tuesday posts with the kitties!!

Jess (The Cozy Reader) said...

Aw, boxes. Toys for cats and kids alike! :) Cute pic!

Zibilee said...

Wow! Finn is getting so big! And the box photo is adorable. My cats love boxes, even if they are too small for them, and will sit with as much of themselves inside the box as they can squeeze in.

Unknown said...

I really love a Clockwork Orange - the prose is fabulous. I can separate the movie from the book, since I read it in 10th grade but didn't see it until I was a college freshman.

Kailana said...

aw, cute kittens!

Anonymous said...

cute kittehs!! i read richard wright in college but my recollection is hazy at best...

Misty said...

Aww. Do you walk around singing "We are Siamese if you please" to them? Cause I would until I drove everyone nuts.

Misty said...

And yeah, I've got a good 30 or 40 banned books. They are on loan right now for a BBW display. My babies...

party said...

That is pretty bad

JKB said...

That kitten is just growing by leaps and bounds!

He is so darling.

Christina Farley said...

I can't handle how cute your cats are!

And I had to laugh over the Naked Lunch. That is such a banned book title.

Anonymous said...

I love the picture of your cats! Cute.

I own Naked Lunch but haven't read it. After reading your description, it doesn't really sound like anything I'd enjoy.

Amanda (A Bookshelf Monstrosity) said...

The reason some parents objected to Olive's Ocean is that the word scrotum appears in the book, on the first page. Because heaven forbid children use the correct anatomical term for their private parts!**end sarcasm**

Some people can get their panties in a wad over anything.

PolishOutlander said...

Hmmm, everywhere I go, I see that people have read Native Son in high school, while I read Richard Wright's Black Boy. I just found it an interesting observation. I enjoyed Black Boy, although the second part was a bit too heavy and philosophical and political for a mere ninth-grader like me at the time.

Lenore Appelhans said...

Misty - Well, they aren't Siamese...so no. I do have some special songs for them though.

Amanda - Thanks for clearing that up. Now that you mention it, I do recall that.

Alice said...

The kittehs look so good in the box! They're adorable....

Ladytink_534 said...

I wonder what it is about boxes that entrances cats so? That reminds me, have you seen the Maru videos?
http://www.youtube.com/mugumogu

Darlene said...

I sure have missed seeing the kitties every week. Great pic - they do love boxes. Buddy loves bags. I can't believe how big Finn has gotten in this last little while.

Wendi said...

Love the picture! Your kittens are so adorable. :)

Wow - I'm impressed that you have 20 banned books listed. Yes - aren't some of the titles they have listed amazing? I've been surprised by quite a few.

Thanks for stopping by and participating in Thingers last week! I've got the post up for this week. ~ Wendi