I didn't get a chance to do a post yesterday so that just means that today, on the final day of Banned Books Week, I have double the prompts to share. I hope you have enjoyed my week of posts. Next year, I'm planning in advance to host a read-along of a book that has been banned/challenged (I'll make sure it's a shorter one). I look forward to this week every year. Can you tell? :-)
Wow! Now that would be an endeavor. This was another one I had to really think about. I finally came up with Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This book should not be lost to the sands of time simply because of what it's about. This "classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity." (Goodreads) What better book to remind people of what we are becoming, and what could happen if we allow ourselves to be completely monopolized by the media, drugs and conformity. I'm afraid we are already headed down that road.
What are your thoughts? Which book would you memorize?
And here I am, full circle, back to the Harry Potter series again. I was already an adult when the first book in the series came out. 29 years old. I read them as an adult and I loved them (I'm planning to start rereading them, with the first book around the holidays this year). However, I so wish that my younger self could have read them. I know the girl I was would have truly reveled in them. When I was around 10 - 12 years old (maybe even younger...I tended to read at a higher level than my age), some of my favorite books were Little Women, The Prydain Chronicles (Lloyd Alexander), the Oz series (L. Frank Baum), A Wrinkle in Time (Madeline L'Engle) so I know Harry Potter would have fit right in with these, and I probably would have read them more than once.
Which book would your give your younger self?
Thanks again for joining me for Banned Books Week. I conclude with a few more statistics on banned/challenged books. See you next year!
I would probably memorize Huckleberry Finn. It shows truthfully what the situation was in the U.S. during slavery. The truth of the book sadly includes its offensive language. It was already historical fiction when Mark Twain wrote it in the 1880s, and he portrays growth in Huck's respect and understanding of Jim. The character of Jim is reason enough to save the book, as he embodies a compassion and fatherhood to Huck that Huck may never understand. I wonder what Twain would think of our times. Much has changed for the better, but like Huck, our country still has a long way to go. I wish Twain could write a novel for our day! I know it would tell the truth.
ReplyDeleteHow have I managed to miss this years BBW? It always amazes and saddens me just which books people have taken against.
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