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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Friday, April 07, 2023

5 comments:

Marianne said...

I've read nine of them. And I do always check the books that are banned, there is something to them.

I always say, banning a book is the best publicity one can get. The reason why those banning them have not noticed that, yet, is because they don't seem to be very smart. But we knew that already.

CyberKitten said...

Apparently, its not something we've done here for quite some time. I think the last famous one was 'Spycatcher' that Thatcher wanted banned. That didn't last long as I think it was freely available in the EU and so made it over here quite easily. But whenever I hear of a book being banned somewhere I'm always interested to read it to discover WHY it was banned. I know at least a few of the banned books in the US have been pushed back into the Best Sellers List because of the bans. VERY counter-productive from the banners side. People inevitably want to know what the fuss is about!

Marianne said...

I think it's more a US American thing. And the Nazis did it. Which, I think, tells us a lot.

CyberKitten said...

History never looks kindly on countries that ban, or especially burn, books. Unfortunately its a lesson that never seems to 'stick'. I do struggle with the idea that such bans all too often happen in places that trumpet their freedom and liberties. If their ideas and beliefs are supposedly 'self-evident' what are they so afraid of?

Marianne said...

I didn't even know whether there were banned books in Germany right now but I checked and there are very few, one of them has the title Suicide, mode d'emploi, English: Suicide, an instruction manual. And that's apparently what it is. In addition to a cultural-historical review of the subject of suicide, the book contains a guide to the most successful way to carry out a suicide by listing and describing various practices. I think something like that might be a good idea to ban, though generally I am against that.

And yes, your question is very valid. I think they are mostly afraid that their view of the world might chagen.