Banned Book Week 2013

I have decided to read Cormac McCarthy’s “All the Pretty Horses” for my banned book. It has been removed from a school district in KS for "vulgar language, sexual explicitness, or violent imagery that is gratuitously employed."   I will let you know how it goes.

I also just re-read Stephen King’s “Carrie”. It is on the list of most challenged books, presumable because there is sex and menstruation and violence. I read it in two days. It is a quick read because I have read it before and it is only 245 pages. I have not read it in a long time, maybe 15 – 20 years and it struck me how young Mr. King was when he wrote this book. It is well written, so I am not being disparaging, but it is obvious that he was not far from the high school kids he was writing about. It is probably why it is so good; you can feel that these are real kids, doing what kids do. Of course, Carrie is also every kid who was bullied and beaten ultimate fantasy, that you could stop the people hurting you and hurt them back. It is not healthy, but it is understandable. How much can a person take after all?

I encourage everyone to find a banned book to read and then talk about it with someone: blog, tweet, facebook, or even speak to someone in person, do whatever you use to spread your thoughts around.