Books
don’t just give me pleasure; they calm and comfort me. I feel that no time is
being wasted and no harm or dangers are being caused when I pick up a book. To be
able to articulate every emotion and scene that occurs is the greatest skill
one obtains when reading books. Why anyone would attempt to ban books may seem ridiculous
to us westerners who consider ourselves liberals and open minded. But any time
someone has a solid perspective on life and feels that it is being threatened
he will more than likely retaliate; some more maturely than others by putting
themselves in the other group’s shoes than give a counter argument. However there
are those who are stubborn and retaliate by putting a stop to it; such as silencing
and banning a book. Some attempts are foiled but others do not go in vain,
considering that there are countries that have much higher censorship than
others. Sure a few people in those countries will secretly obtain those books
and get away; however there are others who are not as fortunate; they are
unaware and convinced that censorship of certain material and information is
right, never obtaining such books. I believe books should not be banned because
when or wherever there is a person who seeks new, change, different, pleasure,
etc. they should not be denied.
It
wasn’t until I was 18 that I actually chose and completed a book on my own without
skimming it or being assigned it and began to feel those feelings I described
earlier. One of the first books I thoroughly enjoyed was “Perks of Being a Wallflower”
by Stephen Chbosky. It
was a kick starter in the right direction of pursuing literature. It was very
influential to me because I also completed the nine books that were assigned to
the main character during the story. There have been attempts to ban this book
and the reasons are pretty simple. It contains minimal affiliation with sex and
drugs. It’s a young adults book so it contains all the typical things a bored
suburban boy, coming of age would attempt if the opportunity was handed when
facing uncharted territory. I liked it because
the early 90’s is a period of time when rock was great and young romance was still
delivered in letters. For those who enjoy nostalgic moments I recommend this
book.
A couple of reasons to ban a book are sex, drugs, violence,
homo sexuality and many more. A book that comes to mind is “Naked Lunch”. Such intense
graphic detail is displayed in this book by William Burroughs of pedophilia,
heroin addiction, and taboo culture. It was influential to me because it taught
me that there are no such things as limits and one should not be ashamed to
expose what one considers their deranged thoughts to the public. Art is art.
Another
book that I enjoyed and is also considered amongst the list of banned books is “1984”
by George Orwell. A book that scared, puzzled, and entertained me. If totalitarianism continued after WWII or even
still today in any other country that embodies this government: a story of the
horrors and dangers these tactics of propaganda and censorship could instill. A
book that would be a great read especially since this class topic is media and
the one thing that an authority knows is that if it wants to maintain power by
force it’s through the media.
