There’s been quite a bit of coverage of Banned Books Week in the blogosphere and the mainline media. As the week comes to a close, I thought it worthwhile to post links to a few of my favorite bits this year:
- Is it censorship if the government buys all the copies of a book and then destroys them?
- The Internet Archive has an online collection of 74 banned and challenged books.
- 10 great science fiction novels that have been banned
- If You Can’t Ban Books, Ban Authors
- Twitter: Banned Books’ New Best Friend
- Spotlight on Censorship – The American Heritage Dictionary (my personal favorite when it comes to dictionaries)
- Finally, although Banned Books Week is a U.S. event, Amnesty International also takes note of it to focus on individuals around the world “who are persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read.” As this year’s report shows, there are far too many who are not as fortunate as we Americans.
Books won’t stay banned. They won’t burn. Ideas won’t go to jail. In the long run of history the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.
A. Whitney Griswold, “A Little Learning,” The Atlantic Monthly (November 1952)
