tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post199976682013085135..comments2023-08-06T04:21:52.491-06:00Comments on Kash's Book Corner: I Ban Books for a LivingArsen Kashkashianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10185747887959535224noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-56205348676347639472008-10-23T02:46:00.000-06:002008-10-23T02:46:00.000-06:00Wench - I've been thinking about this a lot; my li...Wench - I've been thinking about this a lot; my little boy is only 2 1/2 and I've been wondering about somne of the things I read when I was younger. I think I've concluded if it was okay for me, and I'm fairly well adjusted - at least enough to be his father! - then there's no good reason to prevent him reading it. If he wants to talk about it then we can. A biggie for me - and I appreciate not so many will share this - is the Narnia books. I've been quite anti them in recent years for the not so subtle religious propaganda and dubious messages about little kids dying and being glad to do so. But then, I didn't get it at the time and loved the books when I was little as great adventures. Read on, my boy! And make your own mind up as you grow. Like we did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-43435690519921636902008-10-23T01:10:00.000-06:002008-10-23T01:10:00.000-06:00I checked some stuff out of my library that *nobod...I checked some stuff out of my library that *nobody* my age should have been reading. Robert Heinlen's non-juvie sci-fi still leads the pack in mature content - polygamy, incest, canibalism... Sometimes I think it made me a better person, and sometimes I think it took me decades to get normal social ethics straight in my head. Either way I would not let any kids of mine read the stuff I read prior to age 15, and even then not without serious discussion and analysis.bookwenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08791403451040847457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-15679845563129144792008-10-05T09:15:00.000-06:002008-10-05T09:15:00.000-06:00Interesting post,Kash,but you're wrong to call you...Interesting post,Kash,but you're wrong to call yourself a book banner. There's a world of difference between choosing not to carry a certain book in your store for business reasons and choosing to decide for others what they or their children should be reading.<BR/><BR/> For one thing,if you had a customer who came in and wanted one of those books that weren't in your stock,due to your knowledge of what sells and what doesn't,and asked you to order it for him/her,you wouldn't say no,right?<BR/><BR/> You'd special order it for that person but wouldn't have to add it to your shelves. For you,it's simply business,the way a local grocery store might not have a fancy brand of coffee since the folks in the area haven't made any demands for it or they did have that particular one when it first hit the marketplace and it didn't sell.<BR/><BR/> Real book banners are motivated to keep certain books away(especially from young people)in order to prevent certain ideas from spreading and challenging their pre-existing notions of the way things work. You're right that the book banning/challenging situations that come up these days aren't quite as dramatic as the courtroom battles to teach The Origin of Species or allow the export ofJames Joyce's Ulysses to not be a federal offense,but past is prologue,as another of the current VP candidates stated recently.<BR/><BR/> I do agree with Gail and JKD that class warfare does come into play here-there are many people who either have little or no access to the internet and therefore,may not be able to get the book they wanted if their nearest library doesn't have or can't get it for them.<BR/><BR/> I'm all for parents deciding for their own children what they should be allowed to read and for age appropriate book selections as well. It's when folks step over that line and want to oppose upon their neighbor's kids their own personal set of boundaries that we have to hold up that red sign and say "STOP!"lady thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16287907577241697874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-143851141286003412008-10-05T08:15:00.000-06:002008-10-05T08:15:00.000-06:00I have to agree with Gail - it's a matter of the p...I have to agree with Gail - it's a matter of the public sphere vs. the private sphere. There's a price of admission in the latter that isn't just about the cost of the book - a kid whose parents would challenge or ban a book isn't going to be giving them free reign to order and receive from Amazon. <BR/><BR/>I agree that book banning/challenging isn't as bad or pervasive as it once was but that doesn't mean it isn't a pervasive threat. The first lady might have kicked off the National Book Festival but the current Vice Presidential nominee for the GOP casually inquired about the procedures for mass book-banning during her term as small-town mayor. The librarian, of course, was suitably aghast and the request didn't go forward - but that's the point. There should be social sanction for that kind of behavior, and keeping it in the public eye with Banned Books week is a good way to do so.jkdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17735094589150138519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-69564276713510031492008-10-04T22:38:00.000-06:002008-10-04T22:38:00.000-06:00Thanks for the mention. I'm not sure, but I think...Thanks for the mention. I'm not sure, but I think Oswego did manage to kick me to the curb, but no matter. The reason that banning counts for us YA writers and other juvenile writers is a big one. Banning actually helps some of our sales. If the kids can't get the book in the library, it must have the good stuff in it and they go buy it--except for those that can't afford to. Unfortunately the friends they could borrow from usually can't afford to go get it either and unless they live within walking distance from the public library--it's affording the bus ride or getting someone to give them a ride.<BR/><BR/>Translation: Too much trouble--we'll watch tv instead. Yes, that's what we want them to do.<BR/><BR/>Book banning in the schools is a cruel form a economic discrimination. The really bad part? Usually it's the wealthier parents that run to the school board to get the book pulled from the shelf. Let's make sure those poorer children keep watching the television.<BR/><BR/>Book banning in schools is one parent's way to keep other parent's from deciding what their own children can read. I support any parent that doesn't want his or her child to read Shattering GLass, but I don't support their right to decide that for every other child in the school.<BR/><BR/>By the way--love Boulder (my favorite cuz lives there and love those indie book stores. Keep up the good work.<BR/><BR/>Gail GilesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com