This week is Banned Book week. Every year around this time, I find more books to read thanks to this list. The ones that end up on this list are typically raw and honest, and even if they fall flat for me, I can usually appreciate the truth in the work. Although I have to admit, E. L. James's 50 Shades of Grey is on the list for 2013, and while I sampled the first few pages, I couldn't find anything deeply honest about it, the writing was mediocre, and I didn't care for the main character. But that doesn't mean I think the book should be banned. People should have the right to sample a book and decide for themselves.
I've only read a couple of the books from the top ten of 2013, but one interesting trend I noticed is that seven of the ten books were banned due to being "unsuitable for age group." Now, there might be books I would steer my child away from because I might think he's not mature enough to handle it yet, but I wouldn't want that book taken out of the library or made unavailable to the public in any way, so when people do this, it leaves me flabbergasted. You could pick a dozen thirteen year olds at random, and all of them will have vastly different maturity levels. Some might be able to handle, for example, The Hunger Games, while it would give nightmares to others. But just because my child can't handle, let's say, jumping from a four foot perch on the playground equipment to the ground doesn't mean I think all kids his age should automatically be banned from doing so. There are plenty who could handle it, and some, like him, who couldn't.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of hearing Sherman Alexie speak at The University of New Mexico. His book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is one of my favorite books of all time, and it's also been banned. A lot. He seemed to take some pride in this. He also found the humor in it. The main character is a fourteen year old boy who… wait for it… masturbates. Shocking, right? It's the main reason people want the book banned, along with the depicted alcoholism and language, and I'm sure there are some other things that got people's knickers in a twist. But think about a teenager picking up the book and thinking, Hey, yeah, I'm not the only one going through this whole weird thing with my body and my family and my community! What a great feeling. Adolescence is so damn lonely to begin with that any little gesture that reaches out to someone should be encouraged, including reading a book that a person might identify with.
I find that as I strive to write more honestly, I delve deeper into things that make me uncomfortable, which might make readers uncomfortable. I think it's good to face one's discomfort and fears, loves and hates. But sometimes readers don't want to be uncomfortable. They don't want to look at the truth, and when you show it to them, they flip out. It's actually one of my dreams that someday I write something so profoundly honest and disturbing that people try to ban it.
Showing posts with label Sherman Alexie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sherman Alexie. Show all posts
Monday, September 22, 2014
Monday, September 23, 2013
A Week of Links
I am in the throes of novel revisions, and so most of my writing brain has been taken up with that. As such, I don't have much left to even come up with a blog post, so here are a few links you might find interesting.
This week is Banned Books Week. I wrote a blog post about it last year. I had just read Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and I loved it. If you haven't read it, then do yourself a favor and add it to the books on your night stand.
Carrie Vaughn, author of a series of books about a werewolf named Kitty, posted her thoughts on writing a series. She's a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold as well, and made numerous references to the Vorkosigan series in her post.
I can't write a post without referencing Breaking Bad. If you're all caught up with the series and anticipating the last show, you might be interested in this review of this past Sunday's episode, "The Granite State."
This article warns of the dangers of pushing yourself too hard in Cross Fit, but what it comes down to is, you've got to listen to your body regardless of what you're training for. We all have that little voice in our heads that sometimes pipes up and says, "Hey, this isn't right," or, "This doesn't feel good at all."
So have a good week, go read a banned book (maybe one in a series), catch up on Breaking Bad, and enjoy that workout.
This week is Banned Books Week. I wrote a blog post about it last year. I had just read Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and I loved it. If you haven't read it, then do yourself a favor and add it to the books on your night stand.
Carrie Vaughn, author of a series of books about a werewolf named Kitty, posted her thoughts on writing a series. She's a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold as well, and made numerous references to the Vorkosigan series in her post.
I can't write a post without referencing Breaking Bad. If you're all caught up with the series and anticipating the last show, you might be interested in this review of this past Sunday's episode, "The Granite State."
This article warns of the dangers of pushing yourself too hard in Cross Fit, but what it comes down to is, you've got to listen to your body regardless of what you're training for. We all have that little voice in our heads that sometimes pipes up and says, "Hey, this isn't right," or, "This doesn't feel good at all."
So have a good week, go read a banned book (maybe one in a series), catch up on Breaking Bad, and enjoy that workout.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week kicks off today. Find a description and a list of the top banned books of 2011 here.
To celebrate, I read one of 2011's most banned books, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. It's a semi-autobiographical story about a 14 year old Indian boy going to an all-white school off the reservation where he lives. The introduction promises that you'll laugh in about a dozen different ways while reading, which I did. I also teared up quite a few times as well. This story is deeply moving, and Alexie pulls no punches whatsoever as he portrays what it's like to grow up feeling like an outsider. The story addresses race, poverty, alcoholism, and yes, even masturbation. Hey, the main character is a 14 year old boy!
Those are the very reasons cited when people have voted to ban this book. I found this on Wikipedia, which says that the Richland School Board in Washington initially banned the book, but when they did so, all ten copies were checked out of the library, and there were holds on the returned copies. So the members actually read the book at that time and discovered that it was, in their words, outstanding. They had banned a book without reading it. They lifted the ban a month after initiating it when it would have never happened in the first place if they'd actually read it. This makes me want to scream.
At its heart, this book is about loneliness. The main character, Arnold Spirit, Jr., feels half-Indian when he's at school in Rearden and half-white when he's home on the Spokane Indian reservation. Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:
"I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness. There were millions of other Americans who had left their birthplaces in search of a dream.
I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms."
And here's another great quote:
"If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing."
What's not to love about this? It's a great message. It tells teenagers, hey, you belong somewhere, you're worth something, you have a reason to be proud of yourself. I loved reading this as an adult, but I would've loved this so much more as a teenager.
Find your tribes. Embrace who you are. And celebrate Banned Books Week by reading something from the list.
To celebrate, I read one of 2011's most banned books, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. It's a semi-autobiographical story about a 14 year old Indian boy going to an all-white school off the reservation where he lives. The introduction promises that you'll laugh in about a dozen different ways while reading, which I did. I also teared up quite a few times as well. This story is deeply moving, and Alexie pulls no punches whatsoever as he portrays what it's like to grow up feeling like an outsider. The story addresses race, poverty, alcoholism, and yes, even masturbation. Hey, the main character is a 14 year old boy!
Those are the very reasons cited when people have voted to ban this book. I found this on Wikipedia, which says that the Richland School Board in Washington initially banned the book, but when they did so, all ten copies were checked out of the library, and there were holds on the returned copies. So the members actually read the book at that time and discovered that it was, in their words, outstanding. They had banned a book without reading it. They lifted the ban a month after initiating it when it would have never happened in the first place if they'd actually read it. This makes me want to scream.
At its heart, this book is about loneliness. The main character, Arnold Spirit, Jr., feels half-Indian when he's at school in Rearden and half-white when he's home on the Spokane Indian reservation. Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:
"I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness. There were millions of other Americans who had left their birthplaces in search of a dream.
I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms."
And here's another great quote:
"If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing."
What's not to love about this? It's a great message. It tells teenagers, hey, you belong somewhere, you're worth something, you have a reason to be proud of yourself. I loved reading this as an adult, but I would've loved this so much more as a teenager.
Find your tribes. Embrace who you are. And celebrate Banned Books Week by reading something from the list.
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