10 Banned Books ...

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´Lolita´ is probably one of the two most famous banned books. In the book, the title character was only 12 years old, which is probably why it was banned in the prudish Britain of the 1950s. Perhaps surprisingly, the same did not happen in the US.

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´Lady Chatterley´s Lover´ is the other book best known for being banned – and for being the subject of an obscenity trial. It was banned in several countries for its explicit sexual content (especially shocking in the UK, as Lady Chatterley was sleeping with a social inferior!).

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People may be more familiar with the film version of the book, which describes gruesome murders committed by an apparently charming Wall Street banker. The book can only be sold shrink-wrapped in Australia, but is actually banned in the state of Queensland.

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Of all the books you´d expect to see on a banned list, the Bible is perhaps the most unlikely candidate. In the 15th century, copies in English were banned in England for being heretical (one unfortunate translator was burned at the stake). Today, it is apparently banned in some non-Christian countries.

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Orwell´s famous political allegory was banned from publication in the US during the Second World War, as it was seen as critical of the USSR, America´s ally. Today, it is banned in the United Arab Emirates as the talking pigs are considered un-Islamic.

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Now considered a literary classic, at the time of its publication some 80 years ago, this book was seen as far too shocking for British sensibilities. Why was this? The protagonist was a lesbian, and although the book contained no sexual content, it was branded obscene through a court case.

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The film adaptation of ´The Grapes of Wrath´, set during the Depression, is considered as much a classic as the book is. However, at the time of publication, it was banned in some parts of the US as certain groups in California did not like the way they had been portrayed.

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I´ve never particularly liked Lewis Carroll´s classic, although I was surprised to find that it had been banned. As with ´Animal Farm´, talking animals caused some upset – although this time in the Chinese province of Hunan.

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Having bravely worked my way through this book, I would happily have banned it for being tedious and overhyped. You might have expected that the Vatican would have banned it, but it was only banned in Lebanon, after upsetting Catholic leaders there. No such luck anywhere else.

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Everybody´s heard of ´Madame Bovary´, even if they´ve never read it (I tried another of Flaubert´s works and nearly died of boredom). Perhaps not surprisingly, Emma Bovary´s adultery was too much for 19th century sensibilities, and Flaubert was tried for obscenity.

I´ve read most of these books, and with the exception of The Da Vinci Code, it´s difficult to see with a modern eye why they were ever banned. Of course, in the case of the older books, it´s due to the fact that attitudes were different when they were published. Is there anything that you would (tongue in cheek) like to see banned?

Top Photo Credit: weheartit