Censorship: it’s like a publicist’s dream!
Nothing makes me want to read a book more than when someone says I can’t read it.
Check out this infographic from PrinterInks featuring some now classic books that were banned because of… well, you’ll see the reasons below:
What’s your favorite banned book? Let us know in the comments below.
good !
Thank you for pointing out the omission of “Doctor Zhivago” by Boris Pasternak from the previous list. You are absolutely right, “Doctor Zhivago” is a significant example of a banned book in the Soviet Union.
‘Spycatcher’ by Peter Wright was banned in the UK, yet freely available across the Channel in mainland Europe. It was considered that Wright, a former MI5 officer, had breached the ‘Official Secrets Act’ and had suggested that actions had been sanctioned against leading UK politicians.
And then there was Hardy’s ‘Tom Jones banned by the Alberta Government and worst of all the University of Alberta in the early 1960’s when I was a student. They tried to ban the movie but I don’t think they succeeded. Hurrah!
‘Tom Jones’ was by Henry Fielding, Susan.
This is an interesting list. One notable book missing is Dr. Zivago written by Boris Pasternak, which was banned in the USSR for many years. Russian copies were published in other countries and smuggled into the country illegally. The subject was deemed by the authorities as being too critical of the early Communist leaders. After Pasternak’s persecution and death, Khrushchev had it reviewed by a close aide who said the large volume only a few pages would need revision.
What I meant is from such a large volume, only a handful of pages and paragraphs would have to be omitted or rewritten from a Communist government point of view. I misspelled the title in my last post, it should be Dr. Zhivago. It was such a shame that Pasternak, who was ostracized by his own writting community and government officials never significantly received praise from his own Russian countryman for this great work while he lived. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 but was forbidden to accept it by the Russian authorities who were embarrassed by the honor.
You missed “Go Ask Alice”. I remember going out to buy it when it was banned in our schools in Canada in the 70s.
They should have banned Peyton Place.
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