John Green did a really interesting video response to his book 'Looking for Alaska' being the most challenged book in the U.S. in 2015, which he ends by saying "If you have a world view that can be undone by a novel, let me submit that the problem is not with the novel". What a line
That is a terrible line actually. What he means to say is that you have a problematic world view if it doesn't fit with the world view I am presenting in my art. Because he wouldn't have said that for example if people said "Mein Kempf" changed their world view. He wouldn't say that their world view was a problem before, if Mein Kempf changed it. Literature, and art in general, has an effect on people. For better or worse. Saying your opinion is problematic if a book changes it is terrible and dangerous. As a novelist I think he knows that, and it was a slip of the tongue. Not a great line at all, IMO. Regardless, I really like John Green as an author and content creator and think he has a great mind.
I understand it more if your worldview is so narrow that it is challenged threatend by a novel you should look at your worldview. I mean if my worldview is all human beings deserve basic human rights this is (hopefully) not going to be changed by reading mein Kampf and if it is then your world view really easn that good. By the way Mein Kampf is not banned in Germany, just to publish uncommented versions. Don't know about other countries, but we read and discussed excerpts in history class. And that's the important thing - things you don't like / agree with don't go away by not talking about them. Also there needs to be a big distinction between banning media because it is inciting violence and threatening democracy VS banning it because of swearing, sexuality political ideas....
@@marthajones9284 I am in no way advocating banning books or almost any speech for that matter. What I am saying is that people change their opinions and get affected by literature all of the time. It doesnt mean that the opinion they had before was bad. It's a logical fallacy, and a bit egoistic. It assumes your (or John's, more correctly) world view is always true and correct and everyone who thinks differently is problematic. This is not it. Again, I am not saying banning books is good. I am just referring to that quote from John Green. I think it's a bad statement.
As an Italian, I find this whole book banning concept extremely dangerous, and quite frankly regressive. Books in Italy were only banned under the fascist regime - so you may understand why I am concerned with the entire situation
Books were also banned by the church, it was called ‘The Index Librorum Prohibitorum’. Fortunate enough though, it was abolished on 14 June 1966 by Pope Paul VI :)
I totally agree! like the main book that was band in Germany (where I’m from) is “Mein Kampf” aka Hitlers Manifest and even that Hase been unbanned as a version with additional information and criticism had been published. It’s crazy how many books are banned in the US just because of “explicit language ” or “sexual content ”
From a french point of view I'm actually really shocked that Maus is being banned in the US. It's a essential piece of historical literature and it's available in every school library here... actually the only banned book in France that comes to my mind in Mein Kempf...
The real reason certain people in the US want Maus banned is because they would like to stage their own fascist takeover. A book like Maus warns people and alerts them as to how these takeovers happen and how propaganda twists the facts. A certain orange menace would never have gotten close to the office of the presidency if we did not do such an abysmal job of teaching history in this country. The warning signs were there, but too many people didn't know how to spot them.
This kind of annoys me because it's only banned in elementary schools! Not even high schools! It has some inappropriate pictures and although I obviously agree that that the Holocaust needs to be talked about to every age, they have to be showed through different mediums as opposed to throwing adult books into children's arms
@@samharden1635 i think it’s age appropriate for high school; i actually had to read it for school in 8th grade and i really enjoyed it. It didnt feel any more shocking than the numerous history classes about the holocaust and WWII. Maybe it’s different in the usa, but my school’s history books were more brutal, with letters describing the war, numbers and statistics about all the victims, descriptions of the mustard gas’ effects etc. I also read Anne Frank’s journal around the same time, i don’t think either of them is innapropriate for a ~14 years old child. To each their own i guess, and of course not everyone grows in the same ways at the same pace, and everyone can find it troubling no matter their age depending of their sensibilities, but that’s expected with such a topic.
Book bans in prisons would be a very interesting topic. In the US, prison libraries often ban any books that are written/translated into languages other than English, basically saying that any language a prison guard doesn't understand is dangerous; even books in Spanish are often banned from the libraries despite a large Spanish-speaking population in the country. Unfortunately, there isn't much the inmates can do to appeal such bans.
I mean, I sort of get where they're coming from, it would be really easy to hide "how to make a bomb from prison supplies" instructions into a book that no authority figure could read. On the other hand, it would also be really easy to hide those to an English book, just do it in a code language.
@@Colaman112 but the problem is that there should be some authority figure who could read the language. Courtrooms always offer translators for people who don’t speak English. If the prison is holding lots of people who don’t speak English, then they should have systems in place to accommodate that. At least having translations. Like it would be easy to have the same approved books and dictionaries simply printed in both languages. Or if the prisons want inmates to only speak English, then maybe offer English lessons.
That’s so frustrating because hiring a librarian or commissioning librarians with different language skills to ensure books are safe (e.g aren’t a “how to” to commit crime or DYI dangerous things etc) and having a centralized library service would solve… a lot. They could also provide categorize by keywords to know the topic of books in case there’s a need to monitor that (eg are they at risk for suicide etc). Really really bad to ban books in prisons because books are essential
@@Colaman112 well that’s stupid… you can just get a guard who speaks German or sb from outside… having some translated books or originally written in another language doesn’t harm anyone
Reading “mature” themes at a young age was great for me. It stimulated my naturally curious mind. I would always read reviews and essays after finishing and take in people’s discussions on the topics in the book. If your kid is old enough to be interested in reading these novels, they’re old enough to find things online to read. Why censor kids from delving into these themes that interest them, instead of being open and having a conversation about them?
I agree with this. I was the same. But on a safeguarding level i can understand why overly sexual books are banned in schools. I do think they should be available for anyone to read, just not necessarily in the school environment. I think the opposite for books regarding racism - i think teachers are well placed to address those isues, and they absolutely should.
@@xExMachinax I think it depends on the nature of the novel. Is it an erotica book, or is the sex part of a greater story (ie. prostitution, power dynamics, mental illness, etc.). It’s definitely a grey area and it depends on age, I think. High school is different than elementary.
It's so interesting to me to see books like Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl banned for sexism and crude language while books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (extremely explicit language) or Catcher in The Rye (blatant misogyny and sexism) are expected to be read and understood in their own context. These same themes that people try to get modern books banned for are a present and integral part of the literary cannon and a factor in how we learn to read critically and to not take words on the page as face value prescriptions of morality.
EXACTLY OMG, noone said one had to agree with the sentiments in these books, censorship doesn't only censor the controversial topics but also the conversations around them THAT ARE SOOOO IMPORTANT
To be fair The Catcher in the Rye has been banned several times in many places over the years because of its controversial nature, but I do agree there is a bias for classic books dealing with similar subjects to modern books
I think this books are banned out of laziness, because just saying "It's bad and no one should ever bring it up again" is a half assed attempt at parenting. You cannot just cover your kid in a everything-proof-shield so that they'll never learn anything that might make them anything else than you're _idealised_ version of what your kid should be. To be completely honest, all that banning a book does is cover, an otherwise ordinary book, in a shroud of mystic and wonder. Even more trying to be this controlling will only have the kids to either be excellent liars, or distrustful/hateful of authority figures, or both.
Well it’s just a lie to get books banned that are talking about gender identity, LGBTQ+ themes, being bipoc in America or important historical events… it’s telling that Republicans want to teachers to teach the “two sides” of the 2nd World War and are banning Maus… there’s a reason why the people bannig the books are alt right politicians…
Absolutely and one cannot shield the kids from everything. The kid is going to be exposed to rude language, whether he reads the book or just listens to a song. So yeah.
yea i was just listening to the video so i thought he said 'Mao' imagining it was about the party chairman, and then looked to see that he was actually confusingly omitting the s it's just the english PTSD from the norman invasion, assuming everything foreign-looking is french or pronounced like french ( see Laos - Lao )
"The Bluest Eye" is one of the best pieces of literature I've ever read and I genuinely cannot believe that it's a debut novel.. The writing is just exquisite and the exploration of "taboo" concepts is executed so tenderly and with extreme care. I cannot speak about the black experience but I can talk about how certain aspects of the book are painfully accurate to my experience being South Indian. The internalized racism and colourism is something that is common in many parts of India as well as the desire to look "white" or have eurocentric features. As a child, I remember praying for blue or green eyes because I thought that my own were not enough. Honestly the book is just so brilliant and I cannot stop recommending it to people.
I’m not Indian, but I’ve seen those themes amongst Asian friends (I’m east/southeast Asian, but my parents didn’t teach me about race growing up). Just my experiences, but it seems like a lot of Asian people have this emphasis on looking white, with that complexion even being a beauty standard in some places. Perhaps it comes from years of colonization from Europe, or the “other”-ness of a black and white America. Anyway, my point is that you’ve convinced me the book is worth it so I’ll order it right away :))
Yeah, they were totally worried about kids seeing naked mice people, not kids noticing the disturbing parallels with what's going on in US politics. Not sure I could have read The Bluest Eye and Maus in the same week.
Our emotional capacity needs time to recharge itself to bear the pain again!! When I read “Beloved” I was so absolutely devastated by the dehumanisation of slaves in and of itself that I was emotionally drained for like a whole week
As a teacher (Germany) it cracks me up that parents worry about banning books and put any energy into that when most kids have free access to so much more disturbing stuff online and send it to each other all the time. I teach years 5-13 and that starts WAY before year 5. Those banned books are for older students who have seen worse once they read those books in school. Plus, real, contemporary narratives that don’t shy away from topics like racism, sex etc. normally rock in the classroom and can be very motivating for kids who normally aren’t.
I read another “banned” Morrison book for my a-level english lit course, Beloved, and I think the fact that so much of her writing is being silenced in schools definitely says a lot about how honest (and amazingly written) her books are. “This is not a story to pass on” is the line that ends Beloved because the book is written about real life experiences - something that should definitely be taught in American schools.
Read this and used it for my AP English exam when I was in high school! Shout out to my English teacher for being aggressively progressive in a red state (love her) but yeah Toni Morrison's books makes too much sense for it being banned. Not that I want it to be banned, but it's just very telling of those who wants it to be. To continue on with your point her books needs to be taught in schools and banning it really takes away learning about the actual, real life experiences that you don't get from a history class. Sure, slaves were freed and they had a hard time adjusting. Racism was bad. Well how hard of a time was it? And how bad was racism back then? Morrison's books really captured that.
I’m currently at Uni studying English and we read Beloved in a class called „Language and Memory: Remembering the Past“. We talked about it so much and as heartbreaking as it was to read, it is so so important! I didn’t know it is banned in the US and I’m not sure my professor does either, definitely gonna mention that to her.
I work in a primary school and we constantly have the issue about banning books, or stopping children from reading books. My personal point of view is that, no book should be banned, but there are books that are not currently suitable for an individual or group of children- I do follow the guidance of the authors, and if in doubt I read the book before I will let the student read it (or let the parents know)- in the same way I would follow the film guidance. But crucially, as a teacher it is my job to help the books that the students choose, and make sure I am available to talk to the students about the issues that the book brings up.
I read Maus last week and it broke me. Maybe because I am German and had family members on both sides. I have Jewish roots, my grandma fled from the Red Army when she was a little child, another family member was a Nazi until he took his last breath. I have read so much about the Holocaust and the war, we had so many history lessons about what happened in the KZs, we visited Bergen Belsen when I was in tenth grade (the KZ where Anne Frank died) and still this book broke me down. It is a brilliant read and I recommend it to everyone but it is one of the books that I don't know if I can ever read them again. If that makes sense to anyone. I don't know if any of my words make sense or not, but maybe someone can relate to my blabbering.
It absolutely makes sense to me I felt that way after reading les miserables, the original complete version, and i just know I’ll never read it again. These two books really r so different and im yet to read maus, but i relate to the sentiment
@@talaaa2897 Agree with Les Miserables, after Fantine died I had to pause for a a few weeks before I could even continue. It's a devastating book, and one I won't read again. I'm glad I read it, because it's brilliant and it gives you so much insight... but once is enough. Same thing with certain films like The Grave of Fireflies or Hunger. (also excuse the blabber and tangent).
@@romijane absolutely, I knew while reading that i wont have it in me to do it again, fantine death was so devastating, even when I first watched the cartoon adaptation- i watched that before the book, I cried a lot.
One of the coolest electives I had in university was this one class where we exclusively read and discussed banned books (Bluest Eye, Clockwork Orange, Slaughterhouse 5,ect). It was a higher lever elective, so there was only 9 people in the class, but every single person in that class read every book and was super open to discussing the themes of each, which lead to some amazing discussions about censorship in literature during and after class time. Highly recommend to anyone that they should take a class like that if they are ever given the opportunity!
@@stuffwithsoph8264 never heard of "A Clockwork Orange," but I read Slaughterhouse last year, and (at least in the USA), it's banned because America bombed the shit out of Dresden, killed a bunch of people, but they don't wanna feed us information that might paint the US in a bad light. Manipulation 101 basically.
@agvga5510 why so bitter? assuming you've never discussed literature in an academic context... it's quite useful for brain development. of course learning other skills is also important, english majors don't just 'talk about books' (although it is, of course, not as 'reliable' a money-making major as, say, accounting). there's really no call for being so jaded tho
A interesting little fact, in Germany we have a special genre for books and authors that were banned in 1933 to 1945, but still (were) published in exile. Berthold Brecht was an exile writer and his work "The live of Galileo" showes this restriction of ideas and opinions by a (political) system. Really interesting to see how writers reacted to the banning of literature.
I only very recently came across the term “Exilliteratur”, hadn’t known it was a thing! I was delighted to find it was, that these writers are having their work and experience held up, read, and acknowledged.
@@ferretbutnot2881 mein Kampf isn’t banned, it just can’t be published anymore. Old copies are perfectly legal and there also was a new annotated version a few years ago. It is however dreadfully boring and convoluted and removed from reality, I could not get get through it.
I read Maus in school when I was 16 and thought it was an absolute masterpiece! Why do people try and hide the truth of humanity and breed ignorance? I also wanted to add that this is a fantastic depiction on intergenerational trauma and how Art Spiegelman was an indirect holocaust survivor because he felt the trauma and pain of the holocaust through his parents. Such a fantastic book!
this is the most academic comment section ever and I love to see it. it's like college assignments to post a paragraph response to a prompt and reply to two classmates' responses, but everyone actually puts effort and has a meaningful message that adds to the important conversation inspired by the thought-provoking points made in the lecture they just watched
Jack's videos have become such a huge part of my daily routine that even my own mum refers to him as our "book-friend" to which I now use as an excuse when she tells me off for buying more books after adding all of jacks' booklists to my tbr. we love you in my household :)
I read maus when i was 10 years old. I was real impressed and moved by the story and art of the maus. I guarantee that it just gave me so positive impact and precious memories. I couldnt believe that some states ban this masterpiece.
My dad read 'Maus' to me when I was quite young, I think about 11 or 12? I was still young enough to let my dad read to me, but old enough to be learning about the Holocaust in school. 'Maus' was integral to my learning and empathy about the Holocaust. I'm glad you said it should be compulsory reading, because that was how my dad felt about it. Plus, the drawings and animal characters make the subject matter accessible and approachable for younger readers. It's awful to hear that some education authorities and parents would want such an important book banned.
true, we teach about holocust and ww2 from 1st grade, and kids are okay and parents are okay too, it teaches the kids that things like that should never be repeated and that being bad is not good or cool XD just cuz it had a picture of a naked mouse "its a mouse it suposed to be naked lol" they have a problem with it as if their pets wear cloths or something xD
My Das did the same with Animal Farm from George Orwell. After every reading he sat with me and explained how the situation in the novel describes real life event. 10 years later and I study Political Sciences and English. These are some of the best memories I have with my Dad and I really think it formed me as a person.
I still don’t understand the sheer stupidity of banning Maus. in my country this book is on its way to becoming part of the required reading for history. .
easy, they want to surpress everything that has to do with ww2, from what i read, they pushed for more ww2 related books to be banned with stupid excuses... but at the same time they dont have a problem with their kids watching american shows that are full of explicit content XDD
the US is having its own homegrown neonazi movement which has supporters, sympathizers and enablers entrenched deeply in the government. of course there's a bunch of people who suddenly have a problem with the ""nudity"" in a book that paints the nazis as unthinkably cruel, genocidal mass murderers when they're the ones waving swastikas and chanting blood and soil. ...as a side note, please get me out of here :')
At my Uni in Germany I currently have a course we’re we do animations about the book burnings from 1933. It’s so disheartening and almost surreal that books are still being banned in America to this day!
@Hold Fast It's true so maybe I phrased it wrong. The books that are banned in Germany are ones that actively promote violence, racism crime and so on. The books currently being banned in the US for example have LGBTQ+ characters as protagonists or deal with Americas history with racism. I don't think the two are comparable, even though it is a good point to point out.
yeah in amercian schools its lazily getting banned for nudity and swearing (and now, a new trendy thing to ban books that may offend/upset white people, like seriously grow up)
My high school banned 21 books at the end of the school year last year. Being the passive-aggressive bookworm I am I have written two essays for my schoolwork about them and am dedicated to reading them all. The types of books they've banned are so weird. As you said in the video, most of the books were banned for "sexually explicit scenes" like in Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Abertalli. When I read that book the closest thing to sexual in there was a kiss. The real reason that book is banned is that the main character is bisexual. As a bisexual, this YA romance/coming-of-age book legitimately helped me get through some issues I was having at the time and it's one of my favorite books. The fact that it's banned in my school library is incredibly homophobic and it makes me pissed that they ban books in high schools in general. We're mature enough to be able to read The Handmaid's Tale (another book banned in my school) and understand the message. We're also mature enough to read The Prince and the Dressmaker, a graphic novel my friend loves that is also banned for "sexual content" even though the only "bad" thing in there is a character who does drag. For a school system that wants us to act like adults, they sure don't treat us like them.
Yess!! I’ve been excited for this one! Also, timestamps below: 4:10 - The Bluest Eye 8:30 - Me, Earl and the Dying Girl 12:49 - All Boys Aren’t Blue 18:45 - Maus Really interested in reading Maus and wanted to see what you thought of it! :D And some of you may have heard but we actually have an online community with over 1,400 of us! We have a BOOK CLUB and hold live BYOB calls inspired by the IG lives! 📚😎 (details in replies)
My brother, who was an avid reading and would always get me books every time he visited or the holidays or b-days, gave me Maus as a Xmas gift. I loved it. I haven't read it in a very long time and I have since lost the copy he gave me, so I need to rebuy it at some point. My shelves are getting very full with all the new ones I've picked up in many genres. I can't recommend Maus highly enough. Since it's a comic most folks should be able to read it in a few hours. It's well worth the time. I'm been reading mostly Chinese Danmei books that I've been dying to read and finally have been released in English. I'm also trying to slog through MJD's House of Leaves (ugh, this book;just want to be done with this one already) and I just finished The Familiar, Vol. 1 by the same author, which I found a much "easier" read than House of Leaves.
re: the Streisand effect. Even if the banning increases sales, the banning is still bad and harmful. There are many people who rely in the library to get their books because they can't afford buying them. By banning them from libraries, even if sales go up, you're making reading that book a privilige and therefore it still shouldn't be celebrated
I don't think having more explicit books in schools is the worst thing in the world, however I think the libraries should at least make sure that the borrower is aware of the books content before they take it. Like have it very clearly marked as mature/have a list of triggers on hand (ex. maybe the librarian double checks to make sure the person knows what they'd be getting into) Idk if this is common all over the world, but my old school had an age system in the library (like an r-rating) for the books, worked well, if those schools don't have it then I'd advise implementing it, that can definitely be useful
Yes, like they do what they always do, ignore the problem instead of fixing it. Banning books about sexual harassment or rape or that just contains vulgar language is t gonna do anything but shelter kids from the real world and make it harder for them to learn about certain topics. The books should just have a very clean warning on what they are about and just be looked after.
Tbh i thought that would have already been covered by the publisher tho like surely they wouldn’t allow graphic sex or sexual assault scenes in books marketed for children
I 100% agree choosing books would be much easier & safer if content warnings were included, but I think that's a job for the author & publisher rather than a librarian. (Victoria Lee, author of the "Feverwake" duology, includes content warnings in their books, as does Natasha Ngan in "Girls of Paper and Fire".) I work in a public library, which works a bit differently to school libraries, and the Collections Librarian's job is difficult and busy enough without having to research and create a content warning list for every book that is purchased or gets donated.
I 100% agree choosing books would be much easier & safer if content warnings were included, but I think that's a job for the author & publisher rather than a librarian. (Victoria Lee, author of the "Feverwake" duology, includes content warnings in their books, as does Natasha Ngan in "Girls of Paper and Fire".) I work in a public library, which works a bit differently to school libraries, and the Collections Librarian's job is difficult and busy enough without having to research and create a content warning list for every book that is purchased or gets donated.
@@laughingdoves yeah but the author should be required to put the trigger warnings on the cover (even if it’s in a paper cover that can be taken off). And the library part should just be putting those books in a special section. That’s already a big step. Censorship never helps, especially when the problem can easily be solved.
I read The Bluest Eye in my first semester of college, and then Maus in my last semester. Both classes were with the same professor, who was phenomenal and a champion of reading underrepresented voices in an academic setting. I’m so grateful for those experiences and for that professor for shaping the kind of reader and literary critic that I want to be.
"The beauty in this world was hidden by filth and lies while evil was painted in beauty and smiles" I am happy that you are bringing to light the very real issues these books bring up. These books talk about the very real and visceral unpleasant trials of being human. Too often I feel these issues are hidden away and swept under the carpet and while this filtering can be seen as 'staying positive, it also sweeps away chances to learn from past mistakes.
i agree, he should def read the kite runner as it's quite ironic how it's banned in schools in the US but it's part of the curriculum here in canada. a lot to dissect
I don’t believe in the banning of books at all, no matter what they are. If they have a harmful history, language, or content then they should be read and DISCUSSED. I feel that the idea that “consuming something bad in written media inherently gives people the idea that it is okay” is incorrect. In my experience and with what I’ve seen, it’s when bad things are hidden away and not discussed between people that the affect it has on the people who read it is negative. I also think that children should be given a lot more credit in their processing skills to be able to handle and understand more adult themes in writing. My siblings and I were given nearly free range with reading, especially with classic literature. We knew that if there was something in it that disturbed us we could discuss it with our parent and talk about why it might’ve been difficult to read, how it might have affected others in real life (which was great in developing empathy and understanding to people different then us), etc. Now our reading skills are significantly better than most others I’ve met our age (as adults). That schools are banning books is horrible, and to me it signifies either laziness on the part of the parents and teachers (easier to hide difficult discussions away and have a kid not ready for the real world who’s close minded than to actually have to talk with them and help them develop critical thinking skills). And that schools are definitely trying to influence the way the next generations think to be close minded and prejudiced. Never been so thankful to have been homeschooled by a parent who understood how important this all is.
I'm wondering how you'd feel about the movie for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl lol. I definitely like the movie way more than the book, greg is way more manageable and less obnoxious in the movie (although he does still act like a hormonal teen). also can you believe Jesse Andrews, the author, was one of the writers for Luca? This fact causes me cognitive dissonance on a daily basis.
I also felt the movie was a lot better for that reason. I watched the movie, then found out it was a book, and I just couldn't stand Greg in the book. It feels more natural in the movie, and felt like his growth flowed better.
there weren’t many things that i loved about being homeschooled but one thing was that my mom is strictly against banning any form of literature. she bought maus a couple months before i graduated and wants to buy more banned books for my siblings to read.
in school i wrote an essay about the father-son relationship depicted within Maus and how that is accentuated by the ever-present imagery of smoke in the book. It just shows how deeply the visuals in the account are thought out, and how much of an actual masterpiece is. Maus is truly truly amazing, and incredibly impactful.
I remember giving up on the Me and Earl and the Dying Girl book pretty quickly, but the film is amazing, one of the best movies I have seen in recent years. Not that I remember much of the book, but it works really well in visual form, so I think it's 100 times better than the source material.
The author actually wrote the screen play and I own a copy of the book which includes a notated version of the script from the author. It’s really interesting to see what changes he made and why
oh boy, I recently realised not one of the books I read for school featured a healthy relationship. I think I’ve read more about inc*st, r*pe, drug abuse etc. in school books than anywhere else. Maybe this is because here in Germany we spend like 8 years worth of history classes on why book bans are bad. So the the situation is kind of different from the US but we didn’t read a lot about LGBTQ+ people either. At least not in a positive light.
Totally agree with you that the canon for Sekundarstufe I & II (grade five and upwards, for all those not familiar with the German education system) is mostly depressing, and, in my opinion, too focused on problem-oriented literature, but I have to say that I actually feel great about what is being read in primary schools nowadays. I've recently become a teacher and am currently teaching grade 3 and a) the choices focus mainly on creating enjoyment for reading, which I think is absolutely central at that age, and b) talk about or, at least, mention a wide array of subjects (healthy friendships, found family, LGBT+, gender roles (in a subtle way) etc.). So hopefully, the choices for high school will become more diverse and a bit less "everything hurts", too. (And yes, as a German, the banning and burning of books seems like the last step before banning and burning people to me.)
my college offers a class on banned books where a group of professors chooses a banned book and they teach the class for two weeks on their chosen book. it was really interesting and insightful to learn about different books that i probably would have never read, and to learn why they have been banned (which was for a stupid reason for every book) .. all boys arent blue and maus were actually two of the books chosen for us to read in the class!
And we all know that only good people have banned diverse books throughout history... /s I thought people agreed that bad history shouldn't repeat itself, yet we seem to be doing a lot of that. :(
I think an addition to a 'banned book' series would be the top most banned books from countries around the world, or books that constantly get banned and unbanned then rebanned as the socio-political and cultural landscape around them changes. Maybe a video about the top ten(?) countries with the *most* banned books?
I never read Maus. Our teacher opted instead for "Night" by Elie Wiesel, and let me tell you, it's been almost 15 years since I read that book in school, and I still remember... a lot of it to be honest. It was my favourite book for a long while, and I think it really helped bolster my interest in writing. These stories are so important, and children definitely have the capacity to take away meaningful lessons from them that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
I’ve read The Bluest Eye recently and it was wonderfully important. In actuality it was a book I came back to after being assigned it in college being rushed through felt wrong. Reading on my own I don’t regret at all. Also currently reading Maus which ended up being the same situation as Toni’s book. Two gut wrenching books back to back but glad I appreciate them.
I read MAUS for my literature course in high school (I’m from Mexico) and it took me a while to get through the emotions in it, loved every single bit of the book, kept me thinking around for days alongside my friends and classmates. This sort of graphic novels that deal with “harsh” human emotions like trauma, depression, loss, grief, etc. should be around in schools more, I think they really are a way of grasping onto emotions in a way that allows the reader to understand them more rawly in a sense. The concept of “banning” these emotions and situations that are portrayed in books simply is a way of hiding the truth in life, these emotions exist and its not wrong to feel them, the important thing is to understand them, and by banning access to them through books comes a certain level of ignorance to them even, imo.
I read The Bluest Eye my senior year in high school and it was heartbreaking but so beautiful. I'll keep my copy of that book forever. I wrote my ap lit essay on it and how cyclical trauma is and how it perpetuates itself through family generations.
The most interesting thing I read about a book that was banned/restricted was from The Master and Margarita. Reading about the personal torment that the author went through while writing the book is fascinating and it really connected with me because it is my favorite book I’ve ever read.
Context is needed so much! John Green talks about his book, "Looking for Alaska", being banned for one depiction of oral sex taken completely out of context by parents refusing to read the entire book, it's infuriating!
Were not talking about children we're talking about teens, in which case these are often very important conversatioms and lessons. I recommend the video: "I read the most banned books in america" by Luke Kono, even if its just the first 20-30 mins (because I understand it's a long video), he goes more in depth on how context is important and why subjects like the one above are as well (its also how i found this video lol) @@ApophisTw0Thousand6309
@ApophisTw0Thousand6309 It's not 'really' oral sex, it's a depiction of teenagers fumbling through intimacy. I think it's important for highschoolers to read because they will be engaging in intimacy no matter how well you shelter them.
Regarding Me, Earl and the Dying Girl: since I first read is as a teen, the same age as the characters, which wasn't sure what I felt like I wanted to do in life... this honestly came in as a helpful "what NOT to do" guide. It definitely helps reading it when (slight spoilers I guess?) you view it as a negative character development. You know, from bad to worse instead of the usually expected from bad to better. Also, as a woman I can't say that I felt particularly gross about the sexual jokes or sexism moments as half of them come for a person Gregg clearly says he has no interest in talking to, not because Rachel is a woman but because they were at best old acquaintances from like 5 years ago and his family is now forcing him to talk to her (hence why she isn't even greeted in the title by name but simply as the Dying Girl, her condition is the only thing that holds them 'together' in the first place). There's no happy ending, no "getting the girl" or whatever bullshit that could potentially pose the blatant crudeness as an issue, in fact all the characters are miserable and hate the plot of the book as much as Jack did (if not more in some cases but I won't spoil that). On a re-read you notice some little things that help with plausibility of the ending, but the sense of realization that the book is done on the final page seemed like a practical "see kids, don't fuck up your life in high school since you'll have to live a lot longer than that and the problems will just keep piling up". A cautionary tale, if you will. But then again I like the dry, "not expected to laugh out loud but silently acknowledge that someone did a play on words" type of humor and this book has it in spares... so I can see why it felt a bit forced if the readers aren't into it in the first place. Not that I think the book is bad (in fact nostalgia is definitely holding it on a pedestal), but I can say for sure I'd have differing opinions if I first read it when the scopes of a high school lunch table weren't a prominent thing in your day-to-day schedule. Finally, regarding the movie adaptation: my opinion, which I know isn't shared by the majority, the book has a vastly different flavor of sadness and grief than the movie adapted it to be. Sure, in the books the final third is depressing and realistic but sad, where the movie chose to stretch that into the whole second half, change heavily what actually happened in source material, and make it feel a lot like The Fault In Our Stars... when as Jack said in the book you more get the inversion of that story, instead of a look-alike. Still, as a lot of people prefer that story, they like the movie better since it shows the main character as less of an asshole and more of an average kid, so if you believe that that's what story needs give the movie a watch! If you know what happens in The Fault In Our Stars and believe you wouldn't want to sit through another hour and a half of that, then you won't enjoy it most probably. As for the book... I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone per se, but it is a YA with a pretentious main character that's meant to be very annoying so keep that in mind!
i know this is such an old video but i was scrolling the comments looking for someone talking about this book. i read it in high school, and i remember enjoying it at the time. to be honest, i was in an inpatient facility for ED, and it made me feel like i had myself more together than i thought. like an "at least i'm not this guy" kind of thing. the main character also heavily resembled someone i was friends with at the time, so i felt i was able to sympathize with the other characters around him who kind of had to put up with him. i see all of jack's criticisms as valid, however, i would still recommend this book to the right angsty teenager. the content wasnt anything new or more vulgar than the things i heard from the people around me as a teenager, so i don't think there is any good reason to ban it.
@@kennedyolson3476 agreed! It was written from the POV of a bad person and just because a character is doin g a thing that doesn't mean us the audience should be on their side. Also, yes, I knew a Gregg IRL also, for better or for worse I was the Madison in this situation, so the relatability helped on the first read hahahah
Part two of commenting that you should read the banned book “The Perks of being a wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. The book is a love letter to struggling adolescents, and it’s one of my all time favorite banned books! Though if you do plan to read it, trigger warning of a brief SA scene in the book. Still can not recommend the book high enough!
I'm a parent of two children, and these are the kind of books I'll be encouraging my children to read as they're so important! I want them to explore, be curious, learn about different people's histories and identities, thoughts and feelings. My mum never stopped me reading anything and I respect that. You've totally hit the nail on the head that these books are banned because it challenges the view of parents who want to keep the world according to their discrimination and privileges. As you also said, all they have to do is go online and nothing is unavailable to them... So it achieves nothing!!
I'm Belgian and personally haven't read Maus completely but what I do know is that a part of it was included in our Dutch textbook in high school. We used to have a workbook and a textbook and this textbook was filled with snippets of well known or important works, or works that tied into the exercises into the workbook. All this to say: it's absolutely crazy to me that Maus is banned in schools in the US whereas it is literally included in a school textbook over here. There is absolutely no reason to ban a work like this. No amount of nudity should overshadow the fact that this book is highly educational about a very serious topic that needs to be remembered. And I can't help but wonder if there weren't any other malevolent motives at play for banning Maus... That being said, I will have to get around to reading it completely one day. I think my best friend has a copy of it.
It is actually included in excerpts in some of our textbooks as well, but our country is large and there are many places where people aren't open to intellectually honest accounts of history. When books are "banned" or "challenged" it means in some particular school or district, not the US as a whole. Independent regions have parent or conservative groups that go out looking for "objectionable" things in the curriculum.
maus is a famous example but ive read many articles that they tried to ban far more books that was related to ww2 and holocuast specificly... so yeah its hard not to things that there some malevolent motives under all that. in my place maus is appropriate for elementarly school kids, maybe becuz we teach about ww2 from 1st grade. i dont know why in the US it has higher age rating
Twenty years ago in Mexico a member of the conservative (and ruling party) banned one of the most famous Mexican novels from schools, Aura by Carlos Fuentes. The ban came after his daughter's teacher at a Catholic school added it to the curriculum. This man complained that the book used explicit sexual language and that the book did not adhere to the Ministry of Education's program. The book would be banned along with Gabriel García Márquez's Doce Cuentos Peregrinos. The Barbara Streisand effect took over, my high school added it to the program as well as many others.
When I was in high school, in my graduating year, we all had to read Graphic Novels for an assignment. Maus was a book I remember being an option to do the assignment, which I didn't get to read, but I enjoyed the presentations about Maus, it made me wanna read the book. As a suggestion, if you liked Maus, I read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi which is a memoir graphic novel that also was based off real historical events; specifically about the Iranian Revolution in 1979. You learn so much about the history of Iran before, during and after the revolution. However, it's also a great feminist book since the book is about a Persian woman, Marjane, the author of the book. It also became a movie if you don't want to read the book.
I found your insert about the ways books are banned for racial theory rather than racism, or for discussing queer issues rather than showing queerphobia, really interesting, especially in the context of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl being banned for vulgar language. I distinctly remember my school's Carnegie Medal reading club trying to advise us not to read When Mr Dog Bites when it was nominated because it contained strong language - but it was just swear words! I had definitely heard worse from my fellow Year 8s in the canteen. And I think actually what the banning of books does is try to discourage critical thinking. Which I know sounds very fake deep when I put it like that. What I mean is that when you ban a book for "vulgar language", it stops young people from reading it and thinking "why was this language used?". They are unable to then ascertain the appropriate places/times for language like that, and so their inability to understand why vulgar language might be necessary actually becomes more of a problem. And of course this applies for all other supposed reasons to ban books. Not sure how well I worded this, but you gave me plenty to reflect on re. the power of books. A very interesting video, and I will definitely be reading Maus because of it (if there are copies available!)
You made this comment a month ago, but just so you know you can find pdfs of maus online if you can’t buy it in your area, you can also find translations into different languages too
Because of this video, I was inspired to look up what books were banned in my country (Philippines). It's interesting because there were only four instances of book banning in my country which were the following: 1. Noli Me Tangere 2. El Filibusterismo 3. The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos 4. The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos Obviously, the first two were not banned anymore as it was written by our national hero, Dr. Joze Rizal. It was only banned during the Spanish colonial period in our country. On the other hand, the last two were banned during Ferdinand Marcos' regime in which martial law reigned in our country. Those books were critical against the government thus, they were not allowed to be seen nor read. Interestingly enough, last election, Marcos' son (Bongbong Marcos) won the presidential election. Take note that during his father's presidency, he was already old enough to see the wrongdoings of his father. So, to deny that and praise his father's "accomplishments" was quite something. Furthermore, he won by denying the atrocities that period caused to many Filipinos. Just a thought I would like to get out of my head. Though the mentioned books were not yet banned in our country, it will definitely be in the future. In my country, the issue of socioeconomic disparity is so big that it affected many generations of Filipinos. If these books exist (that contains the horrors of the past) yet people still don't believe them, how much more if they were banned?
Just finished Maus today and I couldn't agree more with you. I was so surprised that this is not a compulsory read in Germany (I even asked some German friends and they didn't know it!). I found it so educational because it is really, as you said, non-fiction. Everything Art depicts happened. Also, I loved how he portrays his father as an utterly annoying grandpa, quite the opposite of a hero. While Art admits at some points that his father has gone through a lot, he also mentions repeatedly that Vladek "has not survived" the horrors of the Holocaust because he is unstable. I was mesmerized by this vision, it really gave me as a reader a great feeling of humanity. As you mentioned, the art is also breathtaking, especially the pain and horror expressions. I recommend this to everyone, this story will not disappoint you and is truly educational.
Maus is pronounced with the s, it,s german not french😊 On another note, i also like reading banned books most notably American Psycho and A Clockwork Orange (with the last chapter)
Personally, i think age restrictions should maybe be placed on books. Like I remember my school library had books that were 13+ and some that were 16+ (usually ones that had more explicit sex scenes) and I’d say that’s okay? Like yeah there are some books that will contain disturbing material that I think should be a bit more regulated, esp in schools where you have people anywhere from ages of 11-18 (in a secondary school), or younger (in a primary school, going by UK school systems here). And its defo possible (I might even go so far as to say its probable) that those restrictions will end up restricting books that don’t really need restricting but have ended with restrictions coz ppl don’t want them to be accessible. But I think that’s a potentially better method than outright banning the book. At least the books are still available then? Even tho that could possibly end up with more books being restricted coz I imagine its not easy to ban a book whereas age restricting it may be a lot simpler so therefore may happen more often.
if they were really banning books for the explicit language and content then yes, this would be fair enough but usually the people who are banning books are, as Jack points out, not actually banning them for 'adult content'. So they want the books gone and your totally good idea probably wouldn't be acceptable to them
I know in most elementary schools they do that. If a kid is at a really high reading level they can check-out/read middle grade or YA books after they get them approved by their parents. It kind of falls apart for middle schoolers though because even if told no they are old enough to find a way to read it and I’d rather a parent say yes and encourage a conversation about the book and it’s content.
Good point about the internet. The internet makes sure that children nowadays are exposed to real world truths and depravities at an earlier stage in life. These books are mild compared with many things on the internet.
I read Maus for my modern literature class about generational trauma and remember describing reading it in the lecture as “never being so glad I was at the end of such a great book” because that meant they escaped. Actually half the books of my curriculum that semester is by now on the most banned lists (including bluest eye and beloved)
Adding to your account of burning books: Here in Chile during the 1973 dictatorship the military burned ,among others, Cubism books (the art movement) because they thought that they refered to Cuba.
Incredibly ironically I have to read Maus for my summer reading. I couldn’t be happier that my English teacher wants to make us read this. I want to read it even more now. Thank you for spreading awareness of these books!
I’m from Brazil and the book Maus has actually been chosen as a mandatory reading in my school! I loved it just as much as Jack and I think it’s amazing to realize the different perspectives of the countries and see that what is prohibited in one is strongly recommended in the other.
We actually read Maus in my English class! I'm in a conservative part of the US so definitely surprising. I remember it was super strange and kind of funny when my teacher put up a news article on the smartboard about school districts banning the book right when we were reading it as a class.
I'd love to see a part 2 of banned books. I will definitely buy "Maus" soon. The bummer with "Me, Earl and the dying Girl" is that it has a really nice cover :D
I read Maus as part of my uni degree and it shifted everything inside me. It's absolutely devastating beyond words but if I was only allowed to read one book in my lifetime it would have to be Maus.
i read all boys aren’t blue as an audiobook and really loved it!!! it’s narrated by George M. Johnson himself and i feel that the writing style clicked a lot better for me that way? i’m in the target audience for the book and around 1/3 of the books i read are YA so that might have played a role in my enjoyment of it too ☺️
I’m so happy you’ve read The Bluest Eye and loved it! It’s my favourite book…I cried when I first read it because I remember being a little girl and also wanting blue eyes so I could relate to Pecola’s internal struggle. Toni Morrison’s writing is STUNNING
I disagree with some of these book bans in all honesty. Books are meant to take you places, highlight issues, portray real stories whether in fiction or non-fiction, and provoke ideas and thoughts. Many of these books provoke the reader into considering things, and banning these types can often hinder new ideas, or make persons more susceptible to one particular narrative. Ithink books containing sexism and crude language are meant to be read in context honestly. Banning books is dangerous because it makes it easier to portray a single type of narrative, a utopic view of reality, a manufactured way of thinking rather than allowing the diverse nature of life to exist and provoke thoughts. So when I see books like The Bluest Eye , Farhenheit 451, maybe even Me, the Earl ad the Dying Girl being banned, I really don't think i can agree with it. I understand why you wouldn't want to give them to children, but at the same time, don't age ratings exist for a reason? Instead of banning you can simply put them in an age restricted section if it's not something you want your 12 year old seeing. However , most teenagers can read these books and decide for themselves what they think is right or wrong. Banning them from libraries entirely for themes such as sexism for example, hinders expression, and what is literature about but expressing ideas? The picture of Dorian gray and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are both rife with sexism and crude language, yet thesebooks are still used to teach students. Sexism and Crude language are simply factual things that exist, and books often reflect societal realities , past and present ways and thinking and more. Out of date ideas give insight on how we came to be at present, losing this insight is a huge loss. The books are not meant to be an instruction manual on social values and morality, they simply portray what the author wants people to think about. So I really disagree with the idea that banning books for themes such as sexism, sexual content, diverse ways of thinking is a strong enough reason. banning books for other ideas? Sure, if necessary. But banning books because they don't agree with modern society's way of thinking at present, I can't generally agree with.
@M. S. Yep. So it bothers me when some on the left support banning books for sexism or racism or something like that. Don't be on the side of book banning. No one who supports banning books ever ends up on the right side of history, and there's a good reason for that.
You know who bans books? Right… totalitarians and fascists… there’s a reason why the people banning the books are alt right politicians… you cannot ban books bc of misogyny or racism or whatever - the books you mentioned are classics and ever thought about why those books contain those things - bc people believed those things. When banning those books you ignore the historical context and ignoring the historical context means ignoring those problems today. Sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. doesn’t exist in a vacuum and you cannot kill an idea no matter how harmful it is. The only way to conquer such problems is through education and people understanding where those harmful ideas are coming from.
I studied Maus and Maus II in class as a literary text, and we pulled apart not only the verbal language but the visual elements (like graphic weight, panel choices etc) and this text is BRILLIANT. There are so many layers behind evoking the emotions that it does, and I 100% agree with you when you say it should be essential reading. It was heartbreaking, but also incredibly eye-opening and confrontational.
I have two kids and never regulated what they read just as I wasn't regulated. They are turning out pretty great and I think I didn't suffer for reading from the adult section of the library after I finished the YA section at 12 or 13.
I love that you said that Maus should be essential reading because we actually studied it in school, and I absolutely loved it! It is such an important read, and the sheer amount of LAYERS to the book is incredible!
I remember reading a book in highschool for my senior year that taught me a valuable lesson, I completely forgot the name or author, but it was essentially the aftermath of a hurricane, following the perspective of a real person in their adventure, people robbing stores after the desolate city, guns being pointed at the citizens by other americans if they tried to leave, the rescue teams taking an extraordinary long time to help them which lead to some death, especially of the elderly, and much more. A lot of it did come from other perspectives, what was actually happening. But the author who had interviewed this man and his family and wrote the book about it was in distressed to find out only a year or so later, the man he had interviewed, who was seen as not a hero, but a great figure who helped many, beat his wife, went to jail, and much more. The author only learned of that after publication, so the book did not mention it at all. The lesson I learned here was that perspective is full of twists, a mix of the good and the bad, biases and unbiases, a lot for anyone to take in, especially since the scenes in the book were not that pretty at all. Why ban any books like these that could teach highschoolers very valuable lessons? Middle and Elementary school could be a different talk, but highschoolers seem mature/mentally-developed enough, especially those about to head to college, that they could understand these topics, even if it's not "safe" like that first book you had mentioned. I feel like these parents really just feel like banning them to just ban them. How long will these parents "shelter" these kids eyes only to throw them out and say goodbye just because they're "adults" now and not children in school.
I'm a grandmother with 5 grandkids under 12 and I buy them at least one Banned Book a week. My own kids LOVE them and are so happy their mom (me) insists on _really_ educating her grandbabies. I get thank-you notes (hand-written, no less!) every couple of weeks, thanking me for the great books I'm sending. Trying to do my part.
My favorite German writer, Erich Kästner, had most of his work banned by the Nazis and is famous of being one of a handful of people who actually attended their own book burnings. He wrote a couple of essays about his experiences that I wish would be translated into English because they’re really fascinating.
I loved Maus! My 9th grade English class gave us the chose between reading Maus or Persepolis. So half the class read Maus (vol. 1) and the other half Persepolis. I chose Maus, and it was one of my favorite required readings I ever did in school. It led me to pick up the 2nd volume of Maus on my own, and several years later I decided to pick up Persepolis. Also a great graphic memoir. Anyways, it's been years since then, and it's thanks to Maus that I became interested in memoirs and began to read them more. You can learn a lot from them. So, It's a real shame that it was banned in some Tennessee schools, and probably elsewhere.
It’s so amazing watching you talk about book. The intellectual way he talks about them is amazing. I feel like he is the type of person who you can have long captivating conversations with him about anything.
It's definitely a difficult subject to have a fully formed opinion on. My general opinion is that people should be allowed to write what they want so long as the public is allowed to react and call them out (or defend) for them. Books should inspire conversation and hopefully inspire change. The other issue for me is the fear that a book that disseminates hate speaks to a specific audience that can be incredibly dangerous to the lives of the vulnerable. I very much believe that books should have trigger and content warning as some topics are truly triggering. I don't regret the books I've read that have made me feel uncomfortable... I regret bad writing for sure, but not triggering text. I just don't tend to recommend those books or I make sure to warn people when it comes up. What I find completely ridiculous is that there are parents groups who want to control what other people's children have access to.... It really screams lazy parenting. It screams "I don't want to have a conversation with my child". The fact that these parent groups are also more likely to be anti-big government and don't want anyone to tell them or THEIR kids what to do. It's so completely hypocritical and that hypocrisy goes completely over their heads.
Could you do a video on books who got completely removed from the market like Stephen Kings rage? I would like to know how often in history books got completely removed from the market and why.
I haven't watched the entire video yet but the topic of banned books reminded me of a renowned South Asian author Manto. I don't know if you have heard about him or not but his work was controversial back in the day and too explicit for the South Asian society, i am not sure if his books were banned or not, however now his work is getting the respect and recognition it deserved. His books are in Urdu but i am pretty sure you can find translated one too, cant recommend any specific work of his since his books are still on my tbr
living in a county where the school board in charge has been pushing efforts to ban books and spoken about burning them, I’m glad you’ve made this video to talk about this issue. banning books is never the answer :(
I recently read “the catcher in the rye” solely based on that I knew it had been on a banned list! Loved it, wanted 100 more pages of it… understood why the language would bring up issues. HOWEVER, this would be completely acceptable in a high school setting (USA), this coming from someone who did not curse at all in high school (I was very much a “good girl” then) and the analysis/ symbolism in the book would have been amazing in school. It deals with such important issues we go through in life. I recommend to anyone who hasn’t read, nice fast read!!
I read it for an essay in college and loved it! I also got an A in the essay because I loved analysing the symbolism in it. I understand why it's banned but I think the problem is that adults don't think teenagers are like that and that it will teach them bad things. I think if I read it during high school I'd love it even more because I really connected with holden over similar experiences.
@@gabrielaharries8149 I see that point, but as you mentioned, I knew kids in school who were going through the same issues the book highlights. Don’t understand how adults think books would have that much of an influence in this day in age. Especially when you’re dissecting it in a classroom setting vs all the things kids now see online by themselves. Great job as well, would have loved to dived deeper into the symbolism myself 😅
If you loved the bluest eye I would highly recommend reading the stageplay adaptation. its amazing to see how they worked around certain Events in the novel that obviously couldn't be shown on stage, but the reveal of the aftermath of those Events is even more impactful. I wrote about the bluest eye and the corresponding stageplay for my English undergrad and while researching I found out that Shirley Temple, the reason the main character idolizes blue eyes, didn't even have blue eyes herself. they made them blue when they colorized photos of her.
John Green did a really interesting video response to his book 'Looking for Alaska' being the most challenged book in the U.S. in 2015, which he ends by saying "If you have a world view that can be undone by a novel, let me submit that the problem is not with the novel". What a line
Honestly, he and his brother are incredibly smart and articulate and some of the things they say (or quote) are EXQUISITE!
The dude has good words. The best words.
That is a terrible line actually.
What he means to say is that you have a problematic world view if it doesn't fit with the world view I am presenting in my art. Because he wouldn't have said that for example if people said "Mein Kempf" changed their world view. He wouldn't say that their world view was a problem before, if Mein Kempf changed it.
Literature, and art in general, has an effect on people. For better or worse. Saying your opinion is problematic if a book changes it is terrible and dangerous.
As a novelist I think he knows that, and it was a slip of the tongue. Not a great line at all, IMO.
Regardless, I really like John Green as an author and content creator and think he has a great mind.
I understand it more if your worldview is so narrow that it is challenged threatend by a novel you should look at your worldview. I mean if my worldview is all human beings deserve basic human rights this is (hopefully) not going to be changed by reading mein Kampf and if it is then your world view really easn that good. By the way Mein Kampf is not banned in Germany, just to publish uncommented versions. Don't know about other countries, but we read and discussed excerpts in history class. And that's the important thing - things you don't like / agree with don't go away by not talking about them. Also there needs to be a big distinction between banning media because it is inciting violence and threatening democracy VS banning it because of swearing, sexuality political ideas....
@@marthajones9284
I am in no way advocating banning books or almost any speech for that matter.
What I am saying is that people change their opinions and get affected by literature all of the time. It doesnt mean that the opinion they had before was bad.
It's a logical fallacy, and a bit egoistic. It assumes your (or John's, more correctly) world view is always true and correct and everyone who thinks differently is problematic. This is not it.
Again, I am not saying banning books is good. I am just referring to that quote from John Green. I think it's a bad statement.
As an Italian, I find this whole book banning concept extremely dangerous, and quite frankly regressive. Books in Italy were only banned under the fascist regime - so you may understand why I am concerned with the entire situation
Same here for me in Germany
Books were also banned by the church, it was called ‘The Index Librorum Prohibitorum’. Fortunate enough though, it was abolished on 14 June 1966 by Pope Paul VI :)
Thank you for saying exactly what I was thinking... I'm from Italy too and the first part of the video concerned me...
@@sweetestaphrodite lol I was gonna mention that! Quite a famous ban too, although it itself brought about a proto-streisand effect I suppose haha.
I totally agree!
like the main book that was band in Germany (where I’m from) is “Mein Kampf” aka Hitlers Manifest and even that Hase been unbanned as a version with additional information and criticism had been published. It’s crazy how many books are banned in the US just because of “explicit language ” or “sexual content ”
"When you cut out someone's tongue, you're not saying that they're lying, you're saying that you fear what they have to say." - Tyrion Lannister.
From a french point of view I'm actually really shocked that Maus is being banned in the US. It's a essential piece of historical literature and it's available in every school library here... actually the only banned book in France that comes to my mind in Mein Kempf...
The real reason certain people in the US want Maus banned is because they would like to stage their own fascist takeover. A book like Maus warns people and alerts them as to how these takeovers happen and how propaganda twists the facts. A certain orange menace would never have gotten close to the office of the presidency if we did not do such an abysmal job of teaching history in this country. The warning signs were there, but too many people didn't know how to spot them.
Haha yes this is a book that is right to be banned I think.
(It is not really important, but you spelled it wrong, it is "Kampf" not "Kempf")
This kind of annoys me because it's only banned in elementary schools! Not even high schools! It has some inappropriate pictures and although I obviously agree that that the Holocaust needs to be talked about to every age, they have to be showed through different mediums as opposed to throwing adult books into children's arms
@@samharden1635 I think it is important to speak with children about this topic age appropriate
@@samharden1635 i think it’s age appropriate for high school; i actually had to read it for school in 8th grade and i really enjoyed it. It didnt feel any more shocking than the numerous history classes about the holocaust and WWII. Maybe it’s different in the usa, but my school’s history books were more brutal, with letters describing the war, numbers and statistics about all the victims, descriptions of the mustard gas’ effects etc. I also read Anne Frank’s journal around the same time, i don’t think either of them is innapropriate for a ~14 years old child. To each their own i guess, and of course not everyone grows in the same ways at the same pace, and everyone can find it troubling no matter their age depending of their sensibilities, but that’s expected with such a topic.
Book bans in prisons would be a very interesting topic. In the US, prison libraries often ban any books that are written/translated into languages other than English, basically saying that any language a prison guard doesn't understand is dangerous; even books in Spanish are often banned from the libraries despite a large Spanish-speaking population in the country. Unfortunately, there isn't much the inmates can do to appeal such bans.
This. I hope Jack does a video about banned books in prisons for example "The 48 Rules of Power" by Robert Greene.
I mean, I sort of get where they're coming from, it would be really easy to hide "how to make a bomb from prison supplies" instructions into a book that no authority figure could read. On the other hand, it would also be really easy to hide those to an English book, just do it in a code language.
@@Colaman112 but the problem is that there should be some authority figure who could read the language. Courtrooms always offer translators for people who don’t speak English. If the prison is holding lots of people who don’t speak English, then they should have systems in place to accommodate that. At least having translations. Like it would be easy to have the same approved books and dictionaries simply printed in both languages. Or if the prisons want inmates to only speak English, then maybe offer English lessons.
That’s so frustrating because hiring a librarian or commissioning librarians with different language skills to ensure books are safe (e.g aren’t a “how to” to commit crime or DYI dangerous things etc) and having a centralized library service would solve… a lot. They could also provide categorize by keywords to know the topic of books in case there’s a need to monitor that (eg are they at risk for suicide etc). Really really bad to ban books in prisons because books are essential
@@Colaman112 well that’s stupid… you can just get a guard who speaks German or sb from outside… having some translated books or originally written in another language doesn’t harm anyone
Reading “mature” themes at a young age was great for me. It stimulated my naturally curious mind. I would always read reviews and essays after finishing and take in people’s discussions on the topics in the book. If your kid is old enough to be interested in reading these novels, they’re old enough to find things online to read. Why censor kids from delving into these themes that interest them, instead of being open and having a conversation about them?
I couldn’t agree more!
@@Alex-wl9xw yeah but god forbid a kid who’s old enough to read novels sees a few curse words written in them, that’s where we draw the line 😭
I agree with this. I was the same. But on a safeguarding level i can understand why overly sexual books are banned in schools. I do think they should be available for anyone to read, just not necessarily in the school environment. I think the opposite for books regarding racism - i think teachers are well placed to address those isues, and they absolutely should.
I feel like it's especially good for young people to read about this. You can't stay naïve or bad things can happen to you.
@@xExMachinax I think it depends on the nature of the novel. Is it an erotica book, or is the sex part of a greater story (ie. prostitution, power dynamics, mental illness, etc.). It’s definitely a grey area and it depends on age, I think. High school is different than elementary.
It's so interesting to me to see books like Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl banned for sexism and crude language while books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (extremely explicit language) or Catcher in The Rye (blatant misogyny and sexism) are expected to be read and understood in their own context. These same themes that people try to get modern books banned for are a present and integral part of the literary cannon and a factor in how we learn to read critically and to not take words on the page as face value prescriptions of morality.
Couldn’t have said it better. It’s a real shame
EXACTLY OMG, noone said one had to agree with the sentiments in these books, censorship doesn't only censor the controversial topics but also the conversations around them THAT ARE SOOOO IMPORTANT
Wow! I didn't know I agreed with you before reading you. Well said
To be fair The Catcher in the Rye has been banned several times in many places over the years because of its controversial nature, but I do agree there is a bias for classic books dealing with similar subjects to modern books
Those are banned in the US in some places too.
I think this books are banned out of laziness, because just saying "It's bad and no one should ever bring it up again" is a half assed attempt at parenting. You cannot just cover your kid in a everything-proof-shield so that they'll never learn anything that might make them anything else than you're _idealised_ version of what your kid should be.
To be completely honest, all that banning a book does is cover, an otherwise ordinary book, in a shroud of mystic and wonder. Even more trying to be this controlling will only have the kids to either be excellent liars, or distrustful/hateful of authority figures, or both.
Well it’s just a lie to get books banned that are talking about gender identity, LGBTQ+ themes, being bipoc in America or important historical events… it’s telling that Republicans want to teachers to teach the “two sides” of the 2nd World War and are banning Maus… there’s a reason why the people bannig the books are alt right politicians…
Wow, well said!
As someone who had to go through parental bans. You are 100% right.
Absolutely and one cannot shield the kids from everything. The kid is going to be exposed to rude language, whether he reads the book or just listens to a song. So yeah.
That makes me want to read it more
"In general, if fascists don’t want you to read something, read the sh*t out of it.” - Daniel Greene
I think about this quote regularly
What about when fascist books are banned?
id say that in general, if a colective doesnt want you to read something, then read it
@@thomaswest4033wouldnt fascists want you to read fascist books??
@@marianocenteno4603 there are exceptions...
From a german speaker: 'Maus' is the german word for mouse (as you can obviously see in the book) and the 's' at the end is actually pronounced :)
yea i was just listening to the video so i thought he said 'Mao' imagining it was about the party chairman, and then looked to see that he was actually confusingly omitting the s
it's just the english PTSD from the norman invasion, assuming everything foreign-looking is french or pronounced like french ( see Laos - Lao )
Yeah I was a bit confused when he didn't pronounce the s and thought at it first that the name is actually "Mau"
@@aiocafeayeah I also think he said he's currently living in France? So I can definitely see why he thought it wasn't pronounced
@@paulinexong although he pronounced the au as German and not French. It was a strange combo.
"The Bluest Eye" is one of the best pieces of literature I've ever read and I genuinely cannot believe that it's a debut novel.. The writing is just exquisite and the exploration of "taboo" concepts is executed so tenderly and with extreme care. I cannot speak about the black experience but I can talk about how certain aspects of the book are painfully accurate to my experience being South Indian. The internalized racism and colourism is something that is common in many parts of India as well as the desire to look "white" or have eurocentric features. As a child, I remember praying for blue or green eyes because I thought that my own were not enough. Honestly the book is just so brilliant and I cannot stop recommending it to people.
You might have just recommended it to one more fellow indian as well 🥳
@@rashianand7534 and one more !
One more ! 🐱
I’m not Indian, but I’ve seen those themes amongst Asian friends (I’m east/southeast Asian, but my parents didn’t teach me about race growing up).
Just my experiences, but it seems like a lot of Asian people have this emphasis on looking white, with that complexion even being a beauty standard in some places.
Perhaps it comes from years of colonization from Europe, or the “other”-ness of a black and white America.
Anyway, my point is that you’ve convinced me the book is worth it so I’ll order it right away :))
I'm white but you got another one!
Yeah, they were totally worried about kids seeing naked mice people, not kids noticing the disturbing parallels with what's going on in US politics.
Not sure I could have read The Bluest Eye and Maus in the same week.
Our emotional capacity needs time to recharge itself to bear the pain again!!
When I read “Beloved” I was so absolutely devastated by the dehumanisation of slaves in and of itself that I was emotionally drained for like a whole week
@@zainabjamshaid2101 If you are emotionally drained, you can read a different type of novel that cures you and does not depress you.
As a teacher (Germany) it cracks me up that parents worry about banning books and put any energy into that when most kids have free access to so much more disturbing stuff online and send it to each other all the time. I teach years 5-13 and that starts WAY before year 5. Those banned books are for older students who have seen worse once they read those books in school. Plus, real, contemporary narratives that don’t shy away from topics like racism, sex etc. normally rock in the classroom and can be very motivating for kids who normally aren’t.
I read another “banned” Morrison book for my a-level english lit course, Beloved, and I think the fact that so much of her writing is being silenced in schools definitely says a lot about how honest (and amazingly written) her books are. “This is not a story to pass on” is the line that ends Beloved because the book is written about real life experiences - something that should definitely be taught in American schools.
Read this and used it for my AP English exam when I was in high school! Shout out to my English teacher for being aggressively progressive in a red state (love her) but yeah Toni Morrison's books makes too much sense for it being banned. Not that I want it to be banned, but it's just very telling of those who wants it to be. To continue on with your point her books needs to be taught in schools and banning it really takes away learning about the actual, real life experiences that you don't get from a history class. Sure, slaves were freed and they had a hard time adjusting. Racism was bad. Well how hard of a time was it? And how bad was racism back then? Morrison's books really captured that.
I’m currently at Uni studying English and we read Beloved in a class called „Language and Memory: Remembering the Past“. We talked about it so much and as heartbreaking as it was to read, it is so so important! I didn’t know it is banned in the US and I’m not sure my professor does either, definitely gonna mention that to her.
I work in a primary school and we constantly have the issue about banning books, or stopping children from reading books. My personal point of view is that, no book should be banned, but there are books that are not currently suitable for an individual or group of children- I do follow the guidance of the authors, and if in doubt I read the book before I will let the student read it (or let the parents know)- in the same way I would follow the film guidance. But crucially, as a teacher it is my job to help the books that the students choose, and make sure I am available to talk to the students about the issues that the book brings up.
I read Maus last week and it broke me. Maybe because I am German and had family members on both sides. I have Jewish roots, my grandma fled from the Red Army when she was a little child, another family member was a Nazi until he took his last breath. I have read so much about the Holocaust and the war, we had so many history lessons about what happened in the KZs, we visited Bergen Belsen when I was in tenth grade (the KZ where Anne Frank died) and still this book broke me down. It is a brilliant read and I recommend it to everyone but it is one of the books that I don't know if I can ever read them again. If that makes sense to anyone.
I don't know if any of my words make sense or not, but maybe someone can relate to my blabbering.
It absolutely makes sense to me
I felt that way after reading les miserables, the original complete version, and i just know I’ll never read it again.
These two books really r so different and im yet to read maus, but i relate to the sentiment
@@talaaa2897 Agree with Les Miserables, after Fantine died I had to pause for a a few weeks before I could even continue. It's a devastating book, and one I won't read again. I'm glad I read it, because it's brilliant and it gives you so much insight... but once is enough. Same thing with certain films like The Grave of Fireflies or Hunger. (also excuse the blabber and tangent).
@@romijane absolutely, I knew while reading that i wont have it in me to do it again, fantine death was so devastating, even when I first watched the cartoon adaptation- i watched that before the book, I cried a lot.
you’re so absolutely right and make complete sense, like maus completely shattered me
One of the coolest electives I had in university was this one class where we exclusively read and discussed banned books (Bluest Eye, Clockwork Orange, Slaughterhouse 5,ect). It was a higher lever elective, so there was only 9 people in the class, but every single person in that class read every book and was super open to discussing the themes of each, which lead to some amazing discussions about censorship in literature during and after class time. Highly recommend to anyone that they should take a class like that if they are ever given the opportunity!
A Clockwork Orange and Slaughterhouse V are banned?? Where and when?
@@stuffwithsoph8264 never heard of "A Clockwork Orange," but I read Slaughterhouse last year, and (at least in the USA), it's banned because America bombed the shit out of Dresden, killed a bunch of people, but they don't wanna feed us information that might paint the US in a bad light. Manipulation 101 basically.
@@stuffwithsoph8264 slaughterhouse v as far as I know was banned in Kansas
Its a shame you paid a university to discuss books with peers.
@agvga5510 why so bitter? assuming you've never discussed literature in an academic context... it's quite useful for brain development. of course learning other skills is also important, english majors don't just 'talk about books' (although it is, of course, not as 'reliable' a money-making major as, say, accounting). there's really no call for being so jaded tho
A interesting little fact, in Germany we have a special genre for books and authors that were banned in 1933 to 1945, but still (were) published in exile. Berthold Brecht was an exile writer and his work "The live of Galileo" showes this restriction of ideas and opinions by a (political) system. Really interesting to see how writers reacted to the banning of literature.
I only very recently came across the term “Exilliteratur”, hadn’t known it was a thing! I was delighted to find it was, that these writers are having their work and experience held up, read, and acknowledged.
@Hold Fast not really, pretty much only „Mein Kampf”
@@ferretbutnot2881 mein Kampf isn’t banned, it just can’t be published anymore. Old copies are perfectly legal and there also was a new annotated version a few years ago. It is however dreadfully boring and convoluted and removed from reality, I could not get get through it.
@@holdfast5332Selling original versions of Mein Kampf is illegal, but you can buy commented versions.
I read Maus in school when I was 16 and thought it was an absolute masterpiece! Why do people try and hide the truth of humanity and breed ignorance? I also wanted to add that this is a fantastic depiction on intergenerational trauma and how Art Spiegelman was an indirect holocaust survivor because he felt the trauma and pain of the holocaust through his parents. Such a fantastic book!
this is the most academic comment section ever and I love to see it. it's like college assignments to post a paragraph response to a prompt and reply to two classmates' responses, but everyone actually puts effort and has a meaningful message that adds to the important conversation inspired by the thought-provoking points made in the lecture they just watched
Jack's videos have become such a huge part of my daily routine that even my own mum refers to him as our "book-friend" to which I now use as an excuse when she tells me off for buying more books after adding all of jacks' booklists to my tbr. we love you in my household :)
This is a really sweet comment
I found his channel today and since my mom writes book reviews I’m gonna show it to her tomorrow and I hope she’s gonna love it the same as I do
I read maus when i was 10 years old. I was real impressed and moved by the story and art of the maus. I guarantee that it just gave me so positive impact and precious memories. I couldnt believe that some states ban this masterpiece.
I read it for the first time and it really put me in a fresh perspective
My dad read 'Maus' to me when I was quite young, I think about 11 or 12? I was still young enough to let my dad read to me, but old enough to be learning about the Holocaust in school. 'Maus' was integral to my learning and empathy about the Holocaust. I'm glad you said it should be compulsory reading, because that was how my dad felt about it. Plus, the drawings and animal characters make the subject matter accessible and approachable for younger readers. It's awful to hear that some education authorities and parents would want such an important book banned.
true, we teach about holocust and ww2 from 1st grade, and kids are okay and parents are okay too, it teaches the kids that things like that should never be repeated and that being bad is not good or cool XD just cuz it had a picture of a naked mouse "its a mouse it suposed to be naked lol" they have a problem with it as if their pets wear cloths or something xD
My Das did the same with Animal Farm from George Orwell. After every reading he sat with me and explained how the situation in the novel describes real life event. 10 years later and I study Political Sciences and English. These are some of the best memories I have with my Dad and I really think it formed me as a person.
I still don’t understand the sheer stupidity of banning Maus. in my country this book is on its way to becoming part of the required reading for history. .
easy, they want to surpress everything that has to do with ww2, from what i read, they pushed for more ww2 related books to be banned with stupid excuses... but at the same time they dont have a problem with their kids watching american shows that are full of explicit content XDD
the US is having its own homegrown neonazi movement which has supporters, sympathizers and enablers entrenched deeply in the government. of course there's a bunch of people who suddenly have a problem with the ""nudity"" in a book that paints the nazis as unthinkably cruel, genocidal mass murderers when they're the ones waving swastikas and chanting blood and soil.
...as a side note, please get me out of here :')
Nazi's are stupid, especially when they speak with an American accent.
As a criminology student I would be very up for you reviewing books banned in prisons
At my Uni in Germany I currently have a course we’re we do animations about the book burnings from 1933. It’s so disheartening and almost surreal that books are still being banned in America to this day!
@Hold Fast It's true so maybe I phrased it wrong. The books that are banned in Germany are ones that actively promote violence, racism crime and so on. The books currently being banned in the US for example have LGBTQ+ characters as protagonists or deal with Americas history with racism. I don't think the two are comparable, even though it is a good point to point out.
I was pretty surprised when you showed “Maus” as a banned book since in Spain, where I’m from, it is usually read in high school
I think it’s just in some usa schools
So jealous! I'm Spanish too and this book wasn't even mentioned in my school. I only discovered it through the internet
yeah in amercian schools its lazily getting banned for nudity and swearing (and now, a new trendy thing to ban books that may offend/upset white people, like seriously grow up)
Same! In my hs, so many people did essays/presentations about Maus in English class.
Here in Argentina I also had to read it in high school!
My high school banned 21 books at the end of the school year last year. Being the passive-aggressive bookworm I am I have written two essays for my schoolwork about them and am dedicated to reading them all. The types of books they've banned are so weird. As you said in the video, most of the books were banned for "sexually explicit scenes" like in Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Abertalli. When I read that book the closest thing to sexual in there was a kiss. The real reason that book is banned is that the main character is bisexual. As a bisexual, this YA romance/coming-of-age book legitimately helped me get through some issues I was having at the time and it's one of my favorite books. The fact that it's banned in my school library is incredibly homophobic and it makes me pissed that they ban books in high schools in general.
We're mature enough to be able to read The Handmaid's Tale (another book banned in my school) and understand the message. We're also mature enough to read The Prince and the Dressmaker, a graphic novel my friend loves that is also banned for "sexual content" even though the only "bad" thing in there is a character who does drag. For a school system that wants us to act like adults, they sure don't treat us like them.
Yess!! I’ve been excited for this one! Also, timestamps below:
4:10 - The Bluest Eye
8:30 - Me, Earl and the Dying Girl
12:49 - All Boys Aren’t Blue
18:45 - Maus
Really interested in reading Maus and wanted to see what you thought of it! :D And some of you may have heard but we actually have an online community with over 1,400 of us! We have a BOOK CLUB and hold live BYOB calls inspired by the IG lives! 📚😎 (details in replies)
Wow you’re awesome thank you!
My brother, who was an avid reading and would always get me books every time he visited or the holidays or b-days, gave me Maus as a Xmas gift. I loved it. I haven't read it in a very long time and I have since lost the copy he gave me, so I need to rebuy it at some point. My shelves are getting very full with all the new ones I've picked up in many genres. I can't recommend Maus highly enough. Since it's a comic most folks should be able to read it in a few hours. It's well worth the time. I'm been reading mostly Chinese Danmei books that I've been dying to read and finally have been released in English. I'm also trying to slog through MJD's House of Leaves (ugh, this book;just want to be done with this one already) and I just finished The Familiar, Vol. 1 by the same author, which I found a much "easier" read than House of Leaves.
Do yourself a favor and read Maus and Persepolis.
Both books are great and very insightful.
just here to be another person encouraging you to read maus :)
re: the Streisand effect. Even if the banning increases sales, the banning is still bad and harmful. There are many people who rely in the library to get their books because they can't afford buying them. By banning them from libraries, even if sales go up, you're making reading that book a privilige and therefore it still shouldn't be celebrated
I don't think having more explicit books in schools is the worst thing in the world, however I think the libraries should at least make sure that the borrower is aware of the books content before they take it. Like have it very clearly marked as mature/have a list of triggers on hand (ex. maybe the librarian double checks to make sure the person knows what they'd be getting into)
Idk if this is common all over the world, but my old school had an age system in the library (like an r-rating) for the books, worked well, if those schools don't have it then I'd advise implementing it, that can definitely be useful
Yes, like they do what they always do, ignore the problem instead of fixing it. Banning books about sexual harassment or rape or that just contains vulgar language is t gonna do anything but shelter kids from the real world and make it harder for them to learn about certain topics. The books should just have a very clean warning on what they are about and just be looked after.
Tbh i thought that would have already been covered by the publisher tho like surely they wouldn’t allow graphic sex or sexual assault scenes in books marketed for children
I 100% agree choosing books would be much easier & safer if content warnings were included, but I think that's a job for the author & publisher rather than a librarian. (Victoria Lee, author of the "Feverwake" duology, includes content warnings in their books, as does Natasha Ngan in "Girls of Paper and Fire".)
I work in a public library, which works a bit differently to school libraries, and the Collections Librarian's job is difficult and busy enough without having to research and create a content warning list for every book that is purchased or gets donated.
I 100% agree choosing books would be much easier & safer if content warnings were included, but I think that's a job for the author & publisher rather than a librarian. (Victoria Lee, author of the "Feverwake" duology, includes content warnings in their books, as does Natasha Ngan in "Girls of Paper and Fire".)
I work in a public library, which works a bit differently to school libraries, and the Collections Librarian's job is difficult and busy enough without having to research and create a content warning list for every book that is purchased or gets donated.
@@laughingdoves yeah but the author should be required to put the trigger warnings on the cover (even if it’s in a paper cover that can be taken off). And the library part should just be putting those books in a special section. That’s already a big step. Censorship never helps, especially when the problem can easily be solved.
Oh god, the Bluest Eye… the same book I say so quickly is my favorite ever book I’ve read but also can’t help but cry everytime I talk about it 🫠
I read The Bluest Eye in my first semester of college, and then Maus in my last semester. Both classes were with the same professor, who was phenomenal and a champion of reading underrepresented voices in an academic setting. I’m so grateful for those experiences and for that professor for shaping the kind of reader and literary critic that I want to be.
"The beauty in this world was hidden by filth and lies while evil was painted in beauty and smiles"
I am happy that you are bringing to light the very real issues these books bring up. These books talk about the very real and visceral unpleasant trials of being human. Too often I feel these issues are hidden away and swept under the carpet and while this filtering can be seen as 'staying positive, it also sweeps away chances to learn from past mistakes.
please do a part 2! this is such a great idea
i agree, he should def read the kite runner as it's quite ironic how it's banned in schools in the US but it's part of the curriculum here in canada. a lot to dissect
this would be a must needed series!
I don’t believe in the banning of books at all, no matter what they are. If they have a harmful history, language, or content then they should be read and DISCUSSED. I feel that the idea that “consuming something bad in written media inherently gives people the idea that it is okay” is incorrect. In my experience and with what I’ve seen, it’s when bad things are hidden away and not discussed between people that the affect it has on the people who read it is negative.
I also think that children should be given a lot more credit in their processing skills to be able to handle and understand more adult themes in writing. My siblings and I were given nearly free range with reading, especially with classic literature. We knew that if there was something in it that disturbed us we could discuss it with our parent and talk about why it might’ve been difficult to read, how it might have affected others in real life (which was great in developing empathy and understanding to people different then us), etc. Now our reading skills are significantly better than most others I’ve met our age (as adults).
That schools are banning books is horrible, and to me it signifies either laziness on the part of the parents and teachers (easier to hide difficult discussions away and have a kid not ready for the real world who’s close minded than to actually have to talk with them and help them develop critical thinking skills). And that schools are definitely trying to influence the way the next generations think to be close minded and prejudiced. Never been so thankful to have been homeschooled by a parent who understood how important this all is.
I'm wondering how you'd feel about the movie for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl lol. I definitely like the movie way more than the book, greg is way more manageable and less obnoxious in the movie (although he does still act like a hormonal teen). also can you believe Jesse Andrews, the author, was one of the writers for Luca? This fact causes me cognitive dissonance on a daily basis.
Yes! I'm team "Jack please compare books to films" in general, but this one would be good!
I honestly cried at the end of the movie, felt betrayed cause they said she didn't die
I also felt the movie was a lot better for that reason. I watched the movie, then found out it was a book, and I just couldn't stand Greg in the book. It feels more natural in the movie, and felt like his growth flowed better.
Fun fact-Jesse Andrew’s wrote the script for the movie! I think he learned a lot from some of the worse aspects of the novel
there weren’t many things that i loved about being homeschooled but one thing was that my mom is strictly against banning any form of literature. she bought maus a couple months before i graduated and wants to buy more banned books for my siblings to read.
in school i wrote an essay about the father-son relationship depicted within Maus and how that is accentuated by the ever-present imagery of smoke in the book. It just shows how deeply the visuals in the account are thought out, and how much of an actual masterpiece is. Maus is truly truly amazing, and incredibly impactful.
I remember giving up on the Me and Earl and the Dying Girl book pretty quickly, but the film is amazing, one of the best movies I have seen in recent years. Not that I remember much of the book, but it works really well in visual form, so I think it's 100 times better than the source material.
I 100% agree, I love that movie
I agree, the book is meh but the movie is amazing
The author actually wrote the screen play and I own a copy of the book which includes a notated version of the script from the author. It’s really interesting to see what changes he made and why
oh boy, I recently realised not one of the books I read for school featured a healthy relationship. I think I’ve read more about inc*st, r*pe, drug abuse etc. in school books than anywhere else. Maybe this is because here in Germany we spend like 8 years worth of history classes on why book bans are bad. So the the situation is kind of different from the US but we didn’t read a lot about LGBTQ+ people either. At least not in a positive light.
Totally agree with you that the canon for Sekundarstufe I & II (grade five and upwards, for all those not familiar with the German education system) is mostly depressing, and, in my opinion, too focused on problem-oriented literature, but I have to say that I actually feel great about what is being read in primary schools nowadays. I've recently become a teacher and am currently teaching grade 3 and a) the choices focus mainly on creating enjoyment for reading, which I think is absolutely central at that age, and b) talk about or, at least, mention a wide array of subjects (healthy friendships, found family, LGBT+, gender roles (in a subtle way) etc.). So hopefully, the choices for high school will become more diverse and a bit less "everything hurts", too.
(And yes, as a German, the banning and burning of books seems like the last step before banning and burning people to me.)
@@mimiharv oh that‘s great! I‘m studying to become a teacher as well and I‘m excited to see everything that‘s changed in three to four years 😅
yeah XD but i think such books do teach even iderectly why such things that you mentioned are bad and not something ppl should do irl XD
my college offers a class on banned books where a group of professors chooses a banned book and they teach the class for two weeks on their chosen book. it was really interesting and insightful to learn about different books that i probably would have never read, and to learn why they have been banned (which was for a stupid reason for every book) .. all boys arent blue and maus were actually two of the books chosen for us to read in the class!
do you see a pattern in banned books? you’re right! theyre mostly diverse books! bc diversity is absolutely terrible
/s
@Don't Read My Profile Photo okay
And we all know that only good people have banned diverse books throughout history... /s
I thought people agreed that bad history shouldn't repeat itself, yet we seem to be doing a lot of that. :(
Exactly 🤦🏽♀️
@@MahouKat Unfortunately, yes. :( Tragic.
@Don't Read My Profile Photo don't drag me into this...
I think an addition to a 'banned book' series would be the top most banned books from countries around the world, or books that constantly get banned and unbanned then rebanned as the socio-political and cultural landscape around them changes. Maybe a video about the top ten(?) countries with the *most* banned books?
Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl literally put me in a 5 year reading slump from like 2016-2021 😭 I wish I had never read it lol
Why ?
I never read Maus. Our teacher opted instead for "Night" by Elie Wiesel, and let me tell you, it's been almost 15 years since I read that book in school, and I still remember... a lot of it to be honest. It was my favourite book for a long while, and I think it really helped bolster my interest in writing. These stories are so important, and children definitely have the capacity to take away meaningful lessons from them that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
You should read books that have been adapted into movies, then once and for all end the "Was the movie better than the book?" debate👁👁
The only movie Ive seen better than the book is Fight Club.
YES WE NEED THIS
I didn’t know it was a debate. Nearly universally, the book is always better.
Won't end it "once and for all", since it'd just be his opinion, but that is a fun video idea
The book concept:💀🥀🪦💔💊
The music:💐😊☀️🤹♀️
I’ve read The Bluest Eye recently and it was wonderfully important. In actuality it was a book I came back to after being assigned it in college being rushed through felt wrong. Reading on my own I don’t regret at all. Also currently reading Maus which ended up being the same situation as Toni’s book. Two gut wrenching books back to back but glad I appreciate them.
I read MAUS for my literature course in high school (I’m from Mexico) and it took me a while to get through the emotions in it, loved every single bit of the book, kept me thinking around for days alongside my friends and classmates. This sort of graphic novels that deal with “harsh” human emotions like trauma, depression, loss, grief, etc. should be around in schools more, I think they really are a way of grasping onto emotions in a way that allows the reader to understand them more rawly in a sense. The concept of “banning” these emotions and situations that are portrayed in books simply is a way of hiding the truth in life, these emotions exist and its not wrong to feel them, the important thing is to understand them, and by banning access to them through books comes a certain level of ignorance to them even, imo.
YES PLEASE DO A PART 2!!! A whole series even! It’s just so interesting and vital on a global level
I read The Bluest Eye my senior year in high school and it was heartbreaking but so beautiful. I'll keep my copy of that book forever. I wrote my ap lit essay on it and how cyclical trauma is and how it perpetuates itself through family generations.
The most interesting thing I read about a book that was banned/restricted was from The Master and Margarita. Reading about the personal torment that the author went through while writing the book is fascinating and it really connected with me because it is my favorite book I’ve ever read.
Context is needed so much! John Green talks about his book, "Looking for Alaska", being banned for one depiction of oral sex taken completely out of context by parents refusing to read the entire book, it's infuriating!
I’m sorry, but in what possible context could depictions of oral sex be appropriate for children?
Were not talking about children we're talking about teens, in which case these are often very important conversatioms and lessons.
I recommend the video: "I read the most banned books in america" by Luke Kono, even if its just the first 20-30 mins (because I understand it's a long video), he goes more in depth on how context is important and why subjects like the one above are as well (its also how i found this video lol) @@ApophisTw0Thousand6309
@ApophisTw0Thousand6309 It's not 'really' oral sex, it's a depiction of teenagers fumbling through intimacy. I think it's important for highschoolers to read because they will be engaging in intimacy no matter how well you shelter them.
I had to read the Bluest Eye in high school for an English class
So glad my teacher's weren't afraid to assign these types of literature
Regarding Me, Earl and the Dying Girl: since I first read is as a teen, the same age as the characters, which wasn't sure what I felt like I wanted to do in life... this honestly came in as a helpful "what NOT to do" guide. It definitely helps reading it when (slight spoilers I guess?) you view it as a negative character development. You know, from bad to worse instead of the usually expected from bad to better.
Also, as a woman I can't say that I felt particularly gross about the sexual jokes or sexism moments as half of them come for a person Gregg clearly says he has no interest in talking to, not because Rachel is a woman but because they were at best old acquaintances from like 5 years ago and his family is now forcing him to talk to her (hence why she isn't even greeted in the title by name but simply as the Dying Girl, her condition is the only thing that holds them 'together' in the first place). There's no happy ending, no "getting the girl" or whatever bullshit that could potentially pose the blatant crudeness as an issue, in fact all the characters are miserable and hate the plot of the book as much as Jack did (if not more in some cases but I won't spoil that). On a re-read you notice some little things that help with plausibility of the ending, but the sense of realization that the book is done on the final page seemed like a practical "see kids, don't fuck up your life in high school since you'll have to live a lot longer than that and the problems will just keep piling up". A cautionary tale, if you will.
But then again I like the dry, "not expected to laugh out loud but silently acknowledge that someone did a play on words" type of humor and this book has it in spares... so I can see why it felt a bit forced if the readers aren't into it in the first place. Not that I think the book is bad (in fact nostalgia is definitely holding it on a pedestal), but I can say for sure I'd have differing opinions if I first read it when the scopes of a high school lunch table weren't a prominent thing in your day-to-day schedule.
Finally, regarding the movie adaptation: my opinion, which I know isn't shared by the majority, the book has a vastly different flavor of sadness and grief than the movie adapted it to be. Sure, in the books the final third is depressing and realistic but sad, where the movie chose to stretch that into the whole second half, change heavily what actually happened in source material, and make it feel a lot like The Fault In Our Stars... when as Jack said in the book you more get the inversion of that story, instead of a look-alike. Still, as a lot of people prefer that story, they like the movie better since it shows the main character as less of an asshole and more of an average kid, so if you believe that that's what story needs give the movie a watch! If you know what happens in The Fault In Our Stars and believe you wouldn't want to sit through another hour and a half of that, then you won't enjoy it most probably. As for the book... I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone per se, but it is a YA with a pretentious main character that's meant to be very annoying so keep that in mind!
i know this is such an old video but i was scrolling the comments looking for someone talking about this book. i read it in high school, and i remember enjoying it at the time. to be honest, i was in an inpatient facility for ED, and it made me feel like i had myself more together than i thought. like an "at least i'm not this guy" kind of thing. the main character also heavily resembled someone i was friends with at the time, so i felt i was able to sympathize with the other characters around him who kind of had to put up with him. i see all of jack's criticisms as valid, however, i would still recommend this book to the right angsty teenager. the content wasnt anything new or more vulgar than the things i heard from the people around me as a teenager, so i don't think there is any good reason to ban it.
@@kennedyolson3476 agreed! It was written from the POV of a bad person and just because a character is doin g a thing that doesn't mean us the audience should be on their side. Also, yes, I knew a Gregg IRL also, for better or for worse I was the Madison in this situation, so the relatability helped on the first read hahahah
“I loose faith in humankind when things like this happen” 👏👏👏
Me too.
Part two of commenting that you should read the banned book “The Perks of being a wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. The book is a love letter to struggling adolescents, and it’s one of my all time favorite banned books! Though if you do plan to read it, trigger warning of a brief SA scene in the book. Still can not recommend the book high enough!
I'm a parent of two children, and these are the kind of books I'll be encouraging my children to read as they're so important! I want them to explore, be curious, learn about different people's histories and identities, thoughts and feelings.
My mum never stopped me reading anything and I respect that.
You've totally hit the nail on the head that these books are banned because it challenges the view of parents who want to keep the world according to their discrimination and privileges. As you also said, all they have to do is go online and nothing is unavailable to them... So it achieves nothing!!
I'm Belgian and personally haven't read Maus completely but what I do know is that a part of it was included in our Dutch textbook in high school. We used to have a workbook and a textbook and this textbook was filled with snippets of well known or important works, or works that tied into the exercises into the workbook. All this to say: it's absolutely crazy to me that Maus is banned in schools in the US whereas it is literally included in a school textbook over here. There is absolutely no reason to ban a work like this. No amount of nudity should overshadow the fact that this book is highly educational about a very serious topic that needs to be remembered. And I can't help but wonder if there weren't any other malevolent motives at play for banning Maus... That being said, I will have to get around to reading it completely one day. I think my best friend has a copy of it.
Hi fellow Belgian, it wasn't in my school program in French but I now really want to read it. The US is such a strange country.
It is actually included in excerpts in some of our textbooks as well, but our country is large and there are many places where people aren't open to intellectually honest accounts of history. When books are "banned" or "challenged" it means in some particular school or district, not the US as a whole. Independent regions have parent or conservative groups that go out looking for "objectionable" things in the curriculum.
my textbook had an excerpt from it (i’m american)
maus is a famous example but ive read many articles that they tried to ban far more books that was related to ww2 and holocuast specificly... so yeah its hard not to things that there some malevolent motives under all that. in my place maus is appropriate for elementarly school kids, maybe becuz we teach about ww2 from 1st grade. i dont know why in the US it has higher age rating
Twenty years ago in Mexico a member of the conservative (and ruling party) banned one of the most famous Mexican novels from schools, Aura by Carlos Fuentes. The ban came after his daughter's teacher at a Catholic school added it to the curriculum. This man complained that the book used explicit sexual language and that the book did not adhere to the Ministry of Education's program. The book would be banned along with Gabriel García Márquez's Doce Cuentos Peregrinos. The Barbara Streisand effect took over, my high school added it to the program as well as many others.
When I was in high school, in my graduating year, we all had to read Graphic Novels for an assignment. Maus was a book I remember being an option to do the assignment, which I didn't get to read, but I enjoyed the presentations about Maus, it made me wanna read the book. As a suggestion, if you liked Maus, I read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi which is a memoir graphic novel that also was based off real historical events; specifically about the Iranian Revolution in 1979. You learn so much about the history of Iran before, during and after the revolution. However, it's also a great feminist book since the book is about a Persian woman, Marjane, the author of the book. It also became a movie if you don't want to read the book.
I’ve read Maus back in October and it has absolutely destroyed me, it should definitely be mandatory reading because it’s so incredibly eye opening
"books are powerful things, they can help you to escape to another universe or learn more about your own" great intro!
I found your insert about the ways books are banned for racial theory rather than racism, or for discussing queer issues rather than showing queerphobia, really interesting, especially in the context of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl being banned for vulgar language. I distinctly remember my school's Carnegie Medal reading club trying to advise us not to read When Mr Dog Bites when it was nominated because it contained strong language - but it was just swear words! I had definitely heard worse from my fellow Year 8s in the canteen. And I think actually what the banning of books does is try to discourage critical thinking. Which I know sounds very fake deep when I put it like that. What I mean is that when you ban a book for "vulgar language", it stops young people from reading it and thinking "why was this language used?". They are unable to then ascertain the appropriate places/times for language like that, and so their inability to understand why vulgar language might be necessary actually becomes more of a problem. And of course this applies for all other supposed reasons to ban books. Not sure how well I worded this, but you gave me plenty to reflect on re. the power of books. A very interesting video, and I will definitely be reading Maus because of it (if there are copies available!)
You made this comment a month ago, but just so you know you can find pdfs of maus online if you can’t buy it in your area, you can also find translations into different languages too
Because of this video, I was inspired to look up what books were banned in my country (Philippines). It's interesting because there were only four instances of book banning in my country which were the following:
1. Noli Me Tangere
2. El Filibusterismo
3. The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos
4. The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos
Obviously, the first two were not banned anymore as it was written by our national hero, Dr. Joze Rizal. It was only banned during the Spanish colonial period in our country.
On the other hand, the last two were banned during Ferdinand Marcos' regime in which martial law reigned in our country. Those books were critical against the government thus, they were not allowed to be seen nor read.
Interestingly enough, last election, Marcos' son (Bongbong Marcos) won the presidential election. Take note that during his father's presidency, he was already old enough to see the wrongdoings of his father. So, to deny that and praise his father's "accomplishments" was quite something. Furthermore, he won by denying the atrocities that period caused to many Filipinos.
Just a thought I would like to get out of my head. Though the mentioned books were not yet banned in our country, it will definitely be in the future.
In my country, the issue of socioeconomic disparity is so big that it affected many generations of Filipinos. If these books exist (that contains the horrors of the past) yet people still don't believe them, how much more if they were banned?
Wow. I never realised that affected your culture so much.
Just finished Maus today and I couldn't agree more with you. I was so surprised that this is not a compulsory read in Germany (I even asked some German friends and they didn't know it!). I found it so educational because it is really, as you said, non-fiction. Everything Art depicts happened. Also, I loved how he portrays his father as an utterly annoying grandpa, quite the opposite of a hero. While Art admits at some points that his father has gone through a lot, he also mentions repeatedly that Vladek "has not survived" the horrors of the Holocaust because he is unstable. I was mesmerized by this vision, it really gave me as a reader a great feeling of humanity. As you mentioned, the art is also breathtaking, especially the pain and horror expressions. I recommend this to everyone, this story will not disappoint you and is truly educational.
Maus is pronounced with the s, it,s german not french😊
On another note, i also like reading banned books most notably American Psycho and A Clockwork Orange (with the last chapter)
Personally, i think age restrictions should maybe be placed on books. Like I remember my school library had books that were 13+ and some that were 16+ (usually ones that had more explicit sex scenes) and I’d say that’s okay? Like yeah there are some books that will contain disturbing material that I think should be a bit more regulated, esp in schools where you have people anywhere from ages of 11-18 (in a secondary school), or younger (in a primary school, going by UK school systems here). And its defo possible (I might even go so far as to say its probable) that those restrictions will end up restricting books that don’t really need restricting but have ended with restrictions coz ppl don’t want them to be accessible. But I think that’s a potentially better method than outright banning the book. At least the books are still available then? Even tho that could possibly end up with more books being restricted coz I imagine its not easy to ban a book whereas age restricting it may be a lot simpler so therefore may happen more often.
if they were really banning books for the explicit language and content then yes, this would be fair enough but usually the people who are banning books are, as Jack points out, not actually banning them for 'adult content'. So they want the books gone and your totally good idea probably wouldn't be acceptable to them
I know in most elementary schools they do that. If a kid is at a really high reading level they can check-out/read middle grade or YA books after they get them approved by their parents. It kind of falls apart for middle schoolers though because even if told no they are old enough to find a way to read it and I’d rather a parent say yes and encourage a conversation about the book and it’s content.
Good point about the internet. The internet makes sure that children nowadays are exposed to real world truths and depravities at an earlier stage in life. These books are mild compared with many things on the internet.
I read Maus for my modern literature class about generational trauma and remember describing reading it in the lecture as “never being so glad I was at the end of such a great book” because that meant they escaped. Actually half the books of my curriculum that semester is by now on the most banned lists (including bluest eye and beloved)
Adding to your account of burning books: Here in Chile during the 1973 dictatorship the military burned ,among others, Cubism books (the art movement) because they thought that they refered to Cuba.
wow
that's the dumbest thing I ever heard 🤦🤣🤣🤣
thanks for sharing
Incredibly ironically
I have to read Maus for my summer reading. I couldn’t be happier that my English teacher wants to make us read this. I want to read it even more now. Thank you for spreading awareness of these books!
I’m from Brazil and the book Maus has actually been chosen as a mandatory reading in my school! I loved it just as much as Jack and I think it’s amazing to realize the different perspectives of the countries and see that what is prohibited in one is strongly recommended in the other.
I saw all these books on your Goodreads and began to question your choices haha 😅 but now it all makes sense!! 👍🏻😅
There’s always a Method to his madness 😂
We actually read Maus in my English class! I'm in a conservative part of the US so definitely surprising. I remember it was super strange and kind of funny when my teacher put up a news article on the smartboard about school districts banning the book right when we were reading it as a class.
I read Mous in 7th/8th grade and devoured it in around a day or two. It was amazing and impacted me magnificently. It was extremely eye opening
I'd love to see a part 2 of banned books. I will definitely buy "Maus" soon. The bummer with "Me, Earl and the dying Girl" is that it has a really nice cover :D
I read Maus as part of my uni degree and it shifted everything inside me. It's absolutely devastating beyond words but if I was only allowed to read one book in my lifetime it would have to be Maus.
i read all boys aren’t blue as an audiobook and really loved it!!! it’s narrated by George M. Johnson himself and i feel that the writing style clicked a lot better for me that way? i’m in the target audience for the book and around 1/3 of the books i read are YA so that might have played a role in my enjoyment of it too ☺️
I read Maus in high school and it was so impactful. Such a testament to the importance of these books for young folks.
I’m so happy you’ve read The Bluest Eye and loved it! It’s my favourite book…I cried when I first read it because I remember being a little girl and also wanting blue eyes so I could relate to Pecola’s internal struggle. Toni Morrison’s writing is STUNNING
I disagree with some of these book bans in all honesty. Books are meant to take you places, highlight issues, portray real stories whether in fiction or non-fiction, and provoke ideas and thoughts. Many of these books provoke the reader into considering things, and banning these types can often hinder new ideas, or make persons more susceptible to one particular narrative.
Ithink books containing sexism and crude language are meant to be read in context honestly. Banning books is dangerous because it makes it easier to portray a single type of narrative, a utopic view of reality, a manufactured way of thinking rather than allowing the diverse nature of life to exist and provoke thoughts. So when I see books like The Bluest Eye , Farhenheit 451, maybe even Me, the Earl ad the Dying Girl being banned, I really don't think i can agree with it. I understand why you wouldn't want to give them to children, but at the same time, don't age ratings exist for a reason? Instead of banning you can simply put them in an age restricted section if it's not something you want your 12 year old seeing. However , most teenagers can read these books and decide for themselves what they think is right or wrong. Banning them from libraries entirely for themes such as sexism for example, hinders expression, and what is literature about but expressing ideas?
The picture of Dorian gray and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are both rife with sexism and crude language, yet thesebooks are still used to teach students. Sexism and Crude language are simply factual things that exist, and books often reflect societal realities , past and present ways and thinking and more. Out of date ideas give insight on how we came to be at present, losing this insight is a huge loss. The books are not meant to be an instruction manual on social values and morality, they simply portray what the author wants people to think about. So I really disagree with the idea that banning books for themes such as sexism, sexual content, diverse ways of thinking is a strong enough reason. banning books for other ideas? Sure, if necessary. But banning books because they don't agree with modern society's way of thinking at present, I can't generally agree with.
@M. S. Yep. So it bothers me when some on the left support banning books for sexism or racism or something like that. Don't be on the side of book banning. No one who supports banning books ever ends up on the right side of history, and there's a good reason for that.
You know who bans books? Right… totalitarians and fascists… there’s a reason why the people banning the books are alt right politicians… you cannot ban books bc of misogyny or racism or whatever - the books you mentioned are classics and ever thought about why those books contain those things - bc people believed those things. When banning those books you ignore the historical context and ignoring the historical context means ignoring those problems today.
Sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. doesn’t exist in a vacuum and you cannot kill an idea no matter how harmful it is. The only way to conquer such problems is through education and people understanding where those harmful ideas are coming from.
@@user-qu8zs7vs1x Yeahh
@@user-qu8zs7vs1x Oh really? Well say something about me and I’ll tell you if you’re correct.
I studied Maus and Maus II in class as a literary text, and we pulled apart not only the verbal language but the visual elements (like graphic weight, panel choices etc) and this text is BRILLIANT. There are so many layers behind evoking the emotions that it does, and I 100% agree with you when you say it should be essential reading. It was heartbreaking, but also incredibly eye-opening and confrontational.
I have two kids and never regulated what they read just as I wasn't regulated. They are turning out pretty great and I think I didn't suffer for reading from the adult section of the library after I finished the YA section at 12 or 13.
I love that you said that Maus should be essential reading because we actually studied it in school, and I absolutely loved it! It is such an important read, and the sheer amount of LAYERS to the book is incredible!
I read the Bluest Eye three times and wow does it blow me away every time. Truly incredible book 👏🏽
The first three books, looking at the cover, look like ordinary books. Take one look at Maus, and HOLY FUCK THAT MAKES SENSE
I remember reading a book in highschool for my senior year that taught me a valuable lesson, I completely forgot the name or author, but it was essentially the aftermath of a hurricane, following the perspective of a real person in their adventure, people robbing stores after the desolate city, guns being pointed at the citizens by other americans if they tried to leave, the rescue teams taking an extraordinary long time to help them which lead to some death, especially of the elderly, and much more. A lot of it did come from other perspectives, what was actually happening. But the author who had interviewed this man and his family and wrote the book about it was in distressed to find out only a year or so later, the man he had interviewed, who was seen as not a hero, but a great figure who helped many, beat his wife, went to jail, and much more. The author only learned of that after publication, so the book did not mention it at all. The lesson I learned here was that perspective is full of twists, a mix of the good and the bad, biases and unbiases, a lot for anyone to take in, especially since the scenes in the book were not that pretty at all. Why ban any books like these that could teach highschoolers very valuable lessons? Middle and Elementary school could be a different talk, but highschoolers seem mature/mentally-developed enough, especially those about to head to college, that they could understand these topics, even if it's not "safe" like that first book you had mentioned. I feel like these parents really just feel like banning them to just ban them. How long will these parents "shelter" these kids eyes only to throw them out and say goodbye just because they're "adults" now and not children in school.
I'm a grandmother with 5 grandkids under 12 and I buy them at least one Banned Book a week. My own kids LOVE them and are so happy their mom (me) insists on _really_ educating her grandbabies. I get thank-you notes (hand-written, no less!) every couple of weeks, thanking me for the great books I'm sending. Trying to do my part.
My favorite German writer, Erich Kästner, had most of his work banned by the Nazis and is famous of being one of a handful of people who actually attended their own book burnings. He wrote a couple of essays about his experiences that I wish would be translated into English because they’re really fascinating.
omg i'm. giggling.. i'm german and have never even considered how english speakers would pronounce Maus differently omg
mau
I loved Maus! My 9th grade English class gave us the chose between reading Maus or Persepolis. So half the class read Maus (vol. 1) and the other half Persepolis. I chose Maus, and it was one of my favorite required readings I ever did in school. It led me to pick up the 2nd volume of Maus on my own, and several years later I decided to pick up Persepolis. Also a great graphic memoir. Anyways, it's been years since then, and it's thanks to Maus that I became interested in memoirs and began to read them more. You can learn a lot from them. So, It's a real shame that it was banned in some Tennessee schools, and probably elsewhere.
It’s so amazing watching you talk about book. The intellectual way he talks about them is amazing. I feel like he is the type of person who you can have long captivating conversations with him about anything.
It's definitely a difficult subject to have a fully formed opinion on. My general opinion is that people should be allowed to write what they want so long as the public is allowed to react and call them out (or defend) for them. Books should inspire conversation and hopefully inspire change.
The other issue for me is the fear that a book that disseminates hate speaks to a specific audience that can be incredibly dangerous to the lives of the vulnerable.
I very much believe that books should have trigger and content warning as some topics are truly triggering. I don't regret the books I've read that have made me feel uncomfortable... I regret bad writing for sure, but not triggering text.
I just don't tend to recommend those books or I make sure to warn people when it comes up.
What I find completely ridiculous is that there are parents groups who want to control what other people's children have access to.... It really screams lazy parenting. It screams "I don't want to have a conversation with my child". The fact that these parent groups are also more likely to be anti-big government and don't want anyone to tell them or THEIR kids what to do. It's so completely hypocritical and that hypocrisy goes completely over their heads.
well-said
i hope a lot of people read your comment 🏆
Could you do a video on books who got completely removed from the market like Stephen Kings rage? I would like to know how often in history books got completely removed from the market and why.
I haven't watched the entire video yet but the topic of banned books reminded me of a renowned South Asian author Manto. I don't know if you have heard about him or not but his work was controversial back in the day and too explicit for the South Asian society, i am not sure if his books were banned or not, however now his work is getting the respect and recognition it deserved. His books are in Urdu but i am pretty sure you can find translated one too, cant recommend any specific work of his since his books are still on my tbr
living in a county where the school board in charge has been pushing efforts to ban books and spoken about burning them, I’m glad you’ve made this video to talk about this issue. banning books is never the answer :(
I recently read “the catcher in the rye” solely based on that I knew it had been on a banned list! Loved it, wanted 100 more pages of it… understood why the language would bring up issues. HOWEVER, this would be completely acceptable in a high school setting (USA), this coming from someone who did not curse at all in high school (I was very much a “good girl” then) and the analysis/ symbolism in the book would have been amazing in school. It deals with such important issues we go through in life. I recommend to anyone who hasn’t read, nice fast read!!
I read it for an essay in college and loved it! I also got an A in the essay because I loved analysing the symbolism in it. I understand why it's banned but I think the problem is that adults don't think teenagers are like that and that it will teach them bad things. I think if I read it during high school I'd love it even more because I really connected with holden over similar experiences.
@@gabrielaharries8149 I see that point, but as you mentioned, I knew kids in school who were going through the same issues the book highlights. Don’t understand how adults think books would have that much of an influence in this day in age. Especially when you’re dissecting it in a classroom setting vs all the things kids now see online by themselves. Great job as well, would have loved to dived deeper into the symbolism myself 😅
If you loved the bluest eye I would highly recommend reading the stageplay adaptation. its amazing to see how they worked around certain Events in the novel that obviously couldn't be shown on stage, but the reveal of the aftermath of those Events is even more impactful. I wrote about the bluest eye and the corresponding stageplay for my English undergrad and while researching I found out that Shirley Temple, the reason the main character idolizes blue eyes, didn't even have blue eyes herself. they made them blue when they colorized photos of her.