Banned Books: The World's Most Controversial Books, Past and Present – D.K. Publishing
The last year has been a banner year for challenging and banning books in school libraries — not a great distinction — so this compilation and historical view of censorship is timely and needed.
While the intent is laudable, the execution is lacking.
This is a wisp of a book that could be considered a primer on the subject, but it never goes deep enough to make you feel like you’re learning something versus reading a listicle.
Starting with “The Decameron” (published 1370s) through “1,000 Years of Joys and Sorrows” (published 2021), readers are given a few pages (or two to six-minute audiobook chapters) of 87 books.
Each chapter provides background on the author and plot/subject matter, reasons for the ban or challenge and historical perspective on the legacy of the book. The 16 writers that contributed to the text keep things neutral, but this is essentially a streamlined Wikipedia page.
What I enjoyed most was assessing the macro and micro trends that led to a ban and tracking how they have evolved — or haven’t — over time. My takeaway is that five themes have placed novels on the banned list throughout history:
Satirized or questioned religious institutions
Threatened the status quo (spotlighted a counterculture)
Criticized authority, either political or religious
Sympathetic to marginalized groups
Deemed perverse (largely due to sex or sexuality)
While the books discussed run the gambit of fiction and nonfiction, it’s unclear how some made the criteria for inclusion and others did not, since only a small fraction of banned books are represented.
If you’re interested in the topic — especially if you want to add some banned books to your reading list — this is an intriguing place to start, but readers should temper expectations on how much you may actually learn in the process.
The audiobook was narrated by Charles Armstrong who performs with a gusto that didn’t seem matched to the subject matter. It wasn’t a terrible performance but it wasn’t great either.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5 stars
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: December 12 – December 15, 2022
Multi-tasking: Good to go, but everything starts to run together in the end. I’d recommend only tackling a few sections at a time.
