Today kicks off Banned Books Week, when we take time to raise awareness about the dangers of censorship. This week, I’ll be featuring one banned book each day.
“Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.”
George Orwell’s 1984 was challenged for violent content, sexual content, and views on communism. Today it is a staple of the dystopian genre.
Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell’s nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff’s attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell’s prescience of modern life–the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language–and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written.
What are your thoughts on Banned Books Week? Do you have a favorite “controversial” book? Let’s discuss in the comments!
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A classic. Hard to believe it was once banned.
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I like this idea and I love this book
I am always saying it and will keep doing so, Orwell is a genius!
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This one and Animal Farm have both been banned and are banned even now in some countries like China, and they’re both eerily poignant!
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