By: Kelli Wilhelm, 336.001
The nearly bare yellow room on the first floor of Frostburg State University’s Lane Center slowly filled with students and faculty for the annual Banned Books Reading this past Tuesday. This event, presented by Sigma Tau Delta, is meant to showcase individually selected books that having either been once banned or challenged are considered noteworthy by the said individual. A cursory glance of the evening’s program displayed a great degree of variety in the selected readings.
MaryJo Price began the program with a brief history of banned books, stating that “The majority of us are unaware of book banning.” She traced book banning back to Plato and followed to Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press which changed the distribution of literature and initiated such censorship practices as Henry VIII ordering the submission of all written works for approval.
The first reader was Dexter Winkler with a selection from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. According to Winkler, the book was banned from parts of California for raising libel against California farmers. The passage which followed was a detailed description of a weary migrant worker in California. Winkler said he chose this book “Because I thoroughly enjoyed Steinbeck’s depiction of humanity.”
Then for a change of pace, Kathryn Barrow read J.R.R Tolkien’s novel banned for its depictions of magic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The subsequent readers followed one after the other for the next hour with books ranging from the Bible to Dante’s Divine Comedy to a children’s book.
Two expressive readings of dystopian novels proved the most relevant to the event at hand. First, Celina Bevington read from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 which
, having been banned for offensive language, focuses on book burning in a fictional future. A similar selection is Gavin Riley’s dystopian pick, George Orwell’s 1984. Clad in khakis, a dress shirt and a bowtie, Riley, pictured speaking at right in the photograph courtesy of Amy Barkman, introduced this novel by saying, “This is really one of my favorite books of all time. If I hadn’t read it in seventh grade, I wouldn’t be the same person I am now. There are like four copies in the library, so there’s no excuse not to read it.” The following passage discusses the fictional idea of Newspeak, which narrows the range of thought and systematically destroys language. These dystopian passages perfectly matched the ideas which the banned book reading is meant to speak against.
Next Elizabeth Radcliffe read from Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Sarah Galvin read a dark humor filled passage that demonstrated the offensive language for which Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was banned. Then, Vince Morton read the first pages of a new Sherman Alexie novel that Morton himself had never read. While the particular novel had not been banned or challenged, Morton chose this as a tribute to Alexie’s ability to “push the envelope” with his writing.
In a change of pace, Kaitlin Mauk read poetry from her childhood favorite, Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic, which was banned for encouraging disobedience in children. These various short poems, including “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes,” drew laughter from the audience. In contrast to this childhood favorite, Rebeccah Pruitt next read from inarguably the oldest book of the evening, the Bible. This was followed by an animated reading of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl by Professor Gerry LaFemina. Following this was a return to children’s literature as Access Services Librarian Elizabeth Keller read Little Black Sambo, which was banned due to public protest against the illustrations. The reading ended, with Dr. Mary Ann Chapman’s reading from Dante’s The Divine Comedy. The chosen passage ends the speaker’s journey through hell as he meets the worst object one could possibly meet.
The topics represented by the selected banned books ranged from magic, to dystopia, to childhood, to humor, to religion, and to hell. The banned book reading showcased challenged books of all varieties and provided appeal for a wide audience.
More information on banned books can be found at http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/index.cfm.
MaryJo Price began the program with a brief history of banned books, stating that “The majority of us are unaware of book banning.” She traced book banning back to Plato and followed to Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press which changed the distribution of literature and initiated such censorship practices as Henry VIII ordering the submission of all written works for approval.
The first reader was Dexter Winkler with a selection from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. According to Winkler, the book was banned from parts of California for raising libel against California farmers. The passage which followed was a detailed description of a weary migrant worker in California. Winkler said he chose this book “Because I thoroughly enjoyed Steinbeck’s depiction of humanity.”
Then for a change of pace, Kathryn Barrow read J.R.R Tolkien’s novel banned for its depictions of magic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The subsequent readers followed one after the other for the next hour with books ranging from the Bible to Dante’s Divine Comedy to a children’s book.
Two expressive readings of dystopian novels proved the most relevant to the event at hand. First, Celina Bevington read from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 which
, having been banned for offensive language, focuses on book burning in a fictional future. A similar selection is Gavin Riley’s dystopian pick, George Orwell’s 1984. Clad in khakis, a dress shirt and a bowtie, Riley, pictured speaking at right in the photograph courtesy of Amy Barkman, introduced this novel by saying, “This is really one of my favorite books of all time. If I hadn’t read it in seventh grade, I wouldn’t be the same person I am now. There are like four copies in the library, so there’s no excuse not to read it.” The following passage discusses the fictional idea of Newspeak, which narrows the range of thought and systematically destroys language. These dystopian passages perfectly matched the ideas which the banned book reading is meant to speak against.Next Elizabeth Radcliffe read from Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Sarah Galvin read a dark humor filled passage that demonstrated the offensive language for which Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was banned. Then, Vince Morton read the first pages of a new Sherman Alexie novel that Morton himself had never read. While the particular novel had not been banned or challenged, Morton chose this as a tribute to Alexie’s ability to “push the envelope” with his writing.
In a change of pace, Kaitlin Mauk read poetry from her childhood favorite, Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic, which was banned for encouraging disobedience in children. These various short poems, including “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes,” drew laughter from the audience. In contrast to this childhood favorite, Rebeccah Pruitt next read from inarguably the oldest book of the evening, the Bible. This was followed by an animated reading of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl by Professor Gerry LaFemina. Following this was a return to children’s literature as Access Services Librarian Elizabeth Keller read Little Black Sambo, which was banned due to public protest against the illustrations. The reading ended, with Dr. Mary Ann Chapman’s reading from Dante’s The Divine Comedy. The chosen passage ends the speaker’s journey through hell as he meets the worst object one could possibly meet.
The topics represented by the selected banned books ranged from magic, to dystopia, to childhood, to humor, to religion, and to hell. The banned book reading showcased challenged books of all varieties and provided appeal for a wide audience.
More information on banned books can be found at http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/index.cfm.
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