Someone said eons ago to students “if a book has been banned then that is exactly the book you should read”

My paraphrase, probably said a lot more eloquently!

Who bans books anyway, besides the Catholic church? I heard several years ago The DaVinci Code (the book suggests that Jesus had a wife and baby)was banned by somebody. That was probably the 1st entire book I ever read, and I was 60 years old then. I listen to audiobooks every day. Mostly non-fiction about Science, philosophy, and atheism.
One thing The DaVinci Code did was to get me incredibly interested in religion. I have spent 100s of hours reading, watching, and listening to books written by the Four Horsemen. I have watched hours on Youtube the religious vs god debates.debates. I read, listen, and watch a lot of science, particularly evolution, physics, chemistry. It's funny that reading one particular book can spark a huge change in your life.

Henty Miller

I was swept up in the romance that was Henry Miller and Anais Nin when I was young. Lady Chatterley's lover. Lolita,Kama Sutra. And when I was feeling less romantic/ horny it was Brave New World and Animal farm 1984. I think those were all banned at some time

I guess I never thought about it. On a similar note, some things should not be released. Like when wikileaks released how to put anthrax in a water supply.

I read what I like -- don't care if they have been banned or not. I don't understand your phrase 'were once banned'. Books are still being banned by the religious and prejudiced.

The only book I can remember being banned or an attempt was made to ban it was Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H.Lawrence. I tried reading it but it was too boring. A book which should be banned is "Fifty Shades of Grey" for crimes against literature.

I only read what interests me. Usually non-fiction.

I've never purposely sought out banned books but when I've discovered a book I read or was reading was banned, I've always wondered what the hell for.

I was fond of MAD magazine as an adolescent. Then, I gravitated to Bob Crumb, and Gilbert Shelton. Along with that, I devoured Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Mao. Not to mention Bakunin, Proudhon,Rousseau, Voltaire,Reich, Machiavelli, von Clausewitz, and Darwin. My advice: Read EVERYTHING! In that way, you will develop a more holistic view of this round, round World you live in!

Tried reading Catcher in the Rye, but couldn't get into it.
Not banned, but I did work my way through Dante's Inferno, only to learn that it was more a reflection of Alleghieri's take on local politics of that time.
Twain's family tried to halt publication of Letters From Earth, which made it all the more enticing. to me.

I think banning a book only imbues it with mystique, making people want to read it more. As I recall, sales of Satanic Verses were boosted after it was banned in some countries.

Hee!hee!Hee! I admit to reading the church bulletin while at mass (as a teenager), the banned book list and headed to the Library first thing Monday.

My favorite was Peyton Place.

When I was younger I made it a point to see movies that were banned in my city. Because of that, I went to see "The Story of O" when I was 17. Didn't understand it at all, but it was.......... interesting.

I banned myself from reading any religious books, so that's fair enough.

no. i don't look up which books have been banned, when, why, or by whom. there would be a gazillion of them. sometimes i find out about such things as i go about my normal life, which involves a lot of research that could incidentally reveal such information. unless i have reason to be curious about a specific book, or about a specific banning entity, i don't go seeking these things. i have read books which, as it turns out, have indeed been banned, but not because they were banned. i read them because i was interested in them. if i was ever interested in a book and it turns out it was currently banned i might make an effort to read it, but i would be more likely to work toward unbanning it, whether or not i then read it.

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I was horrified to acquire vinyl records from certain countries where an individual track or one side has been scratched out by the censor. . . Chile and Argentina.

Kurt Vonnegut mentioned that one of the main reasons cited for banning Slaughterhouse Five was something that actually happened to him as he was making his way out of Dresden to Allied lines. The quote in the fictional book was included verbatim.

"Get out of the road, you dumb motherfucker!"

Banned books are the best books. From high school on, I have always sought out the ideas someone didn't want me to ever know about. I still get a thrill when I discover something. (I discovered Moses is widely considered legendary a few months ago! How could I never have come upon this before?)

The banning of Spycatcher in the Thatcher era was brilliant. Banned in Britain but not everywhere else in the world. That really showed them. No one from Britain ever got to read that then!

On the subject of censorship the 88-94ish transmission ban of Sinn Fein and other NI political figures from TV or radio. Broadcasters got around the problem by over-dubbing their voices by actors. One of the more farcical decisions by Douglas Hurd (Home Secretary of the time)

And the banning of the song Give Ireland Back To The Irish by Wings. I’d like to think it was banned because it was a shite song but...

Of course. Some of the before I knew they were banned.

I read what takes my fancy and don't worry about if it is banned or not, and I don't go out of my way to source banned books either. If I am meant to read a certain book it will happen.

I read a number of books as a kid that have since been banned.
I give them as gifts now. Even if I have to special order them.

If you are talking about books being banned by government, prohibited from being printed or distributed, with punishment prescribed for violation, then you will get my immediate attention and I might want to read that book.

If a school decides that a book is inappropriate for its library I’m not concerned. If a publisher refuses to publish a particular book that’s their right and I don’t care. I am not aggrieved.

I have banned television in its entirety from my house.

I used to care.

I have read quite a few. There are a couple I have no desire to read.