Tag: Beloved by Toni Morrison

A Recent Attack on an Historical Novel

Here I go again, blogging about book banning. It’s too important to sweep under the rug.

Today’s blog post is longer than most of mine, but this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. It is a topic that is indicative of the trouble our world is in today.

A small but vocal segment of our society believes it is wrong to teach young people about slavery, the Holocaust, or any part of history that makes them uneasy. They start by asking that books be removed from public school libraries and classrooms. They complain if certain books and plays written by Shakespeare are read in the classroom or assigned as required reading. Then they move on to public libraries. Then they start attacking authors and book publishers.

They believe that their freedom of speech trumps my freedom to read. They believe they have the right to deny you and me the right to read anything we want. Some of them don’t mind using violence to get their point across.

Photo by Kristina V on Unsplash

As I stated in an earlier blog post, they have the right to regulate what their own children read, but they don’t have the right to deny my great-nieces the right to read what they want and need to read.

Where does it end? Just look at 1930s Germany, if you want to know. Just look at countries where groups like the Taliban have gained political control.

It’s time for reasonable people to pay attention

I hear too many people say, “I never use the public library. I buy the books I want to read.” As a writer, I want people to purchase my books. I also want public libraries to purchase my books. But that’s not the point.

The point is that public libraries are integral to the very foundation of our country and our society. I read an article last week that quoted the American Library Association (ALA) as reporting that book challenging at public libraries in 2022 amounted to 16% of all book challenges in the United States, but in 2023 public libraries are receiving approximately 50% of the book challenges in the US.

Let that sink in. Also, let it sink in that the Proud Boys have disrupted reading hours at public libraries and librarians have received death threats. Is that what you want at your local public library?

Well-meaning, misguided people are taking away your right to read. Many of them are even doing it in the name of God. It makes them feel good to say that. It makes them feel good to say they’re doing it “to protect the children.”

I understand the need for age-appropriate books; however, today’s right-wing activists are hiding behind that political campaign sound bite and are using it to nitpick and challenge every book that comes down the pike. Their “holier than thou” attitude is wearing thin with me.

They’re on a mission to dumb us down, to dictate what we can and cannot have access to, to limit our intellectual potential. They are on a mission to erase the ugly and uncomfortable parts of our nation’s history.

Many historical novels have been challenged and banned in various places over the years, and it seems like all fiction is fair game for the book banners today. In my blog post today I highlight three historical novels that have been challenged and banned in various locations.

These three immediately came to mind

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

I have read each of those novels and not one of them warped my mind. Were you damaged by reading any of these novels? I doubt it. Were you moved to understand and see the world differently by reading these novels? Probably.

To Kill a Mockingbird teaches us about racial discrimination and injustice while also teaching us that Atticus Finch had integrity and maybe we should, too.

Beloved teaches us about the horrors of slavery and that the horrors did not end with the Civil War. It teaches us the lengths desperate people will go to prevent their children from being enslaved and living in horrible circumstances. That’s being demonstrated daily at the US-Mexican border.

The Grapes of Wrath teaches us what can happen after a decade of affluence and decadence and a time of drought as it illustrates a side of life during The Great Depression.

It’s one thing to read that thousands of people lost their farms and everything they had during the “Dust Bowl,” but it’s altogether different to read The Grapes of Wrath and live with the novel’s characters.

The Snow Forest, by Elizabeth Gilbert

In July of this year, an historical novel scheduled to be released in February 2024 was attacked on the author’s Goodreads account to the point that she chose to cancel its publication.

Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote Eat, Pray, Love had written a novel set in Russia in the 1930s. With all the current interest in the war in Ukraine today, it would seem an opportune time to release a book set in 1930s Russia.

But author Elizabeth Gilbert learned that was not the case. She got so much blowback from her fans, that she pulled The Snow Forest even after some of her readers had pre-ordered the book. Her fans in Ukraine (or at least enough of them) said it was not the right time to release a book set in Russia. In response, the author suspended the publication of the book.

Author Alina Adams’s Thought on this

I read a blog post by author Alina Adams who was born in Odessa, Ukraine. Ms. Adams’ post maintains that historical fiction can make an important statement about the world and not just be a source of entertainment.

Ms. Adams wrote, “And as someone who loves to read historical fiction taking place all over the world in all sorts of different time periods, I am wary of a mindset which might lead to authors and publishers censoring themselves, shying away from setting stories in regions where there is ongoing political strife.”

In addition to specific examples of historical novels that have been challenged and banned, Ms. Adams’ blog post contained several succinct statements about the potential historical fiction holds, including the following: “Sometimes, historical fiction can tell a truth non-fiction isn’t equipped to deliver.” Also, “It doesn’t just make you think, it makes you feel. And it makes you empathize.”

My thoughts on this

Reading an historical novel might not change your political stance or religious beliefs but, if you give it a chance, it just might help you see the other side of an issue.

It might at least help you realize that people with views that oppose yours are not necessarily your enemies. They just might be human beings with a different perspective and life experience.

Please take a couple of minutes to read Alina Adams’ complete blog post from July 27, 2023 on M.K. Tod’s blog, A Writer of History: Why Historical Fiction Must Keep Tackling Controversial Topics | A Writer of History.

A quote from author Barbara Kyle

I printed this quote from Barbara Kyle and have it taped to my computer:

“The move to self-censorship for fear of ‘cultural appropriation’ is a sad state of affairs. Author Morgan Jones eloquently champions the opposite position: ‘Fiction remains the best means we have of finding connection where there seems to be none; and the novel, of all forms, encourages a search that’s deep and sustained. By reading (or writing) one, you’ve travelled somewhere else. You’ve moved, if only slightly, toward others. In a world that finds and increasingly exploits division and difference, this is an invaluable, precious exercise.”

Since my last blog post

Marie and I finished proofreading and creating the cover for our upcoming cookbook, The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes. We submitted it to Amazon on Friday and requested a proof copy. It should arrive this week and, if we are pleased with it, we’ll give Amazon the go ahead to publish it. Look for an update and perhaps a cover reveal in next Monday’s blog post.

Until my next blog post

Be aware of what is going on in your community and state related to book challenges and book bannings. Speak up for books. Speak up for the freedom to read. Speak up for public libraries and librarians.

Have you ordered my American Revolution e-ghost story?  “Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story” is available from Amazon, along with my other books: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH7JCP11/. It’s only available as an e-Booklet.

“Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story,” by Janet Morrison

If you don’t have a good book to read, visit your local public library. Or, from the comfort of your home, go to its website and search for books you would like to read or subjects you want to learn more about. You will be amazed at what is available at your fingertips!

Take time for friends and family.

Thank you for taking time to read this long blog post.

Remember the people of Ukraine, Maui, Libya,….

Janet

No one is going to tell me what I can’t read!

I recently read a startling article about the government authorities in Turkey ordering the destruction of more than 300,000 books because they contained the name of a Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, with whom the leaders of Turkey disagreed.

Turkey maintains that Gulen instigated a failed coup attempt in 2016. He now lives in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States of America. This widespread destruction of books even went so far as to include any book in which the word “Pennsylvania” appeared.

I gasped!

This is Banned Books Week in the United States.

The last week in September is a time set aside for us to give thought to the dangers of the banning and destruction of books. Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association to bring attention to what is at risk if books are censored. The association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom publishes a list of the top 10 books that are challenged each year.

According to the http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 website, “The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 347 challenges to library, school and university materials and services in 2018.” The site says that 483 books were challenged or banned in 2018.

Examples of banned or challenged books

Here are just a few books that have either been banned or were threatened with censorship since 2009, along with the reasons given on the ALA website:

Captain Underpants series written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: series was challenged because it was perceived as encouraging disruptive behavior, while Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot was challenged for including a same-sex couple;

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Reasons: banned, challenged, and restricted for addressing teen suicide;

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini
This critically acclaimed, multigenerational novel was challenged and banned because it includes sexual violence and was thought to “lead to terrorism” and “promote Islam”;

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, considered an American classic, was challenged and banned because of violence and its use of the N-word;

Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James
Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other (“poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”);

The Holy Bible
Reasons: religious viewpoint;

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”;

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group;

The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit;

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence;

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit;

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group;

My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence; and

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.

Which book on the list surprised you the most?

I was most surprised to find My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult on the list. I’ve read eight of her novels. My Sister’s Keeper deals with organ donation. Jodi Picoult’s novels make the reader think. The protagonist usually faces a moral dilemma.

I’ve read most of the books on the above list. It’s frightening to see a list like this – to know that someone thought a particular book was so offensive to them that they thought NO ONE should have the opportunity to read it.

It’s human nature to do what one is told not to do. I understand that when a parent or other community member asks for a book to be removed from a middle school or high school library, the fuss usually brings so much attention to the book that the students will go to great lengths to read it.

If you live in a free society, you may read anything you want to read. That is a precious gift your government protects for you, so never take it for granted.

Since my last blog post

I took a week off from writing, blogging, and all forms of social media and went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was unseasonably warm and dry, which doesn’t bode well for the coming “fire season.”

It was great to get away to a place where development is outlawed – to drive for miles and miles and see nothing but mountains and trees. To be in a place that was so quiet you could hear a babbling brook. I’ll blog more about my trip at a later date and share some photos.

Until my next blog post

Do a Google or other search engine search for “banned books.” Select one you’ve never read, and read it. Or reread one you’ve read and try to identify what someone else found offensive about it. Celebrate your right to read!

I hope you have a good book to read. I’m reading The Bookshop at Water’s End, by Patti Callahan Henry. It’s the book for discussion tonight at Rocky River Readers Book Club. If you’re local, feel free to join us at 7pm at Rocky River Presbyterian Church, 7940 Rocky River Road, Concord, NC.

If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time. After a week of vacation, I need to get back to my writing this week.

Thank you for reading my blog. You could have spent the last few minutes doing something else, but you chose to read my blog.

Let’s continue the conversation

What’s your favorite banned book? Do you remember the first banned book you read? Were you aware that it had been banned on some level, and was that the reason you read it?

Janet