Mice and Men Under Fire

A Kansas City mother is pushing to have John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men removed from the school's required reading list. She objects to the book's use of the n word.

According to UPI, Dana Washington said: "The N-word is used more in this paragraph than most rap songs, and I think that's absolutely ridiculous .. I'm not asking for the book to be banned, but for it to be removed from the list of required reading in the USD 500 school list. ... I want them to find another book that doesn't use the word so violently and profusely."

The school's response: "It's not a pleasant part of our history," David Smith, a spokesman for the school district, told KMBC-TV. "But kids these days need opportunities to learn about it, understand it, not in a sanitized 21st-century way, because that's how we move forward in society."

Let me preface any discussion with this caveat: I’m in no way saying that the use of n-word is acceptable. However, I don’t think the answer is removing Of Mice and Men from the reading list.

John Steinbeck’s classic focuses on two migrant workers during the Great Depression. One of them has limited capabilities that result in the book’s tragic ending. Although it’s painful to read racist words it also reflects what was happening in our country at that time. Instead of pushing to have the book removed from the list, why not approach it as a chance to discuss racism in our country and the power/harm of racist words? If we ever hope to learn from history it’s not by ignoring it or shying away from the unpleasant bits.

What do you think?

What banned books do you want to read

Shelf Talk has an interesting post on banned books they'd like to read -

http://shelftalk.spl.org/2008/09/18/reading-those-censored-books/ . The post was inspired by a hilarious Onion article, Nation's Teens Disappointed by Banned Books, http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28619.

"Desensitized to sex and violence from an early age, today's teens simply expect more out of their banned books than previous generations," said Naomi Gould, director of the D.C.-based National Education Consortium. "For the teens of yesteryear, access to novels like Tropic Of Cancer, Portnoy's Complaint, and Lady Chatterley's Lover was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime thrill. But for teens raised on Cinemax and Def Comedy Jam, it just doesn't cut it."

tee hee.

Like Shelf Talk, I haven't read The Awakening in years. I wouldn't mind picking it up again.

I went through a list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.
http://staging.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.cfm
and banned novels/ challenged novels
http://staging.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/reasonsbanned.cfm

My pick's include from this list include:
The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier's tale of the fall out from one teen's refusal to participate in the school's annual chocolate sale repeatedly shows up on challenged book lists. I kind of like to see what the fuss is about.

A Wrinkle in Time - I've been meaning to read this for years. I feel like it's a must read in the scifi/ fantasy cannon.

Bless Me Ultima

Catch 22 - I've been meaning to read this for years
Slaughterhouse Five - Is another classic I feel remiss in not having read.

Must Read Books

In response to Esquire's Greatest Books Ever Written, Jezebel polled readers on must read books by women. As Jezebel pointed out there was just one woman author on Esquire's list:
http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/75-books?src=rss

Jezebel's list is compiled mostly of female authors - http://jezebel.com/5053732/75-books-every-woman-should-read-the-complete-list

I've included the list below. Which books have you read? Which ones do you want to read? (I've bolded the ones I've read and the ones I'd like to read are in red. Sadly, I have not read a lot of these books.

• The Lottery (and Other Stories), Shirley Jackson (I know I read The Lottery in high school)
• To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
• The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
• White Teeth, Zadie Smith
• The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende
• Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion
• Excellent Women, Barbara Pym
• The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
• Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
• The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
• Beloved, Toni Morrison
• Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
• Like Life, Lorrie Moore
• Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
• Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
• The Delta of Venus, Anais Nin
• A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley
• A Good Man Is Hard To Find (and Other Stories), Flannery O'Connor
• The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx
• You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down, Alice Walker
• Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
• To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
• Fear of Flying, Erica Jong
• Earthly Paradise, Colette
• Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
• Property, Valerie Martin
• Middlemarch, George Eliot
• Annie John, Jamaica Kincaid
• The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir
• Runaway, Alice Munro
• The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
• The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
• Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
• You Must Remember This, Joyce Carol Oates
• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
• Bad Behavior, Mary Gaitskill
• The Liars' Club, Mary Karr
• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
• A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith
• And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
• Bastard out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison
• The Secret History, Donna Tartt
• The Little Disturbances of Man, Grace Paley
• The Portable Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker
• The Group, Mary McCarthy
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing
• The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank *I've read this in school but would like to re-read it.
• Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
• Against Interpretation, Susan Sontag
• In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez
• The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
• Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
• Three Junes, Julia Glass
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft
• Sophie's Choice, William Styron
• Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann
• Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford
• Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. LeGuin
• The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
• The Face of War, Martha Gellhorn
• My Antonia, Willa Cather
• Love In The Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• The Harsh Voice, Rebecca West
• Spending, Mary Gordon
• The Lover, Marguerite Duras
• The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
• Tell Me a Riddle, Tillie Olsen
• Nightwood, Djuna Barnes
• Three Lives, Gertrude Stein
• Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
• I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith (I've seen the movie, I'd like to read the book)
• Possession, A.S. Byatt

Banned Books Week

This coming Saturday kicks off Banned Books Week. I was very disappointed to learn that there are no events planned in Massachusetts. Check out the Web site, you may find some events in your area. They are also doing things in Second Life.

http://bannedbooksweek.org/

According to the Web site, Banned Books started more than 25 years ago in response to a sudden increase of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 1,000 books have been challenged since then. The challenged books range from children's to reference to adult fiction. They include classic works such The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and popular works like the Harry Potter series.

While I understand some parents' concerns with books are serious, some border on the ridiculous. One parent wanted YA Lois Lowry's books removed because she'd objected to references to stuffing and snapping bras in the series. Really?

However, challenging books is not the answer. Just because one person finds a book objectionable does not give them the right to prevent others from reading it. It's important, I think, to remember that books are still under attack and we should continue to fight for the freedom to read.

Dear CW: Take a note, look at HBO

Wow, that was fast. Only after two episodes, HBO is renewing True Blood. Based on Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels. Regular readers, may recall I have ambivalent feelings. In all fairness, rare is the tv/ movie adaption I like 100 percent.

I have some problems with the series ... it plays a little loose and fast with the novels, I sort of detest the Tara/ best friend subplot. However, I'm hanging in there. I think Anna Paquin is great as Sookie.

True Blood goes for second bite

Five Reasons: True Blood

* The post title refers to my bitterness about CW's habit of canceling my favorite shows. Oh, bookworm Rory and super sleuth Veronica, tv is not the same without you.

Any True Blood watchers out there. What do you think?

Geek Gear

When I saw Peeramid's bookrest pillow, I fell in love with it. Shaped like ... wait for it ... pyramid, it's designed for reading books when you're lying in bed, sitting on the couch or traveling. It has a bookmark attached to it.

I came soooo close to buying this tonight, but I currently can't justify sending $30 something on it. My inner, let's be a responsible adult is like, save those pennies and use a pillow for reading. That said, I just think this looks adorable and looks so handy. I hate trying to find a comfortable spot reading a book when I'm sitting on my couch. http://www.peeramid.com/

Help save Bitch magazine

The woes that the publishing industry is facing are well. Magazines and newspapers are losing revenue, advertisements are down and layoffs continue. Hopefully we can all agree that a diversity of voices is beneficial for everyone.

I don't recall when I began reading Feministing, but I quickly began hooked. I don't agree with everything they post, but find it a refreshing/ provocative view on issues, news and culture. In a similar vein is a magazine called Bitch, which describes itself as commentary on the media-driven world from a feminist perspective. http://bitchmagazine.org/

The magazine is currently in financial trouble and needs to raise $40,000 to survive. I have to admit that I’ve never read Bitch – I read their blog, but for some reason haven’t been able to find it on the newsstand. However, I’m blogging about it because I think It’s so important that we support a diversity of voices.

Bitch magazine needs your help!
http://www.feministing.com/archives/011064.htm

The "Save Bitch" campaign: 28 days and $24K to go

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/09/save-bitch-magazine.html

Help Us Keep Bitching

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2008/09/16/help-us-keep-bitching/

Bitch Editors Ask Readers for 40K: Feminist Mag's 'Fate Is In Your Hands'

http://www.observer.com/2008/media/bitch-editors-ask-readers-40k-feminist-mags-fate-your-hands

Will Bitch Go Broke?

http://www.motherjones.com/riff_blog/archives/2008/09/9754_and_i_said_list.html