The brutal attack on author Salman Rushdie in New York on August 12 has rekindled the debate over literary censorship.
The event marks the 100th anniversary of James Joyce’s epic poem Ulysses, which was banned in both the US and UK upon its initial release. A signed first edition of “The Satanic Verses” will also be on display.
Harrington cites the case of “Spycatcher,” the autobiography of a former MI5 officer, which became a bestseller after its ban in 1987, showing how censorship tends to backfire and make its targets more popular. said it was a common theme of book bans throughout history.
“The more you suppress it, the more people will fight it,” he added.
Fair’s collection of censored works includes many titles that are considered classics in some jurisdictions and contraband in others, including:
Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” (1955)
Provided by Shepero Rare Book
Nabokov’s story of a pedophile infatuated with a girl predictably hit the British censors, so French publisher Maurice Girodias, an advocate of banned works specializing in erotica, was the first British novelist Graham Greene campaigned for the publication of his novel in Europe, arguing that “Lolita” was a metaphor for the corruption of the Old World (Europe) by the New World (America). By the time Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation was released in 1962, the ban had been overturned in several countries and the book was a hit. However, it remains high on the list of most banned and problematic books in US schools and libraries, according to the American Library Association.
George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” (1945)
Courtesy of PY Rare Books
US and UK publishers rejected Orwell’s satire on the dangers of Stalinist oppression during World War II. They feared the novella could undermine the Soviet Union’s alliance with Hitler, but they hastily accepted it when the Soviets became enemies during the Cold War. . . “Animal Farm” was off-limits in the Eastern Bloc until the collapse of the Soviet Union, after which the United Arab Emirates banned it on the grounds that it portrayed pigs as protagonists, which it sees as inconsistent with Islamic values. There were also people.
Tropic of Cancer (1934) by Henry Miller
offered by Jonkers Rare Books
“I don’t know if it will be published today,” said Tom of Jonker’s Rare Books, which sells limited editions of Miller’s semi-autobiographical novel about life as a struggling writer in Paris. Eiling said the violent sex scenes and prevalent language of misogyny would be hard to sell to modern audiences, he argued. , was only Obelisk Press, known for distributing pornography. U.S. Customs banned the book that same year, but it remained in circulation on the black market until the Supreme Court declared him not obscene in 1964. Turkey outlawed this novel in his 1986.
DH Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” (1928)
offered by Jonkers Rare Books
Lawrence’s agent told the author that his racy story could not be published in the UK because of both its sexually explicit content and its portrayal of then-taboo relationships between members of different social classes. Advised. The author eventually secured a limited English edition through an Italian publisher. “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was not published in the UK until his 1960, and was the subject of a groundbreaking obscenity trial brought against the state by Penguin Books in 1960. Penguin won, selling 200,000 copies on the first day the novel was released. The book was subsequently banned in China in 1987 on the grounds that it “corrupts the minds of young people and goes against Chinese tradition”, but it is unknown whether the ban is still enforced.
James Joyce’s “Ulysses” (1922)
Courtesy of Peter Harrington Boo
120 Days of Sodom (1904) by Marquis de Sade
Courtesy of Voewood Rare Books
Written at the Bastille during the French Revolution, the author was interrupted when the prison was raided by militants and never finished the story. It is one, featuring depraved fetishes, bloody orgies, torture, and pedophilia. The book was first published in Germany in his 1904 and was subsequently banned throughout Europe for much of the 20th century. His 1975 film adaptation by Pierpaolo Pasolini was also banned in several countries. South Korea banned the book he twice during this century, and now he can only sell it to adults over the age of 19 in a sealed plastic cover.
Source: www.cnn.com