Your Reaction To The Dead Zone!

[mprose]

I would like to know what all of you thought when you heard that the dead zone was banned at certain places. I think that it is odd, yes there is "bad" language and all but really not nothing that i bet everyone [highschoolers, it was banned in highschools] haven't heard. Also i think that if the parents really feel that it is unsuitable for them then, do they have a problem with biology, and health and all of the other classes that highschoolers take. This intrests me as a highschooler and i would love to hear what you have to say about all off this.

[wally wonder]

seems like a sure-fire way to get a book read. and i don't mean by just high schoolers. how many people went out and got satanic verses with the brouhaha over that one? heard about a book critical of a mining company that was boycotted, banned, or something. seems like i had a chance to read it at some point and never did. maybe i skimmed through it and said naw. i don't think we'll see the end of banned/boycotted books, or anything else for that matter, anytime soon. someone, or something, has to be it. we never leave the playground.

[the_last_gunslinger]

I've never really given tremendous thought to any Stephen King book that was banned, though I do feel rather passionately about the subject. I am, for the most part, entirely against book banning and I count myself fortunate that in high school, we never had any controversy surrounding our reading of Huckleberry finn, Of Mice and Men or Lord of the Flies.

[crazycrashink]

I had no idea that this had been banned/controversial. Considering the first time I found The Stand was in my high school library, I must be very lucky! I agree with the poster above me who said that a banned label makes the book more interesting to potential readers. It brings out the rebel in all of us haha!

[Ubasti]

I am against all forms of censorship. I think that children need to be "sheltered" from certain things until they're at the age where they're able to understand. Highschoolers should be able to read a book and understand that it is a book and a, in the case of the Dead Zone, work of fiction.

It amazes me to look through lists of banned or challanged books and see titles like Harry Potter. So many "classic" works of fiction have been banned at one time or another and in most cases it seems that a lot could be learned from these books. Really parents and schools are just keeping tabs on their children while they're at school, they can always go to a library or book store and get the book.

I agree with Bluey ... the banning of a book, or anything really, makes it all that much more desirable.

[THISisWHEREiMAKEmySTAND]

I think it is utterly ridiculous that this book has been banned in some places, while yes I agree it may not be the book I would pass off on my youngest brother, I don't see any reason at all to ban it, but then again isn't it all to common for a society ( or parts of it) to try to suppress that which maintains Ideal that may be seen as contradictory as their own. Just a pathetic effort to suppress the written word which should always flow freely......

[michal]

I had NO IDEA they banned certain books anywhere these days -at least not in democracies. What do you mean by banned? That you needed to be of a certain age to read? In my country there are no banned books, and I'm a bit disgusted by the idea myself. Being Jewish. banning books comes too close to burning them in my opinion and when you burn books... well, we all know what comes next.

[Mr Nobody]

Yep, banning books is a short hop away from burning them. And who gets to choose what people are permitted or not permitted to read anyway? Who are these self-appointed paragons of virtue and taste? I ask because, in my experience, you show me a room full of these types and I'll show you a room full of hypocrites:
'No, they can't read The Dead Zone! Perish the very thought! It'll corrupt our children and my Davy is very well behaved. We're quite strict. Why, just last week he stole an extra cookie! What can you do? Thieves must go to prison. But of course he's just a seven year old boy. "Prison" to him means he is put in the cupboard under the stairs and left in the dark for fifteen minutes. He has to learn.'

[Lily Sawyer]

For mprose:
My reaction when I read The Dead Zone was that it had some parallels to The Manchurian Candidate. (If you haven't seen the original movie with Frank Sinatra & Angela Lansbury, I highly recommend it.) I can't say anything else about either the book or the movie because I don't want to spoil any viewing or reading for other people here.
Anyway, it's been a while since I've read it, but at the time, the flashback sequences for the Jewish geriatric in the hospital (Mort? Mordecai? was that his name?) were poignant and scary, craftily slow in their build-up to revelations for Mort. (I don't think that was a spoiler.)
It was depressing in some ways, to the extent that I couldn't begin to fathom losing seven years of one's life and having zero memory to accompany that loss.

This being a reaction from someone who is a long ways from high school. Keep reading. King is a virtuoso at mixing politics, popular Zeitgeist, the fantastical, and general creepiness. His recipes always work!

[Sarahlou]

Can't believe this is banned, personally this is one of my favourite King books (and that takes some doing!) and the most memorable thing about it is the beautiful albeit heartbreaking love story, people really don't give young people enough credit to be able to read a story in context and not add social implications to the nth degree!!

[Er0tic NeUr0t1c]

My reaction was like... damn that book was really good... and i didnt realize how good it was until i finished it. I couldnt put it down starting with the Wheel of Fortune that was intense. I don't understand why its banned it isnt here in my highschool we have like 40 stephen king books in the library including The Dead Zone and Tommyknockers which have both been banned. We don't have It or The Stand though, which is silly, just thought i should mention... anyways i dont get how it got banned because it isnt very violent besides a little girl getting raped and murdered by that freaky Frank Dodd and a few curse wordds.

After i said that i read that sentence realized how violent that is, but still, its not as hardcore as some others.

[JRM]

I thought it was a good read. If I had any problem with it, it would be that I didn't think it was really memorable. The story is already fading from my memory and I just read it a few months ago, and this while older books are still fresh in my mind -- such as Bag of Bones and Insomnia. About the banning thing, I have no idea why it was banned from some school. From all the King books I've read, it's the most restrained as far as violence and cursing go.

[Jack Roman]

I don't agree with the banning of the book, but if it was it was probably because it was so political. Especially with the assasination attempt in these days of so much terrorism going on.

[Pucker]

I have yet to hear a convincing argument in favor of book banning.

Remember your Genesis. The most effective means of ensuring that people will covet a thing is to forbid it.

[GNTLGNT]

(In an Emily Litella type voice)-What is all this about book fanning? If they're that hot and steamy, maybe they should get a room! What's that? Oh, BANNING...Never mind...
Really though, we as a race are just contrary enough-that if you tell us not to do something, we're gonna give it a crack...I mean what about Eve and her dalliance with fresh produce? Ban it, and people who can barely read are going to go looking for it. To paraphrase Monty Python-"You're all a bunch of Loonies!"

[Terry B]

I had NO IDEA they banned certain books anywhere these days -at least not in democracies. What do you mean by banned? That you needed to be of a certain age to read? In my country there are no banned books, and I'm a bit disgusted by the idea myself. Being Jewish. banning books comes too close to burning them in my opinion and when you burn books... well, we all know what comes next.

I can't believe any of would not know that books are being banned. It happens all of the time. One of the best known works is JD Salingers Catcher in the Rye. Do a Google search sometime for banned books and you'll not only be surprised by the books that are on these lists but also some of the reasons they are being banned. We're being politically corrected to death!

[amys_pov7]

I also did not know that anyone could ban books? That is absurd. Everyone has their own perspectives on writing, and i would think highschools are mature enough to decide on their own.

[Rand]

I don't agree with the banning of the book, but if it was it was probably because it was so political. Especially with the assasination attempt in these days of so much terrorism going on.

Yep, that would be it.

It's absurd, and we see much worse on television, but who has ever accused school district officials, or low level bureaucrats, of making sense.

[fljoe0]

I'm totally opposed to school districts banning certain books. When I was in high school (in the late 70s), I took a class called Hitler's Germany. We read "Mein Kampf" in that class! If we were allowed to read "Mein Kampf" and survived it, I can't see how "The Dead Zone" could be a problem.

[sarar]

I read it in a day! Loved it!
I didn't realise until i joined the forum how popular this SK book is! Should have read it along time ago really

[JellybeanJay]

Can a book really be banned anymore? If so who decides what's appropriate and what isn't and why do they have the right to make that choice for me. Know what I'm sayin'?

[Shoesalesman]

This was the first Stephen King book I got my hands on in grade eight (1983 or so). Our school librarian ordered every SK book on the market after fifteen-or-so of us went up to her and promised we would frequent her library more if there were more SK books available. She was so proud of us until she picked up one and read a bit - not sure which she skimmed through but the next day they were all gone from the shelves. The ones we had signed out were to be returned immediately. It was my first experience with Stephen King followed almost immediately by my first taste of censorship.

[CCAL]

Just to make a point here-books CAN and WILL be banned/burned &/or CENSORED IF we tolerate it. We as a nation have fought this paticulaar battle many,many times since the beginning and will continue to do so. To NOT be watchful is total foolishness. We MUST be careful and never,ever allow our written thoughts and feelings to be censored by someone else. Because if allowed then someone will censor our sites, our very own thoughts, and our souls. We must always be watching. (ok, I'll get off my soapbox now, you know if someone we were implying WAS censoring this site ,it wouldnt be here for us to enjoy at least much longer!

[dirtypoolfilms]

I don't believe that any book should be banned ever, and I love the notion that people banned The Dead Zone in which a principal goes on a very specific rant about a school board banning books and not endorsing the contracts of certain colorful teachers. There is some grin-worthy irony in that at least.

On the flip side, The Dead Zone is incredibly dark. It is a book that is hopeless and incredibly nihilistic at times, with that pervasive aura of a dirge happening before us page after page. This is one of the things that in my mind makes The Dead Zone unique, and so incredibly compelling. Though I'm sure that isn't at all why anyone chose to ban the book, more likely it was over the concept of psychic powers which ultimately is merely the catalyst for the story not what the story is in fact about.