Stephen King Quote Regarding Banned Books

[weegee1969]

Hi. I'm doing a paper about banned books and am trying to remember the terrific quote from Stephen. It's from quite a while back--does anyone remember it?

Thanks!

[vivazebool]

It's something along the lines of this: "If a book is banned, go find that book and read it because that is what you should be reading."

I don't necessarily agree with that. Should we read Mein Kampf? Should we read The Communist Manifesto? (I know these books are not banned today, but you get the idea.)There's a lot of mental poison in those books.

[AngelZ]

I completely agree with S.K. Books shouldn't be banned. An adult should be able to read all books. Let the individual decide afterwards if he agrees or disagrees. I'm currently reading a book by Che Guevera. I don't agree with his philosophies, but I'm reading it as part of my personal education. You can't let something poison unless you let it. Children, are a different issue.

[vivazebool]

i don't agree with banning either. But just because something is banned, doesn't mean it should be read, that it will benefit the reader. Banning isn't a blanket qualifier for controversial literature.

I read lots of books by people whose ideas I don't agree with for the sake of educating myself about their ideas...to know what's out there. Mr. King happens to be one of them. Great writer, great storyteller, but I reject a lot of the underlying philosophies of his books.

[PatInTheHat]

It's something along the lines of this: "If a book is banned, go find that book and read it because that is what you should be reading."

I don't necessarily agree with that. Should we read Mein Kampf? Should we read The Communist Manifesto? (I know these books are not banned today, but you get the idea.)There's a lot of mental poison in those books.

They're only poisousness if your looking to be poisoned.
You'll find whatever it is you need, to make whatever it is that makes you tick, in whatever it is you want to find it in.

Let's take the dictionary for example, why it plumb turned me into a bra burning radical.......man boobs....Damn You Oxford!!!
(Oh my word, don't be gettin' me goin' on all that hippy propaganda in them there Funk & Wagnall's and *gulp* The Mother Earth News...did you know, they have...information, yeah, I know!).


Yes, you should read books like these if you want to understand...well, that's it, just understand.

[Dana]

I completely agree with S.K. Books shouldn't be banned. An adult should be able to read all books. Let the individual decide afterwards if he agrees or disagrees. I'm currently reading a book by Che Guevera. I don't agree with his philosophies, but I'm reading it as part of my personal education. You can't let something poison unless you let it. Children, are a different issue.

I agree. There are some things I won't let my children read(not yet, anyway) but then again there are things I have let them read that their teachers didn't necessarily agree with either.

[Gard-ole-Gard]

I completely agree with S.K. Books shouldn't be banned. An adult should be able to read all books. Let the individual decide afterwards if he agrees or disagrees. I'm currently reading a book by Che Guevera. I don't agree with his philosophies, but I'm reading it as part of my personal education. You can't let something poison unless you let it. Children, are a different issue.

Which one are you reading? I loved The Motorcycle Diaries and Our America and Theirs. I agree that books should not be banned. vivazeebool, I understand your point but where do we draw the line and who makes the decision? In my opinion, the reader should.

[Ubasti]

I agree Gard-ole-Gard. I think it should be purely the reader's decision what they should and should not read. We can all pick up a book, read the synopsis and generall be able to tell if it will be offensive to us or not. I recently had a book recommended to me by a bookseller who sold me on it because of it's huge gore-factor (he might have not put quite enough empasis on that ). The synopsis left out some vital details that might have prevented me from buying the book, but all in all I don't regret reading it. In the case of children I think it should be up to the parents if they want their child exposed to certain themes and ideas ... not the school, government or community.

Sure there are a lot of bad books out there, but I think that there's something to learn from all of them. Anything from history to religion and tolerance to science can be within the pages of a book. To ban a book is, in some way, to possibly prevent someone from gaining knowledge in an area that they'd otherwise have no exposure to.

[Nero]

motorcycle diaries, great. I havent read anything else.

I also intend to read Mein Kampf just to know. Don't see anything wrong with reading it. Understanding why other people think the way they do is essential to effectively argue against it. Though, I will likely skip the communist manifesto.

[AngelZ]

Which one are you reading? I loved The Motorcycle Diaries and Our America and Theirs. I agree that books should not be banned. vivazeebool, I understand your point but where do we draw the line and who makes the decision? In my opinion, the reader should.

Yes, that's the one. I just started it so I can't discuss it very much. How did you find the book?