19th Century banned book goes out to.....

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Here is another book that i had recently read that has been banned in the past.

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or Life Among the Lowly was first published in 1851. It was criticised by slavery supporters and outraged people in the southern states of America. People referred to the novel as utterly false, criminal and slanderous and Stowe received many threatening letters, including a package containing a slave's severed ear.
Uncle Tom's Cabin is an antislavery novel and in my opinion, a brilliant book. It is a true portrayal of one of the most shameful periods in American history and although Harriet Beecher Stowe declares that this book is a work of fiction, she does state that is based on people that she knew and stories she had heard. This book sold 300,000 copies in the first year and more than a million copies by 1860 , second only to the Bible.

Uncle Tom's Cabin first appeared as a 40-week serial in National Era, an abolitionist periodical, starting with the June 5th, 1851, issue. Because of the stories popularity, the publisher contacted Stowe about turning the serial into a book. While Stowe questioned if anyone would read Uncle Tom's Cabin in book form, she eventually consented to the request.

Published in 1852, it is set in the 1800's and begins with the story of Tom, a slave from Kentucky. Tom is a long-suffering black slave around whom the story of other characters revolve and the book begins with him being sold by his 'master' to settle a bet. A parallel story follows the life of Eliza, her husband George and their young son, Harry, who flee to Canada when they learn that Harry will be "sold down the river" and separated from his family.

Uncle Tom's Cabin charts the progress from slavery to freedom of fugitives who escape the chains of American chattel slavery, and of a martyr who transcends all early ties. At the middle of the nineteenth-century, the names of it's characters - Little Eva, Topsy, and Uncle Tom - are renowned. A hundred years later, 'Uncle Tom' still has meaning, but, to Blacks everywhere it has become a curse.

Many people find the book offensive also because of Stowe's use of the "N" word throughout the book. So controversial was this novel, upon meeting Stowe, President Lincoln is credited with saying, "So, this is the little lady who wrote the big book that made this Great War."



http://bannedbookschallenge.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/uncle-toms-cabin-wendys-review.html

http://www.forgetfulone.com/2008/10/banned-book-uncle-toms-cabin.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/uncle-tom-s-cabin

Discussion on research strategies

I didn't think that this blog of Banned Books would be as challenging as it was.
I picked a topic that I thought I was comfortable with and that interested me, but found getting the information, especially about the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th Centuries, quite difficult.

Google was my best friend. I just went in and out of websites until I found what I was looking for and the information that was relevant. When looking for book covers (I thought it really important to display), I clicked on the ‘Images’ link on the left hand side of the Google page.

Wikipedia was probably the best source of information and there were a lot of personal blogs about the topic banned books online that I used.

As for the video, I played around on YouTube and posted the one that I thought my blog follows would enjoy, and it was also the most watched video on this subject.

All websites are listed under my blogs in red and the pictures have link to the websites as well.

Hope you enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I enjoyed writing them! J

20th Century Banned Book...

One of my all time favourite book is Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 and takes place during the three years of the Great Depression (1930). The story is told through the innocent eyes of six-year old Scout, who lives with her brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus.

It is the story of Alabama lawyer Atticus Finch, who serves as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers and his defense of a black man, Tom Robinson,  accused of raping a white woman, and the turmoil that the case creates within the “tired old town” of Maycomb. It is so beautifully written and very easy to read, and there is innocence there as well. Harper Lee also addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South.

A big part of the story, apart from the court case is the friendship Jem and Scout make with a boy visiting Maycomb named Dill.  The three children are scared and fascinated by their reclusive neighbour Boo Radley, and after two summers Jem and Scout find someone leaving them gift inside a tree outside the Radley house. The adults of the town are hesitant about talking of Boo, and many have not seen him in many years.

It was banned because it had the "N" word in it 48 times out of 281 pages and Harper Lee uses such words as ‘damn’ and ‘whore lady’. This was obviously deemed offensive language and the book was banned in some schools throughout the States. It was also banned because of its racist implications toward the government. Many people denied being racist, so this novel was the key to helping racism getting acknowledged.

I thoroughly recommend you read it!

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_was_To_Kill_a_Mockingbird_banned_from_schools

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird

VIDEO ON BANNED BOOKS you must check out!!

Guys, here is an interesting snap-shot of banned books over the past century. (1900-2000)

I'm sure you'll be amazed, as l was at some of the selection here and i'll hear you screaming 'What the!!!!????" when you see some of the titles...

Enjoy! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DxqbRRQtaLc

18th Century banned book goes out to.....

For my Research Skills 2 blog, I am still using Google as my search engine to find banned books from the centuries I have listed.

It is starting to get easier now that the centuries are getting closer to the 20^th century, and I now have more books to choose which is fantastic but really, who can go past John Cleland’s ‘Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Women of Pleasure’?

Fanny Hill was first published in England in 1748 and banned in 1749 and was known as the “first erotic novel in the English language”. It made its way to the United States and was banned from 1821 until 1966 for obscenity.

Fanny Hill at 15 years of age is orphaned when her parents die and is manipulated into working for a brothel. On her first night she shares a bed with a fellow lodger who tricks Fanny into having lesbian sex with her and soon Mrs. Brown who runs the brothel, figures out that Fanny is a virgin and decides to try to sell her virginity to the highest bidder.

John Cleland does a superb job in writing from this young women’s point of view and the book is written in a series of letter addressed to an unknown women. Cleland portrays Fanny as resourceful, intelligent and a jubilant young woman.

This book is essentially a love story, a historical chronicle and an ode to innocence lost. Fanny Hill will make you laugh, and in turn will make you cry when her true love Charles is sent away and she fears she will never see him again.

A year after it was published; John Cleland and Ralph Griffiths (his brother) were arrested and charged with "corrupting the King's subjects." The trial took place in February 1964. The defence argued that Fanny Hill was a historical source book and that it was a joyful celebration of normal non-perverted sex—bawdy rather than pornographic. Cleland renounced the novel in court and it was withdrawn from sale. Private editions appeared as the book became popular and were sold ‘underground’.

It is definitely an erotic novel with sex scene after sex scene of and really it’s no wonder it was banned in the 18^th Century. If it was written today, l have no doubt that it would’ve gotten a second glance on the book shelves!

 

Those of you who are interested in reading Fanny Hill, here is the eBook link!

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/cleland/john/c624f/index.html

http://sites.google.com/site/fannyhillbook/

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1424731.Fanny_Hill_or_Memoirs_of_a_Woman_of_Pleasure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Hill