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VN, Cervanes, Melville et al (fwd)
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From: D&R&N&S <dasaduh@sezampro.yu>
Guardian, Feb. 7, 2003.
AL Kennedy's top 10controversial books
AL Kennedy appeared on the Granta best young British novelists lists of 1993 and 2003. The author of uncompromising, stylistically inventive and emotionally charged novels and short stories, her books include So I Am Glad, Everything You Need and On Bullfighting. Her most recent book is Indelible Acts.
"Taking offence at books is a centuries
old tradition. This may concern a question
of personal taste, political expediency, or
a desire to guard the malleable from
dreadful things that they might take to.
Plato wanted Homer kept from immature
readers, Caligula was keen to suppress
The Odyssey in case the Greek style
freedoms it suggested caught on. What
follows is a list of books which trouble,
which are awkward, and many of which
have offended at some point - although,
Lord knows, not one of them leaped into
an unwilling reader's hand and forced
them to study every line. My aim is not to
offend but to illustrate that freedom of the
imagination is something we sacrifice only
at great risk and that sometimes we may
be prepared to resist real evil by meeting
its fictional self. So, in no particular
order."
1. The Dark by John McGahern
2. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S Thompson
3. That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis
4. Sergeant Getulio by Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro
5. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Great for a kneejerk banning, even today.
A different monster here, in paedophile
Humbert Humbert, but one who is equally
unnerving and, ultimately, just as close at
hand. A faultlessly crafted work without
prurience and with considerable
knowledge of human nature. Also rather
more use than a lynch mob on the lookout
for paediatricians.
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
7. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
8. The Confidence Man by Herman Melville
9. Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
10. The Beach at Falesa/ The Ebb Tide/ Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by RL Stevenson
Guardian, Feb. 7, 2003.
AL Kennedy's top 10controversial books
AL Kennedy appeared on the Granta best young British novelists lists of 1993 and 2003. The author of uncompromising, stylistically inventive and emotionally charged novels and short stories, her books include So I Am Glad, Everything You Need and On Bullfighting. Her most recent book is Indelible Acts.
"Taking offence at books is a centuries
old tradition. This may concern a question
of personal taste, political expediency, or
a desire to guard the malleable from
dreadful things that they might take to.
Plato wanted Homer kept from immature
readers, Caligula was keen to suppress
The Odyssey in case the Greek style
freedoms it suggested caught on. What
follows is a list of books which trouble,
which are awkward, and many of which
have offended at some point - although,
Lord knows, not one of them leaped into
an unwilling reader's hand and forced
them to study every line. My aim is not to
offend but to illustrate that freedom of the
imagination is something we sacrifice only
at great risk and that sometimes we may
be prepared to resist real evil by meeting
its fictional self. So, in no particular
order."
1. The Dark by John McGahern
2. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S Thompson
3. That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis
4. Sergeant Getulio by Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro
5. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Great for a kneejerk banning, even today.
A different monster here, in paedophile
Humbert Humbert, but one who is equally
unnerving and, ultimately, just as close at
hand. A faultlessly crafted work without
prurience and with considerable
knowledge of human nature. Also rather
more use than a lynch mob on the lookout
for paediatricians.
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
7. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
8. The Confidence Man by Herman Melville
9. Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
10. The Beach at Falesa/ The Ebb Tide/ Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by RL Stevenson