Today is World Book Day! It is in Sweeden, Spain and Ireland. The United Kingdom celebrates it in March. The United States doesn’t celebrate it all, because we refuse to conform.
So what do you do on World Book day? Read I assume… or if your a fan of Hawaii Five-O, you can tell people named ” Danno” to “book it”.
In celebration of the reading, here are some books you might not be able read depending how much of a totalitarian state your local library exists in.
- Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland – This book was banned in China at one point because of the talking animals. Authorities feared children would see animals as their equals and treat them to nicely. I hear Cheshire Cat is tasty with soy sauce.
- Animal Farm – This book was banned at one point in 1945 in America for being too critical of Russia. I guess not everyone hated the Tetris playing commies yet then. It was again banned in 2002 by the United Arab Emirates because talking pigs is sacrilegious.
- The Diary of Ann Frank – Banned in Lebanon for containing homosexual themes. It was also banned in Virginia in 2010 for the same reason. I sure there’s a Justin Bieber joke in their somewhere…
- The Dictionary – Was banned in 2010 for a school in California for containing a definition for oral sex. They may have a point, who doesn’t remember looking up faggot and wondering why everyone kept calling you a bundle of sticks.
- Fahrenheit 451 – A book about a horrible future where books are banned. No, it wasn’t banned because it was getting to close to the truth, but rather because one of the books banned in the work of fiction is the Bible.
