The Cameraman Who Was On Fire

Hey, readers, welcome to my very first companion review of a movie based on a banned book. I’ll be doing these from time to time, when I review a book that has a movie adaptation. Today’s repeat offender is The Hunger Games. Remember, this is a blog about intellectual freedom and controversial ideas. I’m not telling you what to think about the movie. I’m telling you what I think. Agree? Disagree? Tell me what you thought of the movie or the controversy surrounding it.

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The Book That Came Under Fire

I’m pretty sure that penguin is preparing to kill me. He wins the Hunger Games.

Hey everyone! So, in honor of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, I’m reviewing The Hunger Games because irony. This review will not be of the whole series, as the Scary Stories and Goosebumps reviews were, but solely of the first book. A separate review of the movie will follow.

THE DEFENDANT: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

THE VERDICT: The story of The Girl Who Was On Fire has certainly come under its share of fire, placing itself on the ALA’s Top 10 Frequently Challenged Books list for two consecutive years.

Picnic on a Literary Battlefield

I came across this article today and thought censored Soviet Sci-Fi (say that five times fast) might interest my fellow readers of banned books. The article reviews a new translation of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic (aka Stalker) and talks about the eight year process of getting the book published without it being butchered by the censors.

Winter Is Coming

Velkommen, readers. The onslaught of winter holidays and accompanying food, gifts, parties, and ceremonies is fast approaching. I myself have been squirreling away gifts into secret hiding places, scouting out recipes (making Pumpkin Pasties!), and deciding what book(s) I should donate to Toys For Tots this year.

A Shireling’s Tale: Part Deux

A Shireling’s Tale: Part Deux

So, I know I posted about the lovely and talented Pam Hopkins a few weeks back, but another fellow Hampshire alum has gotten published and I wanted to give her a shout out. Aleah Barley, friend and fellow veteran of Hampshire College’s biannual Disney Movie Night (so you know she has good taste), has published a romance novel for Entangled Publishing.

Wolf In Book’s Clothing

Though Halloween is over, a lesser-known horror-related occasion is fast approaching. November 8th is the birthday of the man who wrote vampires before it was cool, Bram Stoker. Today would be the Dracula author’s 165th birthday, so I thought I would take the opportunity to discuss censorship’s particular obsession with the horror genre. Though Stoker died a hundred years ago, his work is no less relevant and no less inflammatory.

We The Readers

Namaste, readers. I hope all of my East Coast readers are okay tonight. Between the low temperatures and the incoming Nor’easter, my thoughts are with those of you who are still without power. We are Americans, though, and we will get through this the only way we can: together. I tip my hat to all of the volunteers out there and everyone who has donated or taken in evacuees. You are all heroes.

Speaking of everyday heroes, I also hope that all of my American readers had a chance to read that most banned piece of literature: the ballot.