Giving, Receiving, and Wanting

Phew. I just got back from seeing the film adaptation of The Giver, and I am pleased to report that the terrible, sinking feeling I have had ever since they started releasing trailers for it (actually, ever since they announced Taylor Swift was in the cast) was unwarranted. Obviously no film adaptation is ever actually going to do everything right, but I do feel that this one did enough right that I am glad to have seen it, and feel comfortable recommending it to others. I have done my best to leave spoilers out of this review, but the few parts where spoilers were necessary I have put in white text. If you are okay with spoilers, highlight the blank spots in between plus signs to reveal.

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Heaven, Neverland, Paradise: All Lost

THE DEFENDANT: The Amber Spyglass, part 3 of the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. See also Shannon’s reviews of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife.

THE VERDICT: Pullman himself has no idea why Harry Potter gets in trouble while his own books fly under the radar. As he says, “The people who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven’t got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I’ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.”

THE CHARGES: “political and religious viewpoints,” violence, sexuality, and an overall attitude that morality is relative. By my count this book includes killing God, destroying hell, insinuating that heaven cannot exist, and touches on topics like cannibalism, euthanasia, intelligent design, evolution, child sexuality, and then there are some gay angels thrown in there just in case the rest wasn’t enough. In some publications a paragraph describing Lyra’s sexual awakening was removed.

A Satanic Anniversary

THE DEFENDANT: The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie. 25 years ago today all hell broke loose over this book. Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (holy decree) stating that God wanted anyone associated with publishing this book assassinated.

THE VERDICT: No less than 58 dead, 242 wounded, banned in 21 countries, 6 bombings, and millions of people all over the world told to murder for their faith. Mass book-burnings were held, many major book retailers took it off the shelves, and many stores that did agree to sell it kept it behind the counter. The United Kingdom and Iran broke diplomatic relations over the affair. Rushdie had to live in hiding for nearly a decade.

Objectionable? Oh yes. Meritless? Oh no.

Hello, fellow readers of Bound And Gagged! You may remember me from my guest review of the Ender’s Game movie. Well, I am back and I have a lot to say about a certain book: The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks.

If you have been following this blog from the beginning, as I have, you may have noticed something about many of the books that seem to get banned; often times they aren’t guilty of whatever grounds they were banned for. For instance, according to The American Library Association, The Hunger Games apparently had occult/satanic elements in it. Who knew? This trend got me thinking; what about the books out there that actually DESERVE scrutiny? No sooner had that thought entered my head than did I think of The Wasp Factory. If there was ever a book guilty of violence, Satanism, disturbing imagery, and plain old evilness this is it.

Space Balls (Or Lack Thereof)

Hello, Bound and Gagged readers! I will be your guest poster this week and have I got a treat for you! You see, I just got back from watching the movie Ender’s Game, and I have a very severe thebookisbetterthanthemovie rant to share. I cannot say for certain that I believe elements of the book were censored due to being objectionable, but I can say for certain that the movie took out a lot of things that make Ender’s Game a potential target for censorship and the world has been made poorer for it. Spoilers and profanity ahead, be forewarned!