Anti-religious
Interventions - Noam Chomsky
Penguin
The book, an anthology of Chomsky's writing, was prevented from circulation by the library at Guantanamo Bay prison camp. A US defense department spokesman did not specify why the book was rejected, but a slip accompanying the returned book said it had been included among categories of books banned from the Guantanamo Bay prison library: i.e thsoe that promoted “Anti-American, Anti-Semitic, Anti-Western” ideology, literature on “military topics,” and works that portray “excessive graphic violence” and “sexual dysfunctions.”
Non-fiction, Non-fiction
The Gulf Between Us - Geraldine Bedell
Penguin
Geraldine Bedell's book The Gulf Between Us was greeted with enthusiasm by organisers of the first International Festival of Literature in Dubai because of its setting in the Middle East. But the mood changed swiftly when they discovered a gay character, and the book was banned.
Fiction, Modern classic
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Pocket Books
Charlie, our narrator, describes scenes from his life in a series of letters to an anonymous person. This book was banned in the USA for reasons of: homosexuality, sexually explicit, anti-family, offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, drugs and suicide. Gosh.
Fiction, Teen fiction
Death Note 1 - Tsugumi Ohba
Viz Media
This Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata was banned in several Chinese cities including Beijing. The official reason given for the ban was to protect the "physical and mental health" of students from horror material that "misleads innocent children and distorts their mind and spirit."
Fiction, Fantasy
The Dark - John McGahern
Faber
Set in the rural north west of Ireland, The Dark concerns itself with themes of adolescence and guilty sexuality. It was banned in Ireland for its alleged pornographic content and suggestions of sexual abuse by the clergy, and The Dark also led to McGahern being dismissed from his job as a teacher.
Fiction, Modern classic
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Vintage
As I Lay Dying is regularly cited as being one of the great works of 20th century American fiction. The book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters. It is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's quest to honour her wish to be buried in the town of Jefferson. It has been banned and challenged by numerous schools in Kentucky and Maryland for reference to masturbation and abortion and questioning the existence of god.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Borstal Boy - Brendan Behan
Arena Books
It is believed that the Irish Censorship of Publications Board banned the novel in 1958 due to adolescent sexuality, questionable language, and critiques of Irish republicanism, social attitudes and the Catholic Church. The censorship board was never asked to explain its decision.
Non-fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille
Candide - Francois Voltaire
Penguin
Voltaire satirizes various religious and philosophical viewpoints in his 1759 novel, Candide. It was banned shortly after its publication by the Grand Council of Geneva and the administrators of Paris. In 1762 it was listed in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Roman Catholic Church's list of prohibited books. Despite this - or because of it? - it became a best seller. Bannings of the book lasted into the 20th century.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Talking book
The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer
Penguin
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. It has attracted controversy due to its religious commentary, and was prohibited for sale in the United States due to sexual situations and swearing. It continues to be abridged for content and language across the United States.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Carrie - Stephen King
Hodder
Stephen King's first published novel tells the story of Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her. A number of US schools took exception to its references to underage sex and violence. use of swearing, and its controversial treatment of religion.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
Penguin
Like many Vonnegut novels, Cat's Cradle tackles numerous issues, such as the nuclear arms race and religion. In 1972, the Strongsville, Ohio School Board banned the book without stating an official reason. Notes from the meeting include references to the book as 'completely sick' and 'garbage.' However, this ban was overturned in 1976.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Talking book
The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
Phoenix
The Colour Purple received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, but that hasn't stopped it being a target for censors. Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on female black life during the 1930s in the Southern United States, addressing the numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture. It was banned in a Californian School for its troubling ideas about race relations, God and sexuality, and its violent content.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print
Daddy's Roommate - Michael Willhoite
Alyson Publications
Ranked number 2 in the 1990-1999 most challenged books in the USA for its portrayal of a gay couple one of whom is the father of the boy they look after, the book featured in the 2008 US Presidential Election when it was revealed Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin had tried to get the book removed from a local library.
Fiction
The Dark - John McGahern
Faber
Set in the rural north west of Ireland, The Dark concerns itself with themes of adolescence and guilty sexuality. It was banned for its alleged pornographic content and suggestions of sexual abuse by the clergy.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Talking book
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Vintage
Mary Shelley's classic 1818 book details a man obsessed with creating life through the reanimation of dead tissue. He succeeds, only to be haunted and tormented by his grotesque creation. Over the past two centuries, the book has been banned for being indecent, objectionable and obscene. Christian groups have protested the book, claiming that it's in conflict with the principles of their faith.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Germinal - Emile Zola
Wordsworth Classics
A book about the conditions of mines in northeast France and dealing with the social concerns of the working class, for which it was seen as radical for the time of its publication in 1885. It was attacked by right-wing groups for inciting revolution and the Vatican made it prohibited reading for Catholics.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Scholastic
This much lauded trilogy, full of references to and inspired by a range of literary classics, has been criticised mostly in the USA for its apparent attack on the church and religion in general, and Pullman does admit the books are about “the killing of God”. To add to the books’ controversial nature, passages alluding to the sexual awakening of its main female character, Lyra, have been removed in some editions.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Bloomsbury
This tale of young people growing up through turbulent times in Afghanistan, with its coverage of paedophilia, rape, Nazism and sadism and strong language thrown in for good measure – all taking place in a Muslim country - was bound to create controversy. Its portrayal of characters from particular Afghan ethnic groups caused the film adaptation to be banned on the grounds that racial violence might ensue.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Faber
Despite widespread acclaim and popularity, Lord of the Flies has been banned for a plethora of reasons. Many critics complain about violence, language, sexuality and racism. Others accuse the novel of attacks on religion, the disabled and women.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
HarperCollins
Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy follows good and evil forces in pursuit of a magical ring. The book has been banned as 'satanic' in some areas and was even burned by members of a church in New Mexico in 2001. The controversy is ironic, though, as Tolkien was a devout Christian and many scholars note Christian themes in his work.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare
Wordsworth Classics
Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, agrees to lend Antonio, a Venetian merchant, three thousand ducats so that his friend Bassanio can afford to court his love, Portia. However, Shylock has one condition: should the loan go unpaid, he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio's own flesh. This Shakespearean play has raised controversy since its publication, and has been banned from numerous US classrooms in the last century for promoting anti-semitism.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Penguin
Offensive and vulgar language; profanity; racism; sexism; promoting euthanasia and being anti-business are all accusations brought against this American classic, and it is often on the American list of the most censored books in schools.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
Penguin
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was challenged and banned by a number of US schools in the 70s and 80s for being pornographic, for glorifying criminal activity, and for promoting 'secular humanism'. This is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy - immortalised on film by Jack Nicholson - the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Penguin
One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of a mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Despite winning the Nobel Prize for literature, a number of US schools had it excluded from their curricula.
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Wordsworth Classics
Banned in the southern United States during the Civil War due to its anti-slavery content, and also in 1852, in Russia under the reign of Nicholas I due to the idea of equality it presented. It was also felt that it "undermined religious ideals."
Fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Penguin
Burgess's vision of a horrifying dystopian near-future. A Clockwork Orange also contains an experiment in language: Burgess creates a new speech that is the teenage slang of the not-too-distant London. This thought-provoking book was withdrawn from some US schools on grounds of immorality - it was thought to contain too much sexual violence. Stanley Kubrick's film caused even greater furore and shocks audiences to this day. So put it in your soomka, droogs, this book is horrorshow. Contains ultraviolence.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
Penguin
An enduring story of a young girl's enforced imprisonment during her formative years. Her moving account is as popular today as when it was originally published and has been tranlsated into 50 languages. The book was banned in the Lebanon as it was deemed to portray Jews in too favourable a light.
Non-fiction, Biography, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
Picador; 1st Picador USA Ed edition (December 1, 2000)
This is Rushdie's fourth novel and it has attracted controversy since its publication in 1988. The book was banned in India and burned in the UK. "I selected the Satanic Verses because when it was released it was seen as very controversial in the Islamic world, and Islamic extremists threatened to kill Rushdie." Greg, North Yorkshire Libraries
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J K Rowling
Bloomsbury
The first of the hugely successful Harry Potter series, in which Harry discovers he's a wizard, and enrols in Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry. It was banned and burned in many US states for promoting witchcraft, and also banned in some Christian schools in the UK. Maybe they didn't realise it is just a story.
Fiction, Children's fiction, Fantasy
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Go Tell It On The Mountain - James Baldwin
Penguin
This semi-autobiographical novel by James Baldwin was published in 1953 and is acknowledged to be a classic of African-American literature. It examines the role of the Christian Church in the lives of African-Americans, both as a source of repression and moral hypocrisy and as a source of inspiration and community. It was censored in the U.S. because of recurring themes of sex, profanity and violence.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
Corgi
If you have been living under a stone since 2003, you may have missed the phenomenon that is The Da Vinci Code. This mystery-detective novel follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder at the Louvre, and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus Christ of Nazareth having been married to Mary Magdalene. The book has been criticized for its historical and scientific inaccuracy. It has been denounced by many Christian denominations as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church, and Christian leaders in the Lebanon went so far as to ban it.
Fiction, Crime fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Flamingo
The loose collection of 'routines', as Burroughs describes the sections of text that comprise Naked Lunch, are narrated by the junkie, William Lee. The routines are meant to be able to be read in any order, and the narrative (there isn't really a plot to speak of) unfolds in the US, Mexico and Tangier. Due to its obscene language and extremely controversial subject matter concerning drug addiction this book was banned in many regions of the US.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Harper Perrenial
Tropic of Cancer combines fiction and autobiography as it tells the story of Miller's life as a struggling writer in Paris. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael Musmanno wrote that Tropic of Cancer is "not a book. It is a cesspool, an open sewer, a pit of putrefaction, a slimy gathering of all that is rotten in the debris of human depravity." It was banned in the UK and the USA for its explicit nature.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Arrow
Pulitzer Prize winner, To Kill A Mockingbird addresses themes of racial injustice and the destruction of innocence, set in America's deep south. This book is a classic which is frequently taught in schools and is also frequently censored due to the racial issues with which it deals and its stereotypical portrayal of a black character.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Beloved - Toni Morrison
Vintage
Toni Morrison's novel about the slave trade may have won both the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize, but this has not prevented it from being censored in various schools in the US. Reason cited: the book's use of extreme language.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Last Exit to Brooklyn - Herbert Selby
Marion Boyars
Banned in Britain in 1967 due to its depiction of homosexuality, prostitution, drug-taking and sexual perversion, the judge at the trial said that women in particular would be embarrassed to read it! The novel has become a cult classic because of its harsh, uncompromising look at lower class Brooklyn in the 1950s.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Talking book
The Origin of Species - Charles Darwin
Penguin classics
This book challenged many of the deeply held beliefs in the Western world by introducing the theory of evolution. It was banned for a time at Trinity College, Cambridge where Darwin was a student.
Non-fiction, Non-fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
Picador
The original publishers of this book dropped it and the New York Times urged people not to buy it because of its extreme violence. In Germany, Australia and New Zealand it was shrink wrapped and sold to over 18s only.
Fiction, Thriller
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Dell Publishing
Historically, it has always been controversial and subject to censorship, for its language, sexual and irreligious themes, use of outdated terms now deemed offensive and for its criticism of US forces during WWII. It has been a regular title on the US Most Banned Books list for years and no doubt will continue to be.
Fiction, Comic fiction, Fantasy, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Vintage Classics
Far in the future, the World Controllers have finally created the ideal society. Man is bred and conditioned from conception in laboratories to be content with his pre-destined role in society. 'Equally a denunciation of capitalism and communism, so far as they discourage man from thinking freely, Brave New World is one of the most important books to have been published since the war.' Daily Telegraph Brave New World was banned in Ireland in 1932, mainly due to its depiction of drugs, sexuality and suicide.
Fiction, Science Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L Frank Baum
Penguin Classics
Timeless children's classic about Dorothy, Toto, and the friends they make in Oz. This book has been banned by many libraries in different American states for different reasons - in the South because of witches being referred to as 'good' and under McCarthyism for its perceived socialist values.
Fiction, Children's fiction
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
Not Without My Daughter - Betty Mahmoody
Corgi
A harrowing but inspiring true story of an American woman who was kept virtual prisoner when her Iranian husband took her on holiday to visit his homeland. The tale of her escape in both print and film were subsequently banned by the Iranian government.
Non-fiction, Biography, Non-fiction, Travel
Also available in the following formats: Talking book
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Vintage
Catch 22 highlights the absurdity of war as the main protagonist, a pilot, is presented with two differing scenarios with regard to his mental state - both of which mean he has to continue fighting... The popular satirical novel is full of black humour and pathos but was banned in a number of US schools due to offensive language.
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Black Swan
Banned in some US states for its views on religion and criticism of the US government for the Vietnam War & Iran-Contra. This book tells the story of John Wheelwright and his friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small town in New England, in the 1950s and 60s. Its a mystical book - Meany believes he is an instrument of God, to be redeemed by martyrdom - but full of comedy. Essential banned reading!
Fiction, Modern classic
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Talking book
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Virago
This is the first book in a six-volume autobiographical series about the life of African-American author and poet, Maya Angelou. It has been banned in some US schools and libraries on grounds of pornography & violence.
Non-fiction, Biography
Also available in the following formats: Braille, Giant print, Talking book