The irony of banning banned books

October 7, 2006

In Shenandoah Valley, Va., a high school without any appreciation for irony has banned a display of banned books.

A display at Harrisonburg High School of books that have, at some point in history, either been banned or challenged was ordered removed last month by Harrisonburg Schools Superintendent Donald Ford.

The display, which Ford ordered removed Sept. 27, was part of the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week, the last week of September.

Ford said he was concerned the school division would encourage students to read banned books because they are on a controversial list and not because of their content.

The display included “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain; “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury; “The Diary of Ann Frank,” and “The Bible.”

And is it turns out, that may have been the second most amusing incident from Banned Books Week.

The top prize goes to a high school in Conroe, Texas, near Houston.

A book about banning books is under fire. A Montgomery County family wants the classic novel “Fahrenheit 451” pulled from the high school reading list. But some students are working to show support for the book.

Harry Potter books have been the basis of complaints in recent years. But now a book that’s been on literary lists for years is suddenly being thrust into a debate over what’s appropriate reading material for students at one Conroe school.

“Fahrenheit 451” was first published 53 years ago. It’s said to be named for the temperature at which paper burns. In this world no free thought was allowed and books were destroyed by fire.

Two weeks ago at Caney Creek High School, a tenth grade English class was given “Fahrenheit 451” as a reading assignment. But Diana Verm stopped after a few pages. She said she was offended by “the cussing in it and the burning of the Bible.”

Young Ms. Verm complained to her father. She was given an alternate reading assignment, but her dad isn’t satisfied — he wants the book removed from the school curriculum altogether. Asked why, Alton Verm said, “With God’s name in vain being in there, that’s the number one reason.”

So, in summary, a book about banning books was assigned during National Banned Book Week. As part of the plot of the book, the Bible, like all other books, is burned. An offended parent, therefore, wants to ban the book about book banning.

Here’s the kicker:

“It’s just all kinds of filth,” said Alton Verm, adding that he had not read Fahrenheit 451. (emphasis added)

Those wacky conservatives strike again.

“It’s just all kinds of filth,” said Alton Verm, adding that he had not read Fahrenheit 451.
God must have told him about the book.

  • Sigh, now i have to go reread the book to see if there is cussing in it, because when i read it the cussing in it didn’t impress me at all. I certainly don’t remember it.

    I am sure that if these people knew how to read a book they would look for the message first of all, and obviously they don’t get it.

  • Gah what a great laugh! Since we spend so much time contemplating how these buffoons are destroying our country, it’s good that they’re occasionally amusing too. These people remind me of the slack-jawed yokels that are often found in the crowd scenes in Vonnegut novels. Junie Moon and her ilk.

  • The display included “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain; “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury; “The Diary of Ann Frank,” and “The Bible.”

    So, the principal just banned display of the bible? Someone needs to notify the Rutherford Institute. They’re gonna be pissed.

  • On the bright side, I visited an Episcopal high school last week that had special display outside the library, titled:
    “It’s Annual Banned Book Month: Read a Banned Book Before It’s Too Late!”
    Beside each of a couple dozen books on display was a card listing the reasons why some wanted it banned. Gotta love that librarian and the administration for calling it like they see it.

  • Every time you think a Texas dumbfuck can’t be any dumber, they come along and demonstrate your own lack of imagination.

    Is anyone else aware of the fact that Texas is the one state in the Union that can be asked to leave????

    What a joy that would be.

  • lol, beep52. apart from the Bible, of which i only read a few bits, i read all the above before i was like 12, in toto, all assigned by teachers at my public school in Brooklyn.

    morons.

  • Tom (#) – I wasn’t aware that we could ask Texas to leave the Union. If we did that would it nullify Bush’s citizenship and make him inelligible to be president?

  • “Beware the man of one book” – St. Thomas Aquinas

    This guy who claim to worship the bible but discounts literature as filth hasn’t really read the bible. Either that or he doesn’t understand what a concubine is (David hat a lot of them) nor does he understand what the book means when it says a man “knew” a woman.

    Ignorance is bliss for the unknowing, but terrifying for the rest of us.

  • I knew Texas could leave, but not that we could ask them. For about 10 years, though, I’ve thought that Texas would be the ideal case to test a Constitutional doctrine of “expulsion.” They can take their neofeudalist economy and neofascist politics and go rot.

    I’d like it if we could keep Austin as an open city and maybe give asylum to Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower and the former members of the Reivers.

  • Several months ago Zogby had a poll on which state should be voted out of the country. Sort of like the contestants being voted off the island. I never was able to find out the results of that poll, but figured that Texas would be a leading contender. The mess our nation and world are in comes largely from the leadership and adapting of Texass Kulture.

  • I wish I could laugh. I was married for many years to a woman from Virginia. After several visits to the farm in southern VA where she grew up I realized that a central trait of the local personality was to actually HIDE your intelligence. If someone had read something that challenged the received wisdom, the only way they could introduce it into a conversation was by apologizing afterward by saying something self-deprecating like “well, I just don’t know nothing anyway.” I began to see it as a deliberate attempt to BE stupider than you started out. My ex had escaped most of this, but it was still a problem.

    I see some of that in the book banning–just as books with challenging ideas aren’t welcome, people with new ideas aren’t either. I don’t think everyone in the south is like that–our best writers have traditionally come from the south, but the broad demographic is troubling. It is a region where the core of the population is besotted with the past and dedicated to rejecting the new–at least in social issues. For a hundred years, the Democrats conjured with it, now it’s gone over to the Republicans a generation ago.

  • Perhaps “Don’t mess with Texas,” should be “Texas: Don’t bother.” “Virginia is for Lovers,” could become “Virgina is for Buffoons.”

    If every book that some nitwit found objectionable were banned there would be no books. Of course some people would like this (see #16) which is why such people must be told to shut up whenever necessary.

    Finally, what kind of 10th grader complains to her parents about curse words in a book? What sort of 10th grader talks to his/her parents unless forced to? Clearly this child is an alien of some sort and should be packed off to Area 51.

  • I agree with The Answer is Orange, what tenth grader reads a book and complains about curse words? She must be in a school where students don’t curse… I’ve never heard of such a school, but, you never know…

    I also am in agreement with number 4; where was the cursing? I certainly don’t remember much, if any, although the girl must have read more than a few pages because I remember one in the last thirty pages or so…

    “Ignorance is bliss for the unknowing, but terrifying for the rest of us.”

    Mind if I start using that?

    I think all of the people who burn or ban books are complete idiots with no imagination and a one-sided personality. I don’t agree with them and I think they are too controversial, should we burn them as well?

  • With all the criminal activity foisted upon “we, the other 49” due to the malicious tendencies of Texas, we could kick them out of the Union, declare them a terrorist state, and then—in the words of tricky Dick Nixon—“Bomb them into eternity….”

    We could tell Texas to “eat their sand and drink their oil” (just as many did during the Iran hostage mess).

    We could get textbook companies that wouldn’t try to revise History for theocratic reasons.

    Bush would have to give up his cowboy facade, and revert to being a “Noo Inglund-ur.” Although with that news, George Allen’s faithful would probably don their hoods, hoist their Stars-n-Bars, grab their guns, and invade Washington. We’ll call it “Bull Run 3.”

    Louisiana hates Bush. Mexico hates Bush. A naval blockade is feasible. We just build a fence around the land borders, let all the non-Republicans out, and then weld the gates shut.

    Razor wire. Land mines. Hungry attack dogs wearing Al Gore campaign buttons. Guard towers equipped with machine guns. Spotlights. Loud music (including Bill Clinton on the saxaphone). Broadcasts of Bush telling his plethora of lies. We could designate the airspace over Texas as “an official dumping zone for commercial aircraft toilet tanks.”

    We’ll even rename the damned place. I nominate the name “Guantanamo….”

  • My guess is that the girl started the book, found out it was some boring kind of science fiction thing, and figured a quick way to get out of the reading assignment would be to get Daddy riled up about the ‘filth.’ I think she was offended by having to read, not by what she had to read.

  • Is anyone else aware of the fact that Texas is the one state in the Union that can be asked to leave???? – Tom Cleaver

    Not me. It’s true, in theory at least? Where do I sign the request?

  • Is anyone else aware of the fact that Texas is the one state in the Union that can be asked to leave???? – Tom Cleaver

    Got a source for this? The only reference I could find was on Snopes.com, and that doesn’t appear to be valid. The pertinant passage (at the bottom of the article) has not been applicable since after the Civil War, if true–I’m assuming (probably a mistake) that the ‘agreement’ was reciprocal.

    Snopes article

    Pertinent passage:

    Another Texas-related legend holds that the Texans negotiated an annexation treaty which reserved to them the right to secede from the Union without the consent of the U.S. Congress, but the terms of Texas’ annexation contain no such provision.

  • “I think all of the people who burn or ban books are complete idiots with no imagination and a one-sided personality. I don’t agree with them and I think they are too controversial, should we burn them as well?”

    Who knew 10th graders could be so funny. Or that they could figure out what social commentary is in books like Fahrenheit 451….or Huck Finn….or….

  • ‘Every time you think a Texas dumbfuck can’t be any dumber, they come along and demonstrate your own lack of imagination.”

    Tom. I like your comments for the most part, but for some reason, progressives find it intolerable to discriminate/stereotype, unless they are talking about Texas. Fuck you Tom.

    I am not sure about “being asked to leave”, but we can withdraw at any time, without consequence. We will take the largest port in the country and the oilfield, every major oil company, and then the rest of you jackasses can bitch and whine when you economy completely folds because you have no gas and the price of imported goods has just skyrocketed. We would be an extremely rich nation.

    Some other interesting Texas facts.
    We were our own country, a republic from 1836-1845. We submitted for annexation, and it was granted, but we did so with many conditions.
    We can, at any time, divide into as many as four states.
    We are the only state in the Union that can fly our state flag at the same height as the US flag.
    We are the only state who’s actual borders far exceed any others into the Gulf. Which means, that we have way more oil rights then say Louisiana.
    We negotiated peace with Mexico.

    Oh and we were the first state to elect a female Democratic governor, until she went up agains Rove/Bush. So take your stupid Texas redneck jokes and save them, if we left the Union, you guys would be fucked. The Bush Family is not from here so you would still have a hack for a president.

    So I am sorry that we produced an idiot, ok, a bunch of them, but if you were in Germany, you might say the US produced them as well, and I think you would take offence the way I have and I am not even from here, but I have called it home for a long time.

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