Originally Posted by issybird (Post 3156487)

I hope Tom doesn't mind my quoting him from a different thread. I agree with this. Banned books at this point are a well-worn list of books that people mostly have read (because, Ooh! Banned!) and there's no point in even feeling superior, as people are all agreed that it's just silly. YA books, and so far three of the four nominated books are YA, are even more tedious in the context of being banned. Parents will be parents, even if everyone agrees they're wrong-headed.

So I thought I'd nominate three books that at least are for adults and might not have been read by everyone and are mostly free or cheap (depending on translation) and I won't provide links (except in one case) since all but Kafka are PD everywhere and Kafka most places, and choices will also depend on whether to get a paid or a free translation for Voltaire and Kafka.
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Originally Posted by Hamlet53 (Post 3156530)

Yes I tend to agree with this. Though it's two books intended for children or young adults that I had not read or even heard of that received two of my votes. It's been a long time since I as a child or YA.

I've read the Castle and Candide already, actually multiple times, but I've never read Can Such Things Be? So it gets my final vote as a second. I've read Beloved so don't care to third that. It is a heavy read that I don't believe would be a popular choice.

Originally Posted by sun surfer (Post 3156529)

I'll put forth One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. I haven't read anything by the famous Solzhenitsyn and this short book would be a good introduction.


From Goodreads:

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ...

Originally Posted by bfisher (Post 3156655)

I admire your choice of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, but does "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" count as a banned book, since it was actually published in the USSR in Novy Mir. Perhaps Cancer Ward or The First Circle would be more appropriate, as they were not published in the USSR but only circulated as samizdat. It was after he wrote Cancer Ward that he was expelled from the Soviet Writers Union.

Originally Posted by fantasyfan (Post 3156662)

I'll fourth Can Such Things Be.
Whoops Sorry, It doesn't need a fourth. I think it is a good choice though.
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Originally Posted by JSWolf (Post 3156741)

After this month's disaster, we do need something lighter and more enjoyable. YA means these books are for adults because you are either an adult or not. There is no in between.

Originally Posted by issybird (Post 3156753)

Then why, pray, are they a separate category? YA is just the term given to books for older kids who haven't graduated to adult books, yet.

Originally Posted by JSWolf (Post 3156755)

It depends on the book in question. I've read YA that were more A then Y and would make for a good discussion. I've also read adult books that would make a terrible discussion (take this month's book for terrible).