Why Italy banned Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms?
Hemingway’s depiction of Italian defeat at the Battle of Caporetto of WWI was too painful to publish
BOOK: A FAREWELL TO ARMS
Why Italy banned Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms?
A Wrinkle in Time: Is it blasphemous or too Christian?
A Wrinkle in Time: Is it blasphemous or too Christian?
Two reasons Madeleine L’Engle’s book was challenged by religious conservatives
BOOK: A WRINKLE IN TIME
The jihadi manifesto: Sayyid Qutb’s Milestones
The jihadi manifesto: Sayyid Qutb’s Milestones
Summary and excerpts from the radical text that inspired terror attacks over the last 40 years
BOOK: MILESTONES
Roald Dahl’s The Witches: The paragraphs critics called sexist
Roald Dahl’s The Witches: The paragraphs critics called sexist
Why feminist critics accused Dahl of being a misogynist? In its opening, Dahl wrote “all witches are women”
BOOK: THE WITCHES
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: Why was it banned?
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: Why was it banned?
A girl seeks religion while dealing with puberty: her first bra, first period, and first crush. Was the book really anti-Christian?
BOOK: ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET
Ars amatoria: Controversial advice on sex and date rape from Rome
Ars amatoria: Controversial advice on love, sex and date rape from ancient Rome
Why The Art of Love by Ovid was repeatedly censored: burnt in Florence, banned in England and seized in the U.S.?
BOOK: THE ART OF LOVE
Voltaire’s Mahomet: Why Christians found it offensive and Muslims still do
Voltaire’s Mahomet: Why Christians found it offensive and Muslims still do
A summary of Voltaire’s play, about the prophet Mohammed, that was banned in France, then endorsed by the Pope
BOOK: MAHOMET
Portnoy’s Complaint: A guide to the filthiest and funniest Jewish novel
Portnoy’s Complaint: A guide to the filthiest and funniest Jewish novel
Why Philip Roth’s book is considered one of the dirtiest books ever published? He was also accused of Jewish self-hatred
BOOK: PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT
The Sorrows of Young Werther: Passages that inspired suicide
The Sorrows of Young Werther: The passages that inspired copycat suicide
Read the once-banned words behind a wave of suicides in Europe
BOOK: THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER
The Metamorphosis: Why Kafka’s final scene is more haunting than the first
The Metamorphosis: Why Kafka’s final scene is even more haunting than the first
Why Nazi and Soviet authorities banned Kafka’s novel?
BOOK: THE METAMORPHOSIS
Controversial books: Read summaries, excerpts and commentary
Summaries and passages from formerly banned books, censored and controversial books. Analysis, criticism and themes from the most challenged literature.
Carrie: The bloody parts
Carrie: The bloody parts
Why Stephen King’s Carrie is controversial? Read here all the controversial passages from the book
BOOK: CARRIE
The Little Red Schoolbook: The challenging passages on education
The Little Red Schoolbook: The challenging bits on education
Controversial advice from the schoolchildren’s book on education
BOOK: THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLBOOK
A Light in the Attic: The controversial poems
A Light in the Attic: The controversial poems
Read the controversial poems by Shel Silverstein deemed by some parents and teachers too controversial for children
BOOK: A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC
Candide: The shocking passages
Candide: The shocking passages
Condemned by the French government and the Catholic Church: Read the controversial passages from Voltaire’s Candide (1759)
BOOK: CANDIDE
Of Mice and Men: The shocking passages
Of Mice and Men: The shocking passages
What makes John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men controversial?
BOOK: OF MICE AND MEN
