James and the Giant Peach?

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH????

I'm at a loss for words.

I didn't even spot that. I've read eleven of them, then. Presumably it's to do with rebellion against parent-or-guardianal authority.

But note another one of my childhood favourites where the absence of parents is a crucial feature.

I used to imagine myself in a novel called "Pete and the Giant Creme Egg"

Mmmm... so much sugar...

Nine.

12, but then King is one of my weaknesses.

I've read 54 out of the 100 (as well as being a fan of old King, I've read most of the Judy Blume stuff, as well as Dahl,Twain, Angelou, Cormier, and a load of other stuff). And yes, I did used to have a copy of Sex too, til someone "borrowed" it and ruined it. I still don't want to know what he did to those pages...

I digress.

I find it hard to believe the "Where's Waldo" is in there, but then I also find it hard to believe that Roald Dahl's in there, and the Bible isn't. Maybe the Bible would've caused problems on the "by" front, which is why it's not there.

The thing I still find disturbing about these banned books lists and so on is the totalitarian "we know what's best" attitude - most of the books on the list (for example the Judy Blume ones) are specifically aimed at answering the questions that those readers are asking, yet these moralistic bastards don't want the readers to be informed, preferring ignorance to information. *takes deep breaths* Sorry, it just annoys me. I know, you'd never have guessed, right?

of the 16 of those i've read, i'd guess half were books of my childhood. i don't understand this list.

i think i read about 14 of them.

it's a list of books which american parents have challenged as having some kind of offensive material in them. i suppose that could be ideologically suspect, or it could be scary, or it could be heathen. the reason lots of them are kids books are because the parents challenge books their kids read. Do kids read sex by madonna?

i do wonder about where's wally, though. that stripey little guy couldn't do anybody any harm, could he?

unless...

I've read 10.

I'm sorry but this really makes me angry. I am sick and tired of US celebrities and politicians, and some US bloggers going on about how the US has freedom, and how it's a great country blah blah blah blah. They should take a look at themselves and wake up that the US has its pros and cons and overall is probably no better and no worse than many other countries.

/rant

*gasp* Shock, horror, the US has double standards.

Sorry, Gert, i don't mean to be sarky - but considering the US's hypocritical stances on things like apartheid (less than 20 years after the Deep South stopped having 'whites only' areas - and now Muslims are finding a similar apartheid-like system in the US), and terrorism (if you're going to have a war on terrorism, eliminate the threats in your own country first, KKK etc. as one example), I don't think it's any surprise that they've double-standards when it comes to freedom vs. censorship.

Particularly considering the posts elsewhere where Bush is helping support "True Love Waits" style campaigns, I can confidently predict that the 'problems' listed in works by Judy Blume et al are going to be in the firing line for a long time to come. And even in this country of "equality, without bias based on race, creed, sexuality, gender blah blah", the moralistic bastards still don't want their little darlings to read about Tom Sawyer and Jim sharing space on a raft in the Mississippi. United States of Hypocrisy.

( Oh dear, I'm such a...token here. Do I fulfill the end of the phrase '...some of my best friends are...?- no, of course not.And I'm sure everyone knows that.I am certain of that...)

What Kate said. Exactly. 16, mostly when I was a kid.

ooh. ouch. erm. right, i'll be going now.

*sneaks out of UK blogosphere*

Kate! Sue! Stand up and take it like men!!

Er, Karen, I hate to be the first to point this out to you.

(Shuffles from foot to foot)

Kate and Sue aren't men.

(Looks around edgily)

Well, when a mummy and a daddy love each other very, very much, they hold hands.

Nine months later they have a baby (delivered by stork to just underneath the mulberry bush).

When they name their baby, they work out whether it's a boy baby or a girl baby. 'Kate' for example, or 'Sue', would be a name for a girl baby, not for a boy baby.

All clear now?

Thanks Mark, I knew I was confused about something. So what should they take it like, then?

Was Sue about to admit that some of her best friends are books?

Burn her!

Are we saying that books=witches? or are you calling Sue a witch? she's not a witch, she's a ghoul.

I just thought it was a nice day for an auto da fé.

What's Sue got to do with ducks?

No, you're thinking of McDuck Nuggets, Pete.

Oh, right. Sorry.

That's okay. Don't mention it.

You missed out on a great pie on Saturday, by the way.

I find myself almost compelled to defend Americans over this. But not quite. This is the most bizarre set of statistics I've seen in a while. I've only read 8 or so of those books which makes me feel very unread but, then again, it is a very silly list.

Hmmmm about 15 but a few that the title interests me.... And I could almost complete that same sentence as Sue... some of my best friends are... But you know what??? I am proud to admit it... well in my head anyway!

12. But they forced me to read some of them at school (guess which ones). What does that mean?