Yahoo! posted an article recently giving an update on the on-going court case involving Fredrik Colting.

Colting resides in Sweden and released his book, “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye” in England, but has yet to receive approval from the Courts to release it in the USA because he never had the approval of J.D. Salinger (author of The Catcher In The Rye). Colting’s book includes characters from Salinger’s famous book as well as similar plots.

It’s not the first time a popular book has been reworked into something original. Consider Gregory Maguire’s Wicked in which he used several characters from the Wizard of Oz. However, having not read Colting’s book, I am unsure of the originality of his work. I am also irked that he chooses to pursue the release without having the author’s permission (Salinger filed the law suit shortly before his recent death at the age of 91).

Anybody who would stress out a 91 year old man gets a big thumbs down in my book! What do you think?

Okay, so the best ideas are borrowed…which is why I’m borrowing one from our friends over at Daemons TV They’ve started a fun game of “Would You Rather” with their favorite TV shows, and I’d like to try something similar with books. Let’s play a good ole’ fashion game of “Snog, Mary, Kill” with some of our favorite fictitious characters.

So here are your choices:

Mr. Darcy form Pride and Prejudice
Rhett Butler from Gone With The Wind
Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye

So, out of these 3 guys, who would you snog (trying to keep it PG folks), who would you marry, and who would you kill? Remember, each one has to be used only once, no exceptions. Here are my choices:

Snog: Rhett Butler (has a way with the ladies, but commitment issues)
Marry: Mr. Darcy (rich, faithful,handsome)
Kill: Holden (potty mouth, no ambition, currently lives in a mental institution)

What are your choices? Did you pick different from me?

This week is Banned Books Week, the annual celebration of our freedom to read. If you are new to BBW, read my post from earlier this week for more information.

As a librarian, intellectual freedom is important to me and is something I take very seriously. Censorship may seem like an antiquated idea but books are still being banned in the US all too often. Just this month Ellen Hopkins, author of the books Crank and Glass, had a speaking engagement at an Okalahoma middle school canceled and her books pulled from the library after a parent complained. According to her blog, her books are based on her daughter’s addiction to drugs and are meant to be a cautionary tale. Librarian Sadie Mattox has written a wonderful response to this incident on her blog. Here’s an excerpt:

“The point is, by all means, guide your child’s reading. However, your reading habits do not extend to the children of other people. Other people’s children are their own readers with their own minds and those minds do not belong to you. Reading is a deeply personal experience. That’s what makes it so wonderful and frightening. Leave it that way.”

I really recommend reading the rest of her blog post where she describes what it means to be a good reader and how important it is for parents to be involved in what their child is reading.

In honor of Banned Books Week, I thought I would highlight some of my favorite banned books. I haven’t read many of the books on the most frequently challenged books of 2008 list but some of my favorites have made the list in the past. For example, the Harry Potter books are some of my all time favorites and also some of the most banned. Here are a few more:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I first read To Kill a Mockingbird as a teenager and it is one of my all time favorite books. It was my high school English teacher’s favorite book and her enthusiasm for it rubbed off on me. When Atticus Finch stood up to all the racists in his community, despite the fact he knew he was going to lose, he displayed such courage. One of my favorite quotes from Atticus: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” Another one of my favorite quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird is particularly relevant to Banned Books Week. Scout says, “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

Reasons for being banned: The Pulitzer Prize winning novel is challenged for it’s racial themes and use of racial slurs.

__________________________________________________________

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is another book I read in high school English class and loved (I’m suddenly very grateful that my teacher didn’t shy away from teaching potentially controversial books). Amie’s review (which you can read here) pretty much says it all.

Reasons for being banned: Profanity and sexual references are the main reason The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular targets for censors. Although a group in Columbus, Ohio, tried to have it banned from local schools for being “anti-white.”

__________________________________________________________

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

Like many kids, Shel Silverstein’s books A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends were my introduction to poetry. I loved the silly rhymes, made up words, and funny illustrations. His books were favorites in our household.

Reasons for being banned: A Light in the Attic has been banned because it encourages children to break dishes. Where the Sidewalk Ends for encouraging children to be rebellious and misbehave. Here’s one of the poems in question:

How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes by Shel Silverstein

If you have to dry the dishes

(Such an awful boring chore)

If you have to dry the dishes

(‘Stead of going to the store)

If you have to dry the dishes

And you drop one on the floor

Maybe they won’t let you

Dry the dishes anymore

This story is about a young man named Holden Caulfield. He’s just been kicked out of prep school in New York and is dreading having to explain to his parents that he’s been thrown out of yet another school. Rather than going straight home he decides to spend a couple days on his own in New York, since his expulsion letter won’t reach his parents for a few days (this was before e-mail). Along the way, Holden has some adventures and basically uses the time to reflect on his life. Throughout the book we learn more about the Holden’s past and it helps us to understand his present situation.

I love this book for a million reasons, reasons that seem to keep changing as I get older. When I was a young teen I loved Catcher mostly because of the PG-13 content. At that time Holden was my hero. Even though the book was written in the mid 1940s, Holden has a very punk rock attitude towards authority that I dug. In my later teens and early college years I found myself relating to Holden’s pessimistic attitude towards the human race. There’s one part in the book where Holden notices someone has written a bad four letter word on the wall, so he moves on, only to notice it written again, and again. Then he sort of gets down on the fact that if he had all the time in the world he wouldn’t be able to erase even half of the 4 letter words that people have tagged on city walls. It’s sort of depressing when you think about it.

Salinger has this great ability to identify the little idiosyncrasies and personality defects that people possess and he puts them in his characters in a way that makes you think (yes! I hate when people do that!). He’s also great at writing an awkward moment. It could be something small like an elderly man throwing a magazine on a bed and missing, and it actually makes you cringe as you read it. Modern day artists like Ricky Gervais and David Sedaris have always reminded me of Salinger in the way that they understand it’s the little mannerisms and quirks that make people so vulnerable and interesting.

When I read Catcher now, as I am approaching my 30s, I realize that Holden is just an idiot kid. We were all idiots when we were 17 years old, and Holden is no exception. What impresses me now is Salinger’s ability, more than 60 years later, to have a character that we can all still relate to and love.

Buy Cacther in the Rye by J.D. Salinger on Amazon by clicking here.