In the beginning, pieces of Ulysses were published in serial form in the American periodical, the Little Review. It was published as a book in 1922 and is today regarded as a masterpiece. James Joyce's novel The Dubliners, which is set in Dublin, parallels Homer's epic poem The Odyssey by telling the tale of three main characters. The book wasn't well accepted at first, despite how revered it eventually become.

The book was burned in Ireland and Canada in 1922, while the serialized portions were destroyed in the US in 1918. It was burned in England in 1923 before being completely outlawed there in 1929. Even a US trial for violating the Comstock Act of 1873, which forbade the transmission of pornographic material over US mail, was centered around the book.

The main character in the serialized episode of "Nausicaa" was alleged to have engaged in some self-pleasing behavior in the case, making it obscene. The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice won the case, despite the fact that many disagree with this because of Joyce's extensive use of metaphors. The upcoming book as well as the serialized version were essentially outlawed in the US.

As obscenity laws softened, the US lifted the ban on Ulysses in 1934. In retrospect, Ulysses has been viewed as a risky venture for its time. Controversial? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely. All the more reason why people should be able to appreciate books, even if they are a little controversial, rather than being guarded from them.

Author: James Joyce
Language: English
Genre: Modernist novel
Set in: Dublin, 16–17 June 1904
Publisher: Shakespeare and Company
Publication date: 2 February 1922

Kurt Vonnegut released Slaughterhouse-Five in 1969. It is a satirical science fiction novel that follows Billy Pilgrim as he becomes time-stuck and is kidnapped by aliens. The book spends a lot of time delving into the atrocities of World War II by using the soldier Pilgrim to demonstrate how his life was sacrificed. Shell shock from being a prisoner of war causes him to become unstick in time.

He relives his life's events at that point. At first glance, nothing really stands out as contentious, but the book has many themes that deal with free will and the price of war as seen through Billy's connection with time. It's a fascinating book that helps us understand our own mortality and how, because it's impossible to change time, time doesn't give us free will. Why then was it forbidden?

One of the most contentious works of the 20th century is Slaughterhouse-Five. It was the focus of a First Amendment dispute that, in Island Trees School District v. Pico, reached the Supreme Court in 1982. Even though the students' appeal won and the ban was lifted as a result, it has since continued to be contested. Slaughterhouse-Five was previously prohibited in 1972 when a circuit judge labeled it "depraved, immoral, psychotic, vulgar, and anti-Christian."

However, others have suggested that the anti-war sentiment back in the '70s and '80s ruffled a few feathers. Typically, the challenges on Slaughterhouse-Five are regarding to obscene language or strong sexual content. Even after all these years, Vonnegut's classic still encounters opposition every few years, echoing the arguments of those who have previously tried to have it outlawed.

Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre: Dark comedySatireScience fictionWar novelMetafictionPostmodernism
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication date: March 31, 1969

Since Soviet Russia banned and burned George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in the 1950s because of its anti-communist viewpoints, the book has been the target of a significant international campaign. On the other extreme, the book was outlawed in Jackson County, Florida, in 1981 because it was pro-communist. The novel was, however, most recently challenged once more in Idaho in 2017 due to its excessive violence and sexually explicit language.

What is the subject of Nineteen Eighty-Four? Winston Smith is the main character of Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, which was first published in 1949. Winston Smith lives in a world where there are perpetual wars, constant government monitoring, propaganda, and historical revisionism. The main themes of Nineteen Eighty-Four include political distrust, various governmental systems, and revolt.

Most attempts to prohibit the book focus on its themes of government, with many interpreting them as being pro-communist even though the book is anti-communist and anti-government. Additionally, governments who don't like the concept of an uprising like the one led by Stalin in the 1950s have banned works with themes of rebellion against the system all over the world.

Author: George Orwell
Cover artist: Michael Kennar
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: Dystopian, political fiction, social science fiction
Set in: London, Airstrip One, Oceania
Publisher: Secker & Warburg
Publication date: 8 June 1949

The dystopian science fiction novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was published in 2008, and it almost instantly became a worldwide phenomenon. The story follows Katniss Everdeen as she substitutes for her sister in a brutal competition known as "The Hunger Games," where survival is the sole means of victory. The Hunger Games movie and book series brought in billions of dollars.

There are some issues with the book. The United States is divided into 12 districts and the Capital in Collins' imagined world. In essence, every district works to serve the Capital. They are categorized as lower-class citizens as a result. The series has been accused of many things, including being satanic, having anti-family sentiment, being violent, using vulgar language, and being sexual. Some criticisms of The Hunger Games are unfounded, such as claims of a religious undertone as there is no mention of religion in the books. Many have argued that "hope" qualifies as a religion, however this merely weakens and slightly absurdifies the argument.

These aren't the main problems discussed in this well-known dystopian book series. Because it covers an insurrection over the course of three volumes, The Hunger Games has been accused of encouraging anti-government attitude. It hasn't helped that the symbolic three-finger salute, which evolved into a symbol of defiance against tyranny, has been applied in actual situations.

Students at a school in Thailand were making use of the emblem in front of flagpoles in 2020. The same was done by medical professionals in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2021 to support Aung San Suu Kyi, the overthrown civilian leader. Due to its diverse subjects, the series has been the subject of numerous attempted and successful bans worldwide. The most difficult years were 2010, 2011, and 2013.

Author: Suzanne Collins
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre: Dystopian, science fiction, drama, action
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2008–2010, 2020
Media type:Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book
No. of books: 3 originals, 1 prequel

One of the more recent books to experience strong opposition and ban efforts is The Hate U Give. Following the death of her best friend at the hands of the police, Starr Carter sets out on a mission to abolish police violence against minorities in the United States. It's understandable that The Hate U Give is being resisted at every turn given the state of racial relations in the world today. There has been a fierce fight to keep this book out of the hands of children across all 50 states ever since it was published in 2017.

Black Lives Matter was an inspiration for author Angie Thomas. She talked about issues including social injustice, racism, classism, and police brutality. A few parents in Katy, Texas, raised concerns about Thomas's book in 2018, and the book was eventually taken out of the district's schools. Local parents and librarians were outraged, and eventually the book was returned to libraries but was only accessible to pupils with parental permission. The discussions of drug usage, sexuality, and racism were first prohibited.

A middle school in Springfield, Missouri, contested the book in 2019, and it was ultimately banned. The Fraternal Order of Police Tri-County Lodge #3 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, fought to get the book removed from required reading lists at nearby high schools. Due to its racial overtones, many places wanted the book taken out of the classroom. We must cease what was described as "nearly an indoctrination of suspicion of police" in the case of the police.

The Hate U Give faced more criticism in 2021 for its ostensibly anti-police theme. This occurred following the George Floyd protests and a racial reckoning in the summer of 2020, after which the book experienced a surge in popularity and spent more than 190 weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

Author: Angie Thomas
Cover artist: Debra Cartwright
Country: United States
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: February 28, 2017

Everyone has at least heard of J. D. Salinger's contentious book The Catcher in the Rye. The notorious book by Salinger was the one that was heavily restricted in US schools and libraries from 1961 to 1982. Holden Caulfield is followed throughout The Catcher in the Rye as he strives to mature in mid-20th century New York.

Holden describes being expelled, tussling with classmates, abandoning out, living in Manhattan, struggling to become an adult, and focusing on topics like a loss of innocence in the novel, which is told from a bed in a psychiatric hospital. The notion that children are innocent and genuine while adults are fakes is a key theme in this book. As one might anticipate, this can lead to some debate. However, The Catcher in the Rye is ultimately a heartbreaking story about the loneliness and isolation that teenagers experience as they mature into adults.

In 1960, The Catcher in the Rye was put to the test for the first time. For instructing the book, an Oklahoma teacher of the eleventh grade was sacked. The book was banned as a result of this, even though she successfully appealed the decision and received her job back. This sparked a wave of efforts to have the 1951 book banned. After the fever ban was lifted, it was still the target nine more times between 1986 and 2000.

The book is frequently criticized for its use of profanity, drug and alcohol misuse, sexual allusions, and God-defeating content. There were also some uncommon justifications offered, such as the book's anti-white, aggressive, and immoral nature. Teenagers were encouraged to rebel against their parents, schools, and the system, which was a major cause for concern. There is a long list of grievances that Salinger never bothered to address. What's worse is that other shootings, including the iconic John Lennon assassination, were linked to readers of Catcher in the Rye.

Author: J. D. Salinger
Cover artist: E. Michael Mitchell
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre: Realistic fiction, Coming-of-age fiction
Published: July 16, 1951
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is rife with irony. In the dystopian future depicted in the 1953 classic, books are outlawed, but the irony doesn't end there. Firefighters are starting more fires than they are putting out in 2047, and they frequently seize and burn books while they do so. Technology has a significant role in society. It centers on Guy Montag, a firefighter who wonders why books were once forbidden. The cause is strangely similar to our current situation. It's all about manipulating the narrative and stifling disagreement by creating consensus.

The book Fahrenheit 451 has several straightforward themes. It's a tale about technology and how it could create more issues than it fixes. The key themes of the novel are unhappiness, knowledge vs ignorance, and a technologically-numb and technology-consumed civilisation.

Under the cover of profanity and drug-related conversation, Fahrenheit 451 began to be criticized everywhere. It has, however, placed a lot more emphasis on the book's discussion of the restrictions on free speech and the concept of censorship. The act of having books banned goes against the entire concept of free speech in a nation that supports the first amendment. Over the course of more than 50 years, the book has been changed, edited, contested, and downright prohibited in numerous states, districts, and educational institutions. It has continued to be illegal in many countries.

The novel imagined a far-off future in which knowledge was suppressed and society was deceived to shield its members from the truth by allowing them to live in ignorance. Although Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451 was set in 2049, we can find examples of it in 2022.

Author: Ray Bradbury
Illustrator: Joseph Mugnaini
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre: Dystopian
Published: October 19, 1953 (Ballantine Books)

The 1982 novel "The Color Purple" is still being debated to death today. One of the most recent efforts was made in North Carolina in 2013, but it managed to stay legal. However, since the initial effort at a high school in Oakland, California, in 1984, this is far from the sole incident. For more than 40 years, the book has been the subject of criticism, legal disputes, and restrictions.

A young Celia records the horrors and triumphs of growing up in letters to God in Alice Walker's heartbreaking story, which is set in rural Georgia. The story of the book is one of misogyny, racism, and poverty, and there are situations that are difficult for the average reader to process.

California, Wyoming, Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, West Virginia, and Ohio were among the states where the book was contested between 1984 and 2002. Its representations of sexual assault, homosexuality, incest, drug misuse, race relations, and derogatory portrayals of black men are just a few of the reasons why. Walker has reacted to the prohibitions in a limited way, stating she is accustomed to them. But in her opinion, prohibiting books would deprive youngsters of the chance to learn something new that would be beneficial to them as they grew into adults.

Author: Alice Walker
Country: United States
Language: English
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Publication date: 1982

Catch-22, a 1961 book by Joseph Heller about World War II, is unquestionably a classic. The protagonist of the book is Captain John Yossarian, a bombardier in the US Air Force who despises dying. However, there is no evading service, alluding to the draft that was used in historical conflicts.

Because of how well-liked and praised Catch-22 was by the younger generation in 1961 and thereafter, it became such a contentious novel. The book's ideas and message converged with anti-war feelings when the Vietnam War broke out. On the other hand, the book's flippant treatment of the subject of war infuriated some readers.

The book has received more positive reviews over time compared to when it first came out in the early 1960s, yet it has also drawn criticism. Even while Catch-22 hasn't faced nearly as many obstacles as some of the other works that were continuously under attack, it has nonetheless engaged in some well-known battles. The book was removed from libraries in Strongsville, Ohio, in 1972 due to its foul language. Students and professors engaged in a full-fledged legal conflict over this. In 1974, more attempts to outlaw the book due to its derogatory depictions of women were made in Snoqualmie, Washington, and Dallas, Texas.

Author: Joseph Heller
Cover artist: Paul Bacon
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre: Dark comedy, absurdist fiction, satire, war fiction, historical fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: November 10, 1961

Since its publication in 1977, the children's book Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson has faced ongoing criticism. The well-known children's book chronicles Jess Aaron's friendship with Leslie Burke, a neighbor. In a nearby woodland, the two create a fictional empire.

The first time the book was contested was in Nebraska in 1986. The cause? Expletives like "oh Lord" and the term "Lord" are used in profanity. The children's book was criticized in 1990 Burlington, Connecticut for the same reasons and for encouraging a depressing picture of childhood. The book was challenged at least once per year after that, when things really took off.

It was regularly contested in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, California, and Texas between 1992 and 2002. While it was typically for profanity, it occasionally went beyond that, as in one example in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, when it was alleged to make reference to witchcraft. The novel was criticized for disrespecting adults and creating an intricate fantasy realm that could mislead kids in Pulaski, a different Pennsylvania town. The Bridge to Terabithia problem has diminished over time. Yet occasionally, attention is drawn back to the text. This was particularly apparent in 2007, when Disney produced the acclaimed book's cinematic version.

Author: Katherine Paterson
Illustrator: Donna Diamond
Country: United States
Language: English
Series: 1
Genre: Children's novel
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
Publication date: October 21, 1977