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| image borrowed from the official web site of Mark Twain |
I love Google!
It's simple, smart and does all the work for me. Plus, Google reminds me everyday of something noteworthy by its clever changing of the logo!
Today's reminder is worth writing about because it's Mark Twain's birthday, (or, in many places, one of those authors whose books are too racy for our children or people to be exposed to, because we don't want them to have any historically important literary references by which to be influenced, and we can sort of rewrite history to keep our children or people unaware of the profanity, racism, hatred, existence of slavery or the Holocaust, threatening political views, etc. that either preceded us or currently threaten our culture. Or, it's about Jesus.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mark Twain! I wonder what you would you think today about the relevancy of your books with regard to social awareness and progress. Are they important for children to read now? Would you ban your own books from schools?
Etaglive is a nifty website that shows continually updated book bans which have happened worldwide through history for various reasons, some to keep entire countries in the dark! Mark Twain is in good company with lots of authors whose books were required reading when I was a child, like George Orwell's 1984, which was banned for being pro-communist in Jackson County, FL, To Kill A Mockingbird, banned for conflicting with the values of the Community in Lindale, TX, and just like Sawyer's Huckleberry Finn, Gone With The Wind has also been banned for its use of that racial slur that only black people are allowed to say.
Etaglive even gives you a link to buy each book in the list!
Here's the link:Etaglive: Banned and Challenged Books
I hope a few of these books will make it on your reading list soon.
I lived in France as a Sophomore in College and I learned from studying the Nazi occupation of France that the French not only realized the importance of history in shaping our future, but perhaps take it to an extreme in some towns where you will still see, more than 60 years after the war, posted signs "Never Forget".
It will be from knowing the past that we have a better future, not ignoring it and pretending it didn't exist.
READ ON!
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