Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Abused Books (Banned Book Week)





2006 BBW; Read Banned Books: They're Your Ticket to Freedom
Well, it's banned books week. In honor of that, I made a list of 100 books that I've read that have been banned, censored, or challenged. There are a few (notably The Awakening, Grendel, and One Hundred Years of Solitude) that I thoroughly disliked; however, I am against banning them. Oddly, most of the classics listed were not required reading for school, but things I picked up because of their reputation as "Great Books" (Catcher in the Rye, Madame Bovary, Catch 22, and We, for example.)
As usual, I've got a quote that sums up my view quite nicely:
"I would just say to you as students who are supposed to be learning, that as soon as the book is gone from the library, do not walk -- run to your nearest public library or bookseller and find out what your elders don't want you to know, because that's what you need to know!
Don't let them bullshit you and don't let them guide your mind, because once it starts, it never stops. Some of our most famous leaders have been book-banners, like Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin."
Stephen King, from the speech "Banned Books and Other Concerns: the Virginia Beach Lecture" 9-22-86, as published in Secret Windows
(For those who haven't met me, I adore quotes. At times, I'm quite like Mrs. Who from A Wrinkle in Time that way...)
And, without further ado, my list:
A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) Beauty's Punishment
A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) Beauty's Release
A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
Aldous Huxley Brave New World
Alex Comfort The Joy of Sex
Alice Seybold Lucky: A Memoir
Allen Ginsberg Howl
Anna Sewell Black Beauty
Anne Frank Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl
Anonymous Go Ask Alice
Arthur Miller The Crucible
Bill Watterson Calvin & Hobbes
C.S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club
D.H. Lawrence Lady Chatterly's Lover
Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon
Dr. Suess The Lorax
E.B. White Charlotte's Web
Elizabeth George Spears The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Gabriel Garcia Marquez One Hundred Years of Solitude
George Eliot Silas Marner
George Orwell 1984
George Orwell Animal Farm
Grace Metalious Peyton Place
Gustav Flaubert Madame Bovary
Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird
Henrik Ibsen A Doll's House
Homer The Odyssey
Hugh Lofting The Story of Doctor Dolittle
J.D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger Franny and Zooey
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J.M. Barrie Peter Pan
Jack London Call of the Wild
Jacob and Wilhelm K. Grimm The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Jean Auel Clan of the Cave Bear
John C. Gardner Grendel
John Cleland Fanny Hill
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
Joseph Heller Catch 22
Judy Blume Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
Judy Blume Blubber
Judy Blume Deenie
Judy Blume Then Again, Maybe I Won't
Kate Chopin The Awakening
Kathleen Winsor Forever Amber
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Welcome to the Monkey House
L. Frank Baum The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House in the Big Woods
Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie
Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lois Duncan Daughters of Eve
Lois Duncan Killing Mr. Griffin
Lorraine Hansberry A Raisin in the Sun
Madeleine L'Engle A Wrinkle in Time
Mark Twain Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain Tom Sawyer
Mary O'Hara My Friend Flicka
Mary Rodgers Freaky Friday
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter
Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
Roald Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl James & the Giant Peach
Robert A. Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert Cormier I Am the Cheese
Robert Cormier The Chocolate War
Robert Lipsyte One Fat Summer
S.E. Hinton The Outsiders
Shel Silverstein A Light in the Attic
Shel Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends
Sinclair Lewis Babbitt
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Stephen King Carrie
Stephen King Christine
Stephen King Cujo
Stephen King Different Seasons
Stephen King It
Stephen King The Dead Zone
Stephen King The Shining
Stephen King The Stand
Susanna Kaysen Girl, Interrupted
Sylvia Plath The Bell Jar
Theodore Dreiser Sister Carrie
Thomas J. Craughwell Alligators in the Sewer
Thomas Rockwell How to Eat Fried Worms
Toni Morrison Beloved
V.C. Andrews Flowers in the Attic
Victor Hugo Les Miserables
Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass
William Golding Lord of the Flies
William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch
Yevgeny Zamyatin We

The Bible

So, what are your favorite banned books?

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Work In Progress 3

So, I accomplished next to nothing over my four day weekend, except a lot of playing around in Photoshop. I've made some progress, and found a way to trace my lines over all the transparent color layers (which is probably not the technical way to describe it.) Now, I dream about drawing directly on the screen - which doesn't mean I don't love my Wacom Graphire, just that I'm still not as good drawing with it as I am with real pencil and paper.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Work In Progress 2



So, I have too many irons in the fire right now, and I'm working on a lot of different projects a little bit at a time. One of the things I'm continuing to work on is learning Photoshop.
Sleeping at night could be very exciting, as well. This is what I liked enough to post after four hours of working with layers, the airbrush tool, and the dodge/burn tool.