Forbidden Fruit

Tell us we can’t have it and we want it. Badly. That’s human nature.

We’ll stand in long lines to get our hands on it, whatever it is.  We want it whether or not we need it. We want to know what the fuss is all about and we certainly don’t want our wishes dictated by others.

I’m talking about books here.  Specifically, library books which have been banned from Beaufort County’s school libraries.  We live in Beaufort County so this matters to me.  And it should matter to all those who live here. 

This morning’s newspaper reported that over 100 books have been “pulled” from their rightful places on the libraries’ shelves.  Some may be re-shelved after their “review” but we don’t know if that will be the case or not.

I looked through the list.  Many are unfamiliar titles so I can’t comment on them.  Other than to say that I don’t think that banning any book is a good thing.

But, there among the unknowns, were books I’ve read.  Some more than once. Many shared in book clubs.

They include:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Foer

Water for Elephants by Sara Green

The Art of Racing in the Wind by Garth Stein

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks

The Kite Runner by Khalel Hesslein

I was nearly speechless when I saw those titles.   The quasi-good news is most of them have been adapted for film or television.  But watching doesn’t take the place of reading.  I know that.  You know that.

But here’s the even-better news. Those books are now forbidden fruit. And we all know what happens when something’s declared to be “forbidden fruit.”