Banned Books and Censorship (or, To #@!% or Not To #@!%)

Warning: In the spirit of anti-censorship, I'm going to swear like a sailor with no symbols to protect your innocent eyes.

This week is Banned Books Week 2015, and while it's largely an American thing, the rest of the world are often more than happy to jump on the proverbial fucking band wagon and celebrate books which have been banned and challenged. Intellectual freedom is a founding stone of any society that's worth its shit.

Book banning is something which still happens alarmingly regularly - and we need to be more aware of it. Unlike in the US, where the ALA attempts to keep record of fucking challenges and book-banning, there are very few such records kept in the rest of the world. I have no idea when, or if, book banning happens in the UK, having to rely instead on bloody anecdotal evidence.

I know, for example, that at my old school (I'm in my 20s, and finished school in circa 2013... or was it 2011? It might've been 2011. Maybe. Time's never been my strong suit,) every Dan Brown book was marked as 'Sixth Form Only.' Presumably because they didn't want parents coming back at them about the religious/controversial aspects. 'Naughty,' books with sex etc were often confined to these shelves. And sometimes books would have one copy on these shelves, and one on the shelves of the main library (e.g. The Book Thief.) I have no bloody idea why the fuck this was, and neither did the librarian.

So, why ban books? I have no fucking idea. But the reasons given are often about religion, violence, sex, nudity, and swearing. Basically, fucking reasons. Except that kids do not live in a shitting bubble - they know that the world is a complex and shitty place in which people fuck with everything - themselves, each other, and people's minds.

If you want your kids to be good people, they've got to come to that decision by themselves, not because you've prevented them from accessing other opinions. And sometimes, it's just fucking ridiculous. You don't like gay penguins? Fine, go be fucking bigoted on your own time. Just don't stop your kids from realising there's a world out there. And don't even get me started on the religious narrow-mindedness. You can believe what you want, but please allow others to make up their own minds. And don't ban vampire books just because they scare you.

Reviewing the Evidence - Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: Prince of Dorkness

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: Prince of Dorkness (US Link)
Author: Tim Collins
Genre: humour, paranormal, vampire, ya
Series: Wimpy Vampire (#2)

A few starting notes:

This is the sequel to the funny and entertaining 'Diary of a Wimpy Vampire' - since I enjoyed the last one, I decided to give the second book a go. As it's a sequel I'll go by my general rule of thumb for reviewing sequels - the blurb dictates the level of spoilerage for previous books. This means that the only plot details for previous books that I divulge are of the same nature as those found in the blurb for this book - it just seems fair to me.

Premise:

Nigel Mullett, the wimpy vampire, records a second year of life as the undead. Things are never plain-sailing when it comes to being stuck at the awkward age of 15; no matter how long you've been in school for, it all comes around again. And there's his barmy family, girls, and weird school-mates to deal with - nothing is ever easy.

Best bits:

This has the same tongue-in-cheek humour as the first book, focussing on the melodramas of teenage life, which don't go away simply because you're undead. The tone is great because Nigel is so grimly serious about the most ridiculous of things.

I personally really liked the addition, in this book, of the topic of vampire romances - which Nigel even tries his hand it! It's that sly, satirical humour that Brits do so very well, and made me smile.

The book is quick and readable, with funny cartoon-like illustrations and a diary format that splits the entire thing into short sections. Again, if you have one of those bizarre creatures, a tween or teenage boy, to force books into, it might be worth sticking the wimpy vampire series under their nose nonchalantly - might work, you never know.

Not so great bits:

I did find some parts - relating to new school-mate Jason in particular - quite predictable, but then I live on a constant diet of paranormal novels, so might have warped my brain to the point where nothing really surprises me anymore.

I can't help but feel like there's more potential for hilarity in Nigel's family, and his long past, than Mr Collins has unlocked. An opportunity missed perhaps.

Verdict:

This is fun and funny - a light-hearted take on the vampire craze that made me smile at more than one off-hand comment. Might even tempt the reluctant reader.

We're All Stories in the End

image courtesy of jannoon028 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I got to thinking recently that we essentially tell the same stories over and over, since the beginning of time.
This isn't to say that we are repetitive idiots who are unable to come up with anything original. Not at all. What my point is, is that clearly there are things in these stories that we need to hear. There are things that we have recognised as fundamental since the very beginning, and we feel the need to repeat it - to get the message through again and again. But why? Are we still not hearing it?!?! Well, given the state the world seems to be in as of late, that's a distinct possibility. But I think it's more to do with it speaking to something inherently human in us.

We never abandoned the old Gods - Thor and Loki are still with us (literally if you're a Marvel fan,) but the rest are still here too. Does no one else see the Robin Hood parallels with The Green Arrow or Hawkeye? Or older still, the Eros/Cupid and Apollo associations with archery etc?

We have literally clung on to all of the old traditions, the myths, the stories, we just give them a new cape and a mask, and set them to it. But it's not just comics and their associated media (i.e. movies) that are affected by this phenomena. We litter the pages of our novels with the things that go bump in the night - vampires, werewolves, angels and demons haunt our pages. But, more subtly than that, the same stories play out in front of our eyes again and again. Even the dreaded Twilight owes so much to Romeo and Juliet, which in turn is a retelling of Pyramus and Thisbe. 'Fallen' by Lauren Kate leans heavily on Biblical tales and the legends of fallen angels. Hell, The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen bears more than a passing resemblance to Artemis. And I won't mention the obvious Percy Jackson parallels - I think you can figure that one out by yourselves.

I kind of like it, if I'm going to be honest with you lovely people: I like the thought that our stories are such a fundamental part of us that we tell the same tales over and over, shaping and framing, adding and subtracting - and that's what really shows the strength of these ideas and stories. They still captivate and intrigue. And fan-fiction feeds into that (no, really, it does!) - it's us hearing the story and adding our interpretation, our hopes, our feelings (and lots of the feels,) taking the parts that most speak to us and zooming in on them. We're the myth-tellers, sat around the collective glow of the laptop and the tablet, instead of the fire, and telling just one more tale of love and hurt, of bravery and sorrow, to get us through one more dark night when we're tired and hungry and afraid. And isn't that beautiful.

Reviewing the Evidence Time! - Diary of a Wimpy Vampire

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Vampire (US Link)
Author: Tim Collins
Genre: ya, paranormal, humour, vampire
Series: Wimpy Vampire

A few starting notes:

This looked fairly entertaining, and I'm a sucker for vampires (pun only slightly intended.) So I figured, why not give it a try? It's very much aimed at the teenage/ya market.

Premise:

Nigel is a vampire. Vampire's are always romantic and sexy and all that cool stuff - but not Nigel. Nigel had the misfortune of being turned at the awkward age of 15, just in time for an eternity of homework, acne, school politics, and being awkward around girls. So, will Nigel ever reach his target of getting his first ever girlfriend before his 100th birthday?

Best bits:

This book is fun. Like fun. Think of all the diary-form teenage books there have been over the years. Then add an awkward teenage vampire - see? Fun.

The pictures are actually a really fun touch - like something that a teenager would actually use to try and illustrate their hyperbolically serious diary. And I love Nigel's parents; they are, quite awesomely, mental.

The tone and pace of this book is quick and light, making it perfect for reluctant readers (you may even be able to trick the dreaded challenge of the teenage boy into reading it - though I can't guarantee it.)

Not so great bits:

Sometimes the plot has a slight tendency to feel on the thin-side. This isn't too much of a problem because the tone is so light, but it can occasionally get irritating.

There are some light references to issues that might affect teenagers - poverty, self-harm, suicide, anorexia, bullying - but these aren't laid on too thickly so the majority of young readers will be able to cope.

Verdict:

A fun and quick read with an awesome and quirky premise. Perfect for reluctant readers, or just those who like something different every now and then.