A challenge to new freshmen: Read books on ‘banned’ list

BERKELEY, Calif. Incoming freshmen at UC Berkeley have just a month left before they plunge into the academic rigors of a university where the free speech movement got its toehold.

In that time, Berkeley wants its new batch of freshmen thinking critically about what people don’t want them to read. So this summer’s suggested reading list is made up of books either challenged or banned in the last decade, novels such as The Color Purple by Alice Walker, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Beloved by Toni Morrison and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

Students should have read these works by the time they enter Cal, said Steve Tollefson, who put together the list and teaches in the university’s creative writing program. But not all high schools require them, sometimes to avoid controversy.

With Sept. 11 and the fear of terrorists still so palpable, UC Berkeley thought it would be a good idea for students to reflect on the First Amendment through the genre of challenged and banned books.

“The current political climate seems to be that the people are willing to let some rights be abridged for our sense of security,” said Tollefson.

“Those kinds of things can have dangerous implications. I want students when they come to any university to be critical and thoughtful. If they are told to read a book, or told not to read a book, they should be told why.”

In just the past year, several books on the Berkeley reading list have faced challenges around the country. Parents in Dripping Springs, Texas, took issue with Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, appearing in a senior Advanced Placement English class. They found the sexual descriptions offensive, according to the American Library Association.

People often object to books for graphic sexual content, but sometimes it is for religious beliefs or depressing themes. The reasons can change with the times. People used to challenge Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because they believed Huck set a bad example for young boys. Now, parents often object to the repeated use of a racial epithet.

“The challenges reflect every sensitivity our society feels, and our society is a diverse one,” said Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, which is helping to organize the national Banned Book Week in late September. “People feel they have a right to stand up and protest books they find offensive. On a First Amendment level, they do have that right. Where we come into conflict with these people is their right to make that decision for other people, which we do not think they have.”

Carrie Sturrock, Knight Ridder Newspapers

Related Posts:

1. Banned Books Week heroes will be honored
2. Boise State student group sponsors
   “Books for Israel” drive
3. Books target pop music fans
4. Books on African life discussed during Literature for Lunch
5. Larson’s tirade about the
   middle class worth a read