Banned Books Week
October 1 through 7, 2023
“Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.” That is the original German. My English translation would be ‘That is but a prelude, where they burn books, they will in the end burn people.” It is from Heinrich Heine’s 1821 play Almansor.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird keep making the top ten of banned books. It makes no sense to me why people can’t just not read books they don’t like, and let other people make their own choices. But then again, I live in a county where people have a fit if children dress up as witches, wizards, or devils on Halloween, and have “harvest festivals” instead of Halloween parties… it’s really pathetic.
