response 18 of 25:

Jun 26 18:10 UTC 1999

I can remember, when I was around 10 and just getting into sci-fi, checking
out a copy of A Clockwork Orange from the library and being told, very calmly,
that I probably wouldn't like it anyway and why don't I find something else
to read.  I don't remember my parents monitoring what I read too closely,
although they probably did and I just didn't notice.  So now I'm trying to
think what would have happened had I been able to read whatever I got my hands
on...    Part of the problem is, I can't imagine growing up any differently
than I have been growing up, so it's hard to picture any sort of "what if"
about my own life.  

I guess what it amounts to is, on the one hand I can't imagine being hugely
altered by a book or two: being a non-violent person, I most likely would have
put down A Clockwork Orange after 10 pages or so even if I could understand
it, and if I had been a more violently inclined person, the book wouldn't be
bringing out anything that wasn't already there.  On the other hand, Everyone
seems to agree that there are things that a 10-year-old shouldn't read, and
I find it hard to believe that Everyone is wrong on this one.

response 20 of 25:

Jun 29 00:06 UTC 1999

Re resp:16 - You are misreading resp:12 but I'm not surprised.  It took
me almost a whole minute, staring at it and resp:10 to figure out what was
said, and I'm the one that wrote it!!  :-)  There seem to be too many canceling
negatives for it to be obvious what was meant.

What I was trying to say was that it seems to be much more likely to be
against the spirit of the law for public libraries to refuse to stock items
than for school libraries to do so.  That is, I think it would be easier to
use the courts to force a public library to carry something than a school
library.  I think that it is clear that children need protection.

Does that make more sense?

response 22 of 25:

Jun 30 22:23 UTC 1999

Ah.  I see.  I must've missed one o' them negatives....

response 24 of 25:

Sep 24 03:50 UTC 1999

It occurs to me that most of the books I've read that I know have been
banned and frequently censored, I read in my public high school.
Interesting, that.

The only banned book I'm especially planning to read is _The Satanic
Verses_.  I read another Rushdie book that I much enjoyed, and am curious
as to what the fuss is all about with this one.  Not sure if I'll get
around to it anytime soon, though...