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It is a fact of common knowledge that today we live in the world with freedom of speech, freedom of press and democracy is chased by most of the states. During numerous historic epochs a lot of cultural achievements of mankind were uncensored, especially it is related to literary heritage. Surprisingly, there are some bans on books even in the 21dt century. Certainly, there is no persecution for reading “inappropriate” books, but they are strongly non-recommended to read. 1.John Steinbeck was a genuine American writer, whose literary significance might be confirmed by multiple honorable awards. Among them one may notice the Pulitzer Prize – the most cherished and recognizable award for a writer. Specifically, it was issued for “The Grapes of Wrath” – a novel about consequences of the Great Depression for the poor. American political elite, a pillar of global democracy, has officially banned the book for its detailed description of labor class and publicly criticized it. 2.Henry Miller is also an American writer, famous for the novels “Tropic of Cancer” and “Tropic of Capricorn”. The first one, in particular, received lots of critical views and evaluations. The author also played a role of the main character, who uncovers and depicts his sexual relationship with friends and co-workers in times of financial hardship. Later, it was called “the most important book of the mid 1930s” by George Orwell. 3.Do you remember “The American Psycho” movie? The same-named book by Bret Easton Ellis was published in 1991 and in 2000 it became a basis of the film regardless common criticism. More precisely, it has raised a wave of negative opinions towards detailed enclosure of sex and violence scenes. It was banned in Germany for underage teens, and then in some Canada provinces. 4.“Lolita” is an obvious “participant” of this list, considering the number of pages dedicated to sexual development of the main character. Vladimir Nabokov gained huge popularity notwithstanding indecent plot of the book. It was prohibited in France, while in the United States “Lolita” was allowed both to publish and to read. 5.It is interesting to know that literary censorship has also embraced “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka once, in Nazi times particularly. Kafka's works were banned during the Nazi and Soviet regimes, as well as in the independent Czechoslovakia, because the author refused to write in Czech and wrote in German exclusively.
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Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis by Kafka, John Steinbeck, Pulitzer Prize to Steinbeck, Lolita by Nabokov, banned books, American Psycho,
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