Banned Books published by Google

Lens Hood Man writes "Marking the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week, Google is inviting users to celebrate their freedom to read by making Banned Books available to all. From the Google Blog: "...you can use Google Book Search to explore some of the best novels of the 20th century which have been challenged or banned." Those books challenged this year include 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Lolita'."

...except china

[192939495969798999]

China will just see a big photo of Mao when you try to load the books on Google. Maybe they could get a backdrop of the glowing fire from a pile of books being burned too!

Re:Homework assignment

[QuantumG]

Similarly, explain the difference between formal and implicit polymorphism in C++.

HINT: both involve overloading of terms.

banned books?

[gEvil (beta)]

Great! I've been meaning to read up on some musical history.

Intellectual dishonesty

[ArsSineArtificio]

these books are actually banned? this lists sounds more like a list of required-reading books than banned books.

These "Banned Books" lists that librarians like to trumpet tend to be lists of books which were ever banned anywhere by any library at any time, not books which are banned today. So if they can find that some old biddy in Vermont in 1903 didn't like "Huckleberry Finn", it goes straight on the list. The conclusion that you're supposed to draw is that Literature is Under Attack Even Today by Reactionaries who are hiding under your bed.

Re:Lolita?

[plopez]

I'm waiting for Google to get hit with child pornongraphy charges on that one...

Re:A bit misleading

[MindStalker]

Exactly!! I finally understand why book publishers are running scared. All these Limited Previews and Find Libraries links are totally destroying their buisness model.

Hu.. what???.

Re:Holy crap!

[Anonymous Coward]

"Are we going to ban The Odyssey because of the violence?"

No. Only GTA: The Odyssey.

Re:Where's Stephen King...

[FishWithAHammer]

Wouldn't touch anything with Dozois's muddy fingerprints on it, ever.

Re:Homework assignment

[From A Far Away Land]

I guess this means that Google is going to be banned in Alabama libraries? I'm assuming they have libraries in Alabama.

Kidding! Of course they do.

Re:What about in China?

[Anonymous Coward]

In Communist China, Secret Police Google You!

They hate our freedoms

[smooth wombat]

"This list of books is exactly why we must not fail in our fight against terrorism. Ya see, the terrorists hate our freedom. They hate our way of life. This list of books shows how much they hate us."

*psst*

*mumble mumble mumble*

"America? Really?"

"Can't we jazz it up to so I can use it in a speech on terrorism? No? Karl will figure out a way."

Re:Homework assignment

[MustardMan]

I'm assuming they have libraries in Alabama.

Of course they do - where else are you gonna store all those Bibles?

How come?

[Arthur B.]

Reading this article I tried to find Nabokov's novel by searching for "lolita" on google. Considering the number of results this definitely looks like a popular novel but how come isn't Nabokov Book the first result?

Not evil, not good

[amightywind]

Google has not made these books available to read online, it just gives you the ability to find a library that has the book.

Well at least they aren't paid links to Amazon.com.

Ob Family Guy Quote:

[MrR0p3r]

"I don't want to go on a rant, here, but America's foreign policy makes about as much sense as Beowulf having sex with Robert Fulton at the first battle of Antietam. I mean when a neo-conservative defenestrates it's like Raskolnikov filibuster deoxymonohydroxinate..."

"What the hell does rant mean?"

Re:Just previews?

[drinkypoo]

Or here [epic.org]...

Google Took The Bait

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

You've hit upon the key flaw in Google's championing of liberty in the face of book banners/burners. Yes, once again its the shrill call of "pedophile", summoning all decent people the world over to stamp their boots on deserving human faces over and over.

Google has now committed an "indefensible" action, thus siding themselves with "inhuman hordes of evil". Expect this book and any like it to be dragged out and thumped repeatedly in condemnation the next time Google crosses the powers that be.