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Sep
27
In Praise of Banned Books, day 1: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2008 at 9am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
In celebration of Banned Books Week, I’ll be featuring a different banned or challenged book each day at 9am EDT through October 4th. Jen at Devourer of Books is doing daily posts at 2pm Central, so head over this afternoon and check her out.
Today I’m heading to Washington, DC for the National Book Festival, where I’ll see (and hopefully meet) the king of banned books, Mr. Salman Rushdie. In the meantime, I’m excited to be kicking off Banned Books Week with what I consider to be a perfect read for a beautiful autumn afternoon.
Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age story about Charlie, a teenager whom we know only through the letters he writes to an unnamed friend. Charlie is shy, angsty, on the edge of the action in his high school. He’s worried about life and sex and dating and music and being cool without trying too hard, and he lives for the moments when he feels “infinite.”
According to the ALA, The Perks of Being a Wallflower was one of the ten most frequently challenged books in 2007. Complainers wanted it taken off of shelves and out of libraries because of ”homosexuality, sexually explicit [content], offensive language, and [content] unsuited to age group,” and I can see why some people might be upset by a book that presents teenage life as it actually is—not everyone wants to live in the real world or admit the truth about how difficult it is to grow up today. Passages like this one probably didn’t help much, either:
Dear Friend,
Do you know what “masturbation” is? I think you probably do because you are older than me. But just in case, I will tell you. Masturbation is when you rub your genitals until you have an orgasm. Wow!
I thought that in those movies and television shows when they talk about having a coffee break that they should have a masturbation break. But then again, I think this would decrease productivity.
Okay, how do you not love that? First of all, it’s totally true (and a pretty good, basic explanation of a concept many people have a hard time discussing). Secondly, I’m pretty sure every teenage boy has had thoughts along these lines, which means Chobsky has given us a character who is almost as real as we are. Yeah, he tries drugs and thinks about sex, but he’s a good kid, a normal teenager, and the original emo icon.
And he gives us beautiful passages like this one:
When we hit the tunnel, all the sound got scooped up into a vacuum, and it was replaced by a song on the tape player. A beautiful song called “Landslide.” When we got out of the tunnel, Sam screamed this really fun scream, and there it was. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. Sam sat down and started laughing. Patrick started laughing. I started laughing.
And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.
Who hasn’t felt that way? Who doesn’t remember the angst and pain and confusion of adolescence and teenagerhood? Who doesn’t want a mid-day orgasm to break up the monotony of the 9-5 life?
If you haven’t read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, this week would be the perfect first time. Read it in public, where little old ladies can wonder what it’s about, or leave it lying open to a page that talks about something “offensive,” and strike up a conversation with someone about the great little book you’re reading and why it’s bad to ban books.
If you have read it, open it up and share your favorite quote or moment with me here. Or, better yet, tell me what makes you feel “infinite.”
Related posts:
I loved this book. A book group member asked me to read it over 3 years ago and for some reason I wasn’t jazzed about it, but after finally getting around to read it, I’m sorry I waited so long. It’s a book that I pass around to people regularly.
Thanks for introducing me to this one – must read it soon!
As for feeling infinite…(1) driving too fast on a open road with the windows down and something by Bon Jovi on the radio, and (2) peforming music really, really well
I’ve never even heard of this book, thanks for sharing it! I’ll be celebrating Banned Book Week on Worducopia all week, too, though I know myself too well to commit to a specific time each day.
I LOVE this book. It’s one of my most favorite books and I think it’s time I grabbed it and read it again. It’s just great and i love that it’s so honest and real.
Has some amazing amazing quotes as well. Some that I really loved are these:
“It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why.”
“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”
“I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won’t tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn’t change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have.”
-Lauren
I’ve never heard of this one. I’m reading banned books all this week as well, so far it’s really fun!
[...] you miss out on the banned books fun yesterday? Click here to read my review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and here to read Jen’s (Devourer of [...]
[...] if you missed it, here are the banned books I’ve reviewed so far: The Perks of Being a Wallflower—And Tango Makes [...]
[...] you’re coming late to the banned books party, check out my other featured banned books: The Perks of Being a Wallflower—And Tango Makes Three—Catch-22—The [...]
[...] The Perks of Being a Wallflower — And Tango Makes Three — Catch-22 — The Giver none [...]
[...] The Perks of Being a Wallflower — And Tango Makes Three — Catch-22 none [...]
[...] The Perks of Being a Wallflower — And Tango Makes Three none [...]
[...] you’re coming late to the banned books party, check out my other featured banned books: The Perks of Being a Wallflower—And Tango Makes Three—Catch-22—The Giver–The Things They [...]
[...] you’re missed my weeklong celebration of banned books, see my daily features here: The Perks of Being a Wallflower—And Tango Makes Three—Catch-22—The Giver–The Things They Carried–The Bluest [...]
[...] you’re missed my weeklong celebration of banned books, see my daily features here: The Perks of Being a Wallflower—And Tango Makes Three—Catch-22—The Giver–The Things They Carried–The Bluest [...]
[...] The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky [...]
“original emo icon” …seriously?
Emo is short for Emotive Hardcore which is a genre of music that was established through the creation of gravity records. This genre of music thrived in the late 80′s and early 90′s. Emotive Hardcore was formed because of the violence found in the Washington D. C. punk scene and this was to be a slightly less violent form of punk.
Emo bands include Rites of Spring, Moss Icon, Fire Party, Embrace, and Grey Matter to name some major bands.
Emo is NOT a whiny little teenager who slices his wrists in a corner. Neither is it bands such as My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy.
On the subject of the book. Great book. I at first thought it was targeted torwards a female audience so I avoided reading it but when I did pick it up I realized that that was hardly the case.
this book really helped me with my life and i thank the auther for that. i too lost a freind to suicide and the passage that discusses how charlie delt with that was very moving
did this book get banned? if so how?
did this book get banned if so when? and who banned it?
I’m 15 and I read this book ( and your article which was really awesome
) and I liked it alot, in fact I think it’s a book everyone should read, of course it deals with stuff parents probably don’t want you to know, but I relate to charlie in a way I can’t explain ( maybe it’s the fact he’s fifteen and it’s his first year of high school) but I really kind feel that all teens go through these stages and all teens know this awkward, I-have-no-idea what- I’m-doing stage, and it’s nice to know your not the only one going through it. I’m glad i read the book and I tell all my friends to read it, Because I really don’t think there is anything better then feeling infinite.
P.s. Thanks for the article I have to do a report on why it’s banned and you helped. (even through I don’t really know if this is an article or not… oh well)
All I know is that it is not banned where I live! We are passing one book through the school and it is amazing. Every person has their own “color” of a highlighter and you highlight you favorite parts and leave comments. That is truly the best way to read Perks.
P.S. I feel infinite!
Okay, that is such awesomeness, it gives me chills!
@infinite4you sweet! thats a sick idea!
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