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Whether they've been banned or not, the ideas in these books have somehow or other been considered dangerous by somebody or other. This is not a "Best Of" list, this is just a list of books that somehow or another, contain dangerous ideas. This list may surprise you, the ideas contained in these books might not even seem dangerous now, but others are just as controversial then as they were today.
1

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4.21 avg rating — 5,820,828 ratings
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2

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3.98 avg rating — 2,168,302 ratings
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3

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4.03 avg rating — 4,857,465 ratings
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4

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3.80 avg rating — 4,033,740 ratings
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5

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4.01 avg rating — 125,177 ratings
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6

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4.45 avg rating — 331,188 ratings
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7

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3.97 avg rating — 3,019,424 ratings
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8

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4.16 avg rating — 28,570 ratings
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9

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3.94 avg rating — 2,595,224 ratings
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10

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3.99 avg rating — 908,338 ratings
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11

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4.03 avg rating — 1,552,868 ratings
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12

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4.04 avg rating — 1,651,890 ratings
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13

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3.71 avg rating — 73,949 ratings
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14

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3.18 avg rating — 44,663 ratings
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15

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4.31 avg rating — 56,870 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 440,180 ratings
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17

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4.35 avg rating — 1,545,401 ratings
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18

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4.06 avg rating — 390,722 ratings
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19

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4.23 avg rating — 25,842 ratings
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20

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3.69 avg rating — 413,213 ratings
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21

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4.36 avg rating — 10,350,084 ratings
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22

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3.92 avg rating — 331,676 ratings
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23

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4.13 avg rating — 121,686 ratings
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24

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4.37 avg rating — 484,766 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 275,911 ratings
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26

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4.42 avg rating — 120 ratings
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26

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4.32 avg rating — 231 ratings
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28

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4.29 avg rating — 49 ratings
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29

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3.61 avg rating — 3,604 ratings
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30

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4.36 avg rating — 158,270 ratings
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31

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3.87 avg rating — 39,208 ratings
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32

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3.79 avg rating — 158,781 ratings
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33

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3.88 avg rating — 1,038,670 ratings
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34

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4.01 avg rating — 304,696 ratings
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35

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4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings
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36

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3.66 avg rating — 34,017 ratings
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37

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3.96 avg rating — 1,794,259 ratings
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38

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3.92 avg rating — 11,202 ratings
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39

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3.98 avg rating — 72 ratings
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40

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3.98 avg rating — 72 ratings
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41

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4.31 avg rating — 450,651 ratings
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41

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4.17 avg rating — 256,555 ratings
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43

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4.16 avg rating — 2,585,851 ratings
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44

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4.37 avg rating — 4,370,759 ratings
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45

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3.74 avg rating — 7,524 ratings
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46

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3.82 avg rating — 364 ratings
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47

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3.83 avg rating — 5,227 ratings
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48

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4.09 avg rating — 32,167 ratings
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49

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4.31 avg rating — 177 ratings
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50

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3.75 avg rating — 16 ratings
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51

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4.19 avg rating — 16,287 ratings
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52

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3.76 avg rating — 50 ratings
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53

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3.57 avg rating — 6,278 ratings
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54

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3.95 avg rating — 261,679 ratings
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55

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3.89 avg rating — 26,891 ratings
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56

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4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
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57

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4.13 avg rating — 38 ratings
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58

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3.71 avg rating — 14 ratings
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59

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4.32 avg rating — 34 ratings
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60

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3.65 avg rating — 2,365 ratings
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61

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3.78 avg rating — 13,339 ratings
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62

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4.09 avg rating — 4,249 ratings
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62

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3.68 avg rating — 38 ratings
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62

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3.12 avg rating — 2,954 ratings
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65

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3.98 avg rating — 72 ratings
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66

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3.98 avg rating — 2,513 ratings
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67

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3.77 avg rating — 5,222 ratings
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68

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4.59 avg rating — 731 ratings
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69

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3.98 avg rating — 100 ratings
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70

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4.11 avg rating — 9,595 ratings
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71

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3.89 avg rating — 342,684 ratings
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72

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4.05 avg rating — 2,951 ratings
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73

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3.88 avg rating — 32,271 ratings
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74

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3.32 avg rating — 62 ratings
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75

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 10,257 ratings
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76

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4.16 avg rating — 1,173 ratings
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77

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4.13 avg rating — 3,908,709 ratings
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78

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3.84 avg rating — 717,305 ratings
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79

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3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings
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80

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3.82 avg rating — 284,035 ratings
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81

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3.97 avg rating — 173 ratings
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82

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4.18 avg rating — 88 ratings
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83

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3.81 avg rating — 1,478 ratings
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84

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4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings
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85

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3.99 avg rating — 16,922 ratings
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86

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4.52 avg rating — 121 ratings
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87

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3.96 avg rating — 345,267 ratings
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88

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4.13 avg rating — 124,110 ratings
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89

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4.13 avg rating — 7,835 ratings
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90

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4.05 avg rating — 9,453 ratings
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91

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3.86 avg rating — 731 ratings
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92

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4.23 avg rating — 1,798 ratings
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93

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4.02 avg rating — 2,886 ratings
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93

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4.02 avg rating — 471 ratings
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95

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3.59 avg rating — 18,597 ratings
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96

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3.35 avg rating — 5,958 ratings
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97

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4.20 avg rating — 251 ratings
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98

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3.81 avg rating — 1,025 ratings
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99

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3.47 avg rating — 2,965 ratings
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100

by
3.39 avg rating — 271 ratings
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163 books · 110 voters · list created August 15th, 2009 by Jacobmartin (votes) .
63 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Jacobmartin 134 books
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Jenn 661 books
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Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Jacobmartin (new)

Jacobmartin Ok, I've added seven of my favorite dangerous books, but there's so many more I haven't even mentioned! Please feel free to add more of your own!


message 2: by John (new)

John Burns No offence but this is a stupid idea for a list.

Exactly what is a dangerous idea? Surely any idea becomes dangerous when it's misapplied? An idea is only as dangerous as the idiots who get ahold of it.


message 3: by Jacobmartin (new)

Jacobmartin Killthepopular wrote: "No offence but this is a stupid idea for a list.

Exactly what is a dangerous idea? Surely any idea becomes dangerous when it's misapplied? An idea is only as dangerous as the idiots who get ahol..."


The idea came to me as there was a festival in Sydney called "The Festival of Dangerous Ideas" or something. The list here's not really meant to class ideas as so much completely dangerous, but a list of books that have been considered dangerous at some time or another. Whether or not they're dangerous now is not the issue, the issue is the history of ideas that may have been considered dangerous at some point.

If you can find any particularly good examples of literature that has both been called dangerous and has some literary implications for the world since, I suggest you add them to this list, which is far from complete. Remember, it's not about whether YOU think an idea is dangerous, it's about books that have been challenged as dangerous at some point in history.




message 4: by John (last edited Aug 16, 2009 02:25PM) (new)

John Burns Surely these parameters account for 99% of classic novels ever published?

Nearly every good book ever published for example has been banned in one american school or another because of the perceived affect it will have on the students...


message 5: by Greyweather (last edited Aug 16, 2009 07:04PM) (new)

Greyweather Killthepopular wrote: "Surely these parameters account for 99% of classic novels ever published?"

Not to mention:
Every religious text, book about religion, book about atheism, or philosophy book
Every science book
Every history book
Every book of political science or political theory
Every book on psychology or sociology
Every book about about race, gender, sexual orientation (or hell, sex of any kind)
And the list just goes on and on...


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