,

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

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,383,126 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.99 avg rating — 2,057,956 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.01 avg rating — 4,484,417 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.80 avg rating — 3,862,298 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.01 avg rating — 121,485 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.45 avg rating — 314,620 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,796,606 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.16 avg rating — 27,611 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.17 avg rating — 43,522 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.99 avg rating — 882,878 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,373,436 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,609,951 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.70 avg rating — 71,411 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.93 avg rating — 2,508,669 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.29 avg rating — 53,258 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.88 avg rating — 425,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.35 avg rating — 1,499,490 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.06 avg rating — 376,292 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.24 avg rating — 24,055 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.69 avg rating — 405,818 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.35 avg rating — 9,793,526 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.92 avg rating — 325,795 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.13 avg rating — 118,735 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.36 avg rating — 474,624 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.09 avg rating — 264,267 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.42 avg rating — 112 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.32 avg rating — 192 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.27 avg rating — 48 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.60 avg rating — 3,487 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.36 avg rating — 157,210 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.87 avg rating — 38,278 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.78 avg rating — 153,995 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,007,346 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.01 avg rating — 296,678 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.66 avg rating — 33,394 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.92 avg rating — 11,189 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.32 avg rating — 406,575 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.17 avg rating — 247,982 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.35 avg rating — 4,107,563 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.73 avg rating — 7,313 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.84 avg rating — 356 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.84 avg rating — 4,413 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.09 avg rating — 31,247 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.30 avg rating — 172 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.75 avg rating — 16 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.19 avg rating — 15,588 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.76 avg rating — 50 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.57 avg rating — 5,999 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.95 avg rating — 254,772 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.89 avg rating — 25,059 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.19 avg rating — 36 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.86 avg rating — 14 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.96 avg rating — 1,737,131 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.33 avg rating — 33 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.65 avg rating — 2,347 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.78 avg rating — 36 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.16 avg rating — 2,915 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,390,099 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.99 avg rating — 2,297 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.77 avg rating — 5,169 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.60 avg rating — 716 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.98 avg rating — 98 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.12 avg rating — 9,064 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.89 avg rating — 336,378 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.05 avg rating — 2,790 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.87 avg rating — 30,728 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.34 avg rating — 58 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.02 avg rating — 9,240 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,103 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.12 avg rating — 3,678,281 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.84 avg rating — 706,205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.83 avg rating — 279,164 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.97 avg rating — 171 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.13 avg rating — 90 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.81 avg rating — 1,430 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.98 avg rating — 15,960 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.51 avg rating — 118 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.96 avg rating — 322,870 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.14 avg rating — 117,893 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.13 avg rating — 7,772 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.05 avg rating — 9,307 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.86 avg rating — 703 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.23 avg rating — 1,793 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.02 avg rating — 2,694 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.03 avg rating — 461 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.59 avg rating — 17,694 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.36 avg rating — 5,609 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.77 avg rating — 12,307 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.20 avg rating — 245 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.09 avg rating — 3,868 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.80 avg rating — 991 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.46 avg rating — 2,816 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.38 avg rating — 260 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
167 books · 111 voters · list created August 15th, 2009 by Jacobmartin (votes) .
63 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Jacobmartin 134 books
51 friends
Holly 4105 books
11 friends
ღ Carol jinx~☆~☔ʚϊɞ 4162 books
463 friends
Steven 4277 books
2492 friends
Tara 2334 books
190 friends
Jenn 661 books
0 friends
Tim 504 books
7 friends
Casimir 311 books
32 friends

More voters…


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...


back to top