Banned Books Club discussion

I'm currently reading The Bastard of Istanbul and last night I got to the chapter that takes place in Cafe Kundera (or maybe it's called Kundera Cafe -- I don't have the book here with me!!!!)

This was probably the first of many chapters that will take place in this cafe, which, by the way, is in Istanbul, and throughout most of the chapter the customers are discussing many different theories as to how and/or why the cafe is named after Milan Kundera. It's actually a very funny chapter (the book itself is pretty funny, in an ironic sort of way.)

I don't know if there really is a Cafe Kundera in Istanbul, or if it's a product of the author's imagination (I meant to look it up online), BUT, reading this made me realize that I have not seen or heard Milan Kundera's name in a very long time.

SO, I looked him up here on Goodreads to see if he's written anything recently, and I discovered that all of his books were banned from Chechoslovakia, his native country, until the downfall of the government in 1989. I guess this means we can read any of his books prior to 1989 here in this group! That would be great -- I'd love to read one (or more) of his books with this group!!

Are there any Kundera fans here????

Hello ladies :)
Barbara, you might know that The Bastards of Istanbul was a banned book itself in Turkey due to its incommoding subject of Armenian genocide :) And btw, how do you like Elif Shafak?

Regarding Kundera, he is among my favorite writers...and yes, most of his books were banned in Czechoslovakia. I read last years his collection of essays, "Encounters", and I understand what Satia means. This book is indeed auto referential (but not only, since we can find in it original insights in other famous writings by Rushdie, Pamuk etc). Otherwise, I think, most of his novels are a social manifesto, a daring and impertinent critique of the communist regime in his native country. He represents the voice of intellectuals, who, by laugh and irony highlight the grotesque absurd of the political system. In the same time a kind of bitterness pervades his writings. It is, like in Herta Müller's case, the regret of the émigré who has to give up, to forget his intimate biography, which does not mean too much in a free world (like France, in his case). I warmly recommend "The book of Laughter and Forgetting", "The unbearable lightness of being", "The Joke", "Life is Elsewhere".
If you would like, I will try to come next month with a list of European authors (but not only) whose books were banned for political reasons.

Anda wrote: "Hello ladies :)
Barbara, you might know that The Bastards of Istanbul was a banned book itself in Turkey due to its incommoding subject of Armenian genocide :) And btw, how do you like Elif Shafak?..."

I Anda! I'm REALLY enjoying The Bastard of Istanbul and I'm finding Elif Shafak to be an extremely intelligent, interesting, clever and humorous writer. Have you read The Bastard of Istanbul and/or any other books by Elif Shafak? If so, please let me know which other books you would recommend, because I really do think the writing is very good.

Yes, I did read somewhere that there were some issues with the book, but I did not realize it was banned in Turkey.

I've never read any of Kundera's books, and I have no idea why I haven't because he was so popular for a while (although I have not heard anything about him in a long time.) I believe he's still alive, but has any of his work been published recently? (I looked it up online, and it seems as though his last book came out in the 90's, unless I missed something.)

Anda, since he's one of your favorite writers, which one do you recommend I read first?

Satia, I agree -- it would be great to include more books outside of the American banned list. I've been a "slacker" on my work with our bookshelf (but my life should slow down a bit.... just a bit, in mid-October, and I hope to get back to categorizing the books at that point.) However, if I recall correctly, I believe there are some good books on our shelves that were banned in other countries, but not banned in America. I'm quite sure Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses is on our bookshelf, although I've heard that some of his other books are much better than Satanic Verses. (He's another author I have not yet read!! You know, I really need to stop letting "life" get in the way of my reading!!!) LOL!!!

CORRECTION FROM MY PREVIOUS POST -- I just looked at our bookshelf and I was wrong about Salman Rushdie. I was sure I saw The Satanic Verses on our shelf, but it turns out that there aren't any Salmon Rushdie books on our shelves.

But I did notice The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By by Carol S. Pearson on our shelf. I don't remember much about this book (I believe I read it quite a while ago) but I can't imagine why it would be banned or challenged.

Satia, do you know why (or if) The Hero Within was banned??? I don't remember anything about the book that would offend any person or group of people, but hey, you never know!!!

Barbara, I read recently "Forty rules of love" by Elif Shafak and, as I wrote in the review, the booked intrigued me a lot. The subject was really interesting (the spiritual encounter between the Muslim poet Rumi and the Persian Sufi Dervish, Shams of Tabriz), but the way in which Shafak approached and wrote this book disappointed me; commercial, cheap, even vulgar …totally inadequate with the subject! Before reading this, I had heard only good things about her previous best seller, “The Bastard of Istanbul”. And I have actually a copy of this book …and now I do not know whether to read it or not. I need perhaps a boost :)

Regarding Milan Kundera, my recommendation goes to "The unbearable lightness of being", which defines very well Kundera’s style, themes and motives. But my favourite is anyway, "The book of Laughter and Forgetting". And yes, Kundera is still alive and “The Encoutner” (which I mentioned before) was published in 2009.

I made a short list with few banned authors and books (I can come tomorrow with). Shall I update the bookshelf with them, or just to list them into a post? And what we do with authors, such Kundera or Herta Müller who did not have a specific book banned, but they were completely banned in their native countries? It is also Nabokov’s case in Soviet Rusia.

As I promised yesterday, I come with a short list with books that were or still are banned, mostly from political reasons in different countries. I looked also on our bookshelf and I have seen that they are not listed there. I don't know how the protocol of enlisting books on the shelf is, so I choose to name them here, and if you agree upon them, we can move them later to the shelf (I didn't check if I can edit myself the shelf?!).

So, my list is:

Ismail Kadare – The Palace of Dreams– banned in Albania due to political reasons; allegory against regime

Ismail Kadare - The Monster – censored

Witold Gombrowicz – Ferdydurke, banned as scandalous by Nazis, Stalinists and Polish communist regime, as all his other novels.

Céline – Journey to the End of the Night, banned in Iran as harmful (the author is however still banned in France for other novels, considered antismetic)

Azar Nafisi – Reading Lolita in Tehran, banned in Iran

Marjan Satrapi – The Complete Persepolis, banned in Iran

Gabriel Garcia Marques – One Hundred Years of Solitude, banned in some USA schools

Gabriel Garcia Marques - Memories of My Melancholy Whores, banned in Iran

Carlos Fuente – Aura, banned in Puerto Rico due to the alleged use of lewd language.

Nadine Gordimer – Burger's Daughter and July's People – banned in South Africa for going against the government's racial policies

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn – The First Circle, banned in USSR for negative portrayal of Stalin

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956, for criticism against the image of Soviet life

Allen Ginsberg – Howl, was banned in USA for obscenity

Jung Chan – Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, banned in China

Milan Kundera – The Unbearable Lightness of Being, banned in Czechoslovakia, like all his book written after his moving to France

Mikail Bulgakov – The Master and Margarita, banned in USSR until 1973.

Sadeq Hedayat – The Blind Owl, banned in Iran (along with all his other books)

Juan Goytisolo - Marks of Identity (1966), Count Julian (1970) and Juan the Landless(1975). Like all his works, they were banned in Spain until after Franco's death.

Herta Müller – Nadirs, censored in Romania; the author was banned after she left the country.

Elif Shafak - The Bastard of Istanbul.

Moreover, I would like to mention Nabokov whose writtings were banned in Soviet Rusia until 1986.

Hi Anda,

This is a fantastic list!!! Thank you!!! There are many books on this list that I would love to read. I tried reading Celine's Journey to the End of the Night around ten years ago, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

WOW -- with all of these books and the books already on the shelf, it looks as though 2012 is going to be a year filled with some great books here in this group, along with fantastic discussions!!

I am really happy you like my list(some of the authors are very dear to me) and I am looking forward to read and discuss together with you some of the books.