This was the theme that appeared the most frequently in statements about challenged books (31 percent, 15 statements), though it was less popular among the unchallenged (18 percent, 44 statements). As aesthetic value is subjective, a strong correspondence emerged between the inspirational statements and the challenges on this theme: A major focus of censorship attempts is the denial of a work’s overall literary merit. While the contributor above perceived “byzantine virtuosity,” Ulysses—whose 1933 case established the “defense of literary merit against charges of obscenity”—has been called “unmitigated filth and obscenity,” “the supreme example of high-brow pornography,” “literary jazz for ‘sophisticated half-morons,’” and “unintelligible.”46
Emotional Response to Book
Statements with this theme discussed their contributors’ emotional responses to the experience of reading itself—of being stirred by great literature or excited by a brilliant adventure.
I do recall as if it were yesterday feverishly turning pages [of Richard Halliburton’s Complete Book of Marvels] in insatiable excitement. (BTI IV)
[Where the Red Fern Grows] brought tears to my eyes and true sadness to my heart. (BTI V)
This theme also appeared more frequently in statements referring to challenged books (19 percent, 9 statements) than unchallenged (12 percent, 29 statements). The challenges frequently evinced this theme (if anything, more strongly than the BTI statements did), as many of them expressed emotional reactions such as disgust, annoyance, or outrage at the books they protested. While the BTI contributor wrote that “The Poetry of Edna Saint Vincent Millay has brightened my life for many years. The closing lines of her poems can bring tears to my eyes or a smile to my heart” (BTI V), Millay was among a list of writers dismissed as “ridiculous, nonsense and a waste of time.”47
Canonical Value of Book
Some statements stressed the importance of their books, mentioning their canonical value or fame. Many of these statements cited their books’ historical significance or prizes and accolades received.
[One Hundred Years of Solitude is] one of the most popular and critically acclaimed novels of the past half century … García Márquez received OU’s Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1972 before winning the Nobel Prize in 1982. (BTI II)*
Gift from the Sea spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and 47 weeks as the best selling book of the nation in 1955. (BTI III)
This theme occurred at a higher rate in statements referring to challenged books (17 percent, 8 statements) than in those referring to unchallenged books (4 percent, 9 statements), perhaps simply because better-known books are more likely to attract challenge attempts than more obscure ones. Correspondence between challenges and BTI statements on this theme occurred when challengers disputed the judgments of the critics and experts who praised them. For instance, One Hundred Years of Solitude has been derided as “garbage being passed off as literature.”48
Inspired Further Reading
Many contributors praised books that inspired their readers to read more, either by creating a passion for a particular topic or by being the one special book that created a lifelong love of reading.
Since [reading The Labyrinth of Solitude] that day in 1971, I have never stopped reading the language I learned to love that summer in Mexico over thirty years ago. (BTI II)
I once thought our “war between the states” was 200 years old and boring. Then I read the late Bruce Catton’s Reflections on the Civil War. Now my Civil War library numbers more than 100 titles. One might say that I was inspired. (BTI III)
Statements that refer to challenged books included this theme at a much higher rate (19 percent, 9 statements) than unchallenged (4 percent, 11 statements). There was no direct correspondence between this inspirational theme and the grounds for the challenges to these books—challengers opposed particular books but rarely argued that people should not read in general.
Revisitable
Finally, many statements specifically mentioned that these were books that could be read repeatedly because they continued to yield new meaning or provide fresh emotional value with each new encounter.
Every couple of years I pick up [A Tale of Two Cities] again—and can’t put it down, having yet to get to the bottom of it. (BTI III)*
I read Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz in high school. Since then it has traveled with me through twelve different apartments in five different cities and two continents. (BTI III)
As with all the themes in this category, a greater percentage of statements that referred to challenged books (15 percent, 7 statements) incorporated this theme than did unchallenged books’ statements (9 percent, 23 statements). Few of the challenges corresponded directly to this theme (except perhaps by implication—challengers who did not want a book read in the first place presumably would not want it read again). However, A Tale of Two Cities is an example of a shared perception of a book that affects the contributor and challenger in exactly opposite ways. The contributor revels in the complexity of the work, which invites the reader to return: “This book is at once a challenge and a joy to read, but also deep and obscure. Every couple of years I pick up the book again—and can’t put it down, having yet to get to the bottom of it. I look forward to a quiet time to give this book the attention it deserves” (BTI III). The challenger (a parent on behalf of a child) viewed the complexity as a discouraging factor: “Too difficult for low groups.”49