Call it sampling. Call it language hoarding. Call it appropriation or even plagiarism. Whatever you call it, it’s here to stay.
Check out this infographic of the top ten banned or challenged books of 2010. Click on one of the thirteen, color-coded reasons for ban or challenge—homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, offensive language, inaccurate, sex education, violence, insensitivity, drugs, sexism, racism, political viewpoint—to see which reasons apply to which titles.
And while you’re at it, spend some time with this flowchart. It organizes NPR’s list of 100 best fantasy and science fiction books in a way that helps readers find titles aligned to their tastes.
The future of books: a dystopian timeline.
Astronomers prove that Frankenstein was dreamed up on a moonlit night. “Mary Shelley wrote about moonlight shining through her window, and for 15 years I wondered if we could recreate that night,” says Prof Olson. “We did recreate it. We see no reason to doubt her account.”
Maybe you never got hooked on 24, because you didn’t understand the appeal of living in the same day week after week. But you could always read one of these ten books in a single day and avoid upsetting the time-space continuum.
“English majors once comprised 7.6% of undergraduates, but today the number has been nearly halved, down to 3.9%. Part of this decline is doubtless owing to the worry inspired in the young by a fragile economy. (The greatest rise is in business and economics majors.) Yet that is far from the whole story.” So what’s killing American lit?
As if you needed more statistics to obsess over.