Micro Review 20 (2025) and some related thoughts

 

That Librarian by Amanda Jones (Bloomsbury USA)

I've always been interesting in the concept of book banning as it is a phenomenon I didn't come across very often as a child/teenager. I was very lucky to have parents who let me read whatever I wanted and when a librarian (shall we say) questioned one of my choices my dad insisted I be allowed to borrow it.

When I was working on events within the library service we would try to tie in with the ALA Banned Books Week to highlight the books that had been challenged and we did also try to hold events around the issue.

I'm lucky that at present the book banning movement hasn't got too much traction in the UK but after reading about the challenges that Amanda Jones had faced (and is continuing to face) on social media and in the news I was very keen to read her book about the issue.

I read it several months ago now, and have been trying hard to process everything and to also to work out how to talk about it sanely and without descending in to a full on rant.

Yesterday changed that with the news that a county council in the UK has started to remove books that they don't thing are appropriate after complaints from just one customer. And just as in Jones' case the person removing the book isn't even from the district where the book was seen...

There is more to the story than the headline as the book in question was never catalogued as a children's book and it wasn't on display in a children's section (shelves in the adult area of the library can be multi-coloured too you know!) but the posturing and celebrating of this book removal is vile and definitely the thin edge of of the wedge.

All I can say is read up about book banning in America and especially about the struggles that Jones has faced - really rub salt in the wound and borrow her book from the library! And above all when you see stories like this protest however you can.

My dad was posting Pastor Niemoller's poem a lot yesterday and he's right - if we don't protest these small acts where will it go, and who will stand up for freedom?

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Theatrical Interlude 22

The Color Purple, Chocolate Menier Theatre, London. August 2013.

Every year at the library where I work we run promotions to tie in with Norfolk's Black History Month and the ALA Banned Books Week.  In 2013 we are linking the two promotions and focusing on two books that are important for both - The Color Purple by Alice Walker and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

After the initial planning meeting I was pleasantly surprised to find that my hobby and my job had once more coincided and that in the summer of 2013 both books would be adapted for the London stage.  I didn't manage to see the version of To Kill a Mockingbird at the open air theatre in Regents Park but four of us travelled to London to catch a performance of The Color Purple.

I haven't yet re-read the book ready for our events in October and I could only remember the bare minimum of the plot in advance but I think that this was ideal as I then wasn't suffering from 'adaptation-itis' and wincing at changes from the original. This was echoed by my companions who all agreed that it felt 'right'.

This was a musical version and while very occasionally I found the music a little too loud for the venue and was unable to hear the singing but overall I was swept away from the instant the cast appeared on stage.  The Menier Chocolate Theatre is a pretty small and intimate place and thanks to the staging I felt that I was almost part of the cast - this was helped by actors leaving the stage and shaking hands with the audience in the opening number.

The Color Purple deals with some very heavy issues - rape, racism and abuse to name a few - but the genius of this production is that none of these themes is either over written or dealt with flippantly. As in life there are moments of humour even in the bleakest scenes.  Being a musical the tone so easily could be 'off' and the poignancy of the story lost but that doesn't happen at all. There pretty much wasn't a dry eye in the house as Celie sang the penultimate song 'I'm Here.'

The staging was very simple for the play, a huge thrust stage with chairs hanging on the wall. These chairs were used as seating, as props, for dancing on and for creating height on stage. There were no stagehands and these chairs were moved and used by all of the cast so smoothly that they were almost like another person on the stage. The lack of interruptions for scene shifting kept me thoroughly engaged in the play and constantly marvelling about the talent of the actors.

Apart from the very occasional moment when the orchestra drowned out the singing this was one of the best things I've seen at the theatre all year.  Much of the cast played more than one role but I really have to single out Sophia Nomvete playing Sofia and Cynthia Erivo who played Celie.  Erivo manages to convey a scared, pregnant teenager, downtrodden wife and also a woman of her own means just by changing her posture. Her voice is no less impressive!

I came out of this play wishing I could go straight back in and I am now hoping for a transfer to the West End so that I can see it again and talk everyone I know into coming with me.

The cast towards the end of the play, Celie is in the white blouse and Sofia in the green trousers.

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it - attributed to Voltaire.

Banned Book Week 2010

I've been working on a big project for work just recently. The last week in September is the ALA's Banned Book Week and this year Norfolk Libraries are taking part.

The library where I work is planning a discussion evening and to prepare I am reading lots of books that have been banned as well as lots of reference books about censorship.

It is a really interesting project to work on and my eyes have been opened to a lot of things - including just how much censorship has taken place in this country in the not too distant past.

I don't know if I am too liberal but so far while I haven't liked some of the books we've read there is nothing I'd want to ban or restrict. Just because I don't like something, or find something uncomfortable to read it doesn't mean that I don't think anyone else should read it, it just means that it wasn't my cup of tea.

I'm not even sure where I stand on books like The Satanic Verses. OK I don't think that people should go out of their way to insult other races/creeds/religions etc but at the same time if you know you are going to be offended you don't have to read it and for most views it is possible to find another book proposing the other side of the story...

This whole project is stirring up a lot of thoughts and emotions in me, and one of the things that it has really done is to make me want to study seriously again.

If anyone is interested the discussion evening is going to be on Tuesday 5th October at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library. We will spend a little time talking about the ALA, Banned Books Week, Censorship in the UK and Norfolk and how we buy books for the Norfolk Library Service and then we shall move on to discussing ten books that have been banned or challenged around the world.

The ten books are:

Alice in Wonderland
James and the Giant Peach
Lady Chatterley's Lover
Tropic of Cancer
Fahrenheit 451
Beloved
To Kill a Mockingbird
Not Without My Daughter
Nineteen Minutes
The Da Vinci Code