My high school librarian told me not to read Slaughterhouse-Five and I wish I had listened sooner

Back in 1998 Mrs. Patterson pulled me aside when I checked out Vonnegut and said I was too young for it. I was 16 and thought she was just another book banner. Read it anyway that weekend and honestly it was fine but I think I would have gotten way more out of it if I waited a few years. She wasn't trying to censor me she was trying to time it right. Has anyone else had an adult steer you away from a banned book for good reasons instead of bad ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaretw4112d ago

Oh gosh yes, the same thing happened to me with Catch-22.

sarahh4812d ago

Same thing happened to me" is exactly what I was gonna say until I realized something. Nobody ever talks about how the joke of the book actually works against the reader's understanding. The whole "Catch-22" itself is supposed to be this impossible trap but the way its written makes you feel the same frustration as Yossarian. Like you're reading it going "wait that doesn't make sense" and thats the point. Most people just blame the confusing plot but I think its a deliberate trick to make you feel stuck too.