Sunday, October 05, 2008
Susan's Inside Writing: The Banned Book
I really shouldn't be surprised at the demand to find out what the banned book in the previous outtake was.
And okay, you caught me. There is a book in mind. The book that inspired this whole outtake, in fact.
I don't remember the entire story, as I've done my best to block out most of my high school years (despite running into a former classmate yesterday on her way to her wedding), but here's what I do recall:
It was senior year. One of the most popular teachers was the wrestling coach, who taught two classes for seniors: government, which was for the higher-thinking students, and survival skills, which was for the kids who weren't going to college. It was a class about how to get a car loan, how to manage a credit card... you know. Survival skills.
I took government and loved the teacher. Loved his style: energetic, demanding, and never ever humiliating. If you fell asleep in his class, he didn't make a big deal of it. He just handed you a detention slip on your way out the door. (although I remember him giving one to Gorgeous Jimmy during class. Woke the poor guy up, too, when that paper slid under his arm.)
So I took survival skills the next semester, even though it was "beneath" me, everyone said. Like learning how to be financially responsible is beneath ANYone? (Nope, not going to get all political here. Sorry.)
Anyway, it was this teacher who told me that our school district had banned ONE book in district history. ONE. And he had a copy of it. If I didn't tell anyone, he'd slip it to me and let me read it on the QT, at home. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone where I'd gotten it, how I'd heard of it, or anything.
I should feel bad about breaking this confidence, but it's been almost 20 years. (Yep, I'm that old) It's also something I've -- clearly -- never forgotten. The whole experience had this much impact on me. It's one of my few good memories of high school.
The book was Johnny Got His Gun. Here's how Powells.com describes it:
Let me tell you, if I hadn't been anti-war before reading this book, there's no way you can put it down and still be anti-war. It WAS disturbing, and that was the reason it had been banned (I believe that the school actually used to teach it, which is something I think SHOULD be done with controversial books. Informed minds and all...). It was also excruciating to read. I mean, there's little dialogue 'cause the main character has no face. There's no action 'cause the guy can't exactly walk around with no legs.
This story doesn't end here, though. You music fans may recognize the book title. It inspired a rather famous song (and a band's first music video, which set the entire world of videos on its ear and ushered in the Golden Era of Hetfield.). Yup, around the time I was reading Johnny Got His Gun, so were a couple of guys who played in a band you might have heard of: Metallica. The song? One.
You know, I've never been able to listen to One comfortably. It brings back memories of sitting on my mom's couch with that book, thinking all these angry thoughts about how stupid war is, and how powerless I was to change the world and get rid of war. It brings back memories of that excruciating reading experience.
Hard as it was, it changed me.
And for that, I'd like to thank that wrestling coach-cum-teacher.
And okay, you caught me. There is a book in mind. The book that inspired this whole outtake, in fact.
I don't remember the entire story, as I've done my best to block out most of my high school years (despite running into a former classmate yesterday on her way to her wedding), but here's what I do recall:
It was senior year. One of the most popular teachers was the wrestling coach, who taught two classes for seniors: government, which was for the higher-thinking students, and survival skills, which was for the kids who weren't going to college. It was a class about how to get a car loan, how to manage a credit card... you know. Survival skills.
I took government and loved the teacher. Loved his style: energetic, demanding, and never ever humiliating. If you fell asleep in his class, he didn't make a big deal of it. He just handed you a detention slip on your way out the door. (although I remember him giving one to Gorgeous Jimmy during class. Woke the poor guy up, too, when that paper slid under his arm.)
So I took survival skills the next semester, even though it was "beneath" me, everyone said. Like learning how to be financially responsible is beneath ANYone? (Nope, not going to get all political here. Sorry.)
Anyway, it was this teacher who told me that our school district had banned ONE book in district history. ONE. And he had a copy of it. If I didn't tell anyone, he'd slip it to me and let me read it on the QT, at home. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone where I'd gotten it, how I'd heard of it, or anything.
I should feel bad about breaking this confidence, but it's been almost 20 years. (Yep, I'm that old) It's also something I've -- clearly -- never forgotten. The whole experience had this much impact on me. It's one of my few good memories of high school.
The book was Johnny Got His Gun. Here's how Powells.com describes it:
Johnny Got His Gun holds a place as one of the classic antiwar novels. First published in 1939, Dalton Trumbo's story of a young American soldier terribly maimed in World War I — he "survives" armless, legless, and faceless, but with mind intact — was an immediate bestseller. This fiercely moving novel was a rallying point for many Americans who came of age during World War II, and it became perhaps the most popular novel of protest during the Vietnam era.
Let me tell you, if I hadn't been anti-war before reading this book, there's no way you can put it down and still be anti-war. It WAS disturbing, and that was the reason it had been banned (I believe that the school actually used to teach it, which is something I think SHOULD be done with controversial books. Informed minds and all...). It was also excruciating to read. I mean, there's little dialogue 'cause the main character has no face. There's no action 'cause the guy can't exactly walk around with no legs.
This story doesn't end here, though. You music fans may recognize the book title. It inspired a rather famous song (and a band's first music video, which set the entire world of videos on its ear and ushered in the Golden Era of Hetfield.). Yup, around the time I was reading Johnny Got His Gun, so were a couple of guys who played in a band you might have heard of: Metallica. The song? One.
You know, I've never been able to listen to One comfortably. It brings back memories of sitting on my mom's couch with that book, thinking all these angry thoughts about how stupid war is, and how powerless I was to change the world and get rid of war. It brings back memories of that excruciating reading experience.
Hard as it was, it changed me.
And for that, I'd like to thank that wrestling coach-cum-teacher.
Labels: Banned books, Johnny Got His Gun, Metallica, Susan's Inside Writing
