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[berno]

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

[gekko]

Most works by Sade, notably Justine and 120 Days of Sodom. A film version of the latter set in fascist Italy titled Salo is still banned in some countries, as would likely be the case with any moderately accurate adaptation.

[european]

Our Dean told us an anecdote of his times as a student once - apparently, he had been in class, and the professor had asked 'Who of you finished 120 Days of Sodom?', upon which he was the only one to raise his hand. The professor just shaked his head, answering 'No, you didn't.' With a painful face, our now-dean acknowledged that, yes, in fact, he hád finished it completely. The professor's eyes sort of bulged at that point.

[gekko]

Justine is probably a better intro due to length and the fact that it contains a bit more of the gallows humor that I find attractive in Sade. Despite the violence and pornography, some of his elaborate scenes and philosophical dialog are hilarious.

[historybuff]

This list is really surprising. James and the giant peach, really?

[katyam]

Ulysses. Ah never mind; personal preference....

[mooseinakilt]

The joke is on those who ban books, statistically speaking. Once a book is banned, it becomes outlandishly popular overnight. Honestly, I think banning has been a wonderful tool to get teenagers to read. They want nothing to do with the book until someone says they can't have it.

[creativeintelligence]

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
The Goosebumps Series by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Earth's Children Series by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Blubber by Judy Blume
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

That's nearly the exact same list I would recommend for k-12 students.  Every living human needs to read Brave New World.  Why did BNW make the cut, but Animal Farm escaped unbanned?  Harry Potter?  Harry Potter makes 12-year-old kids read, there is no better book series for children.  Goosebumps are, largely, rip offs of old short stories (Usually from Galaxy magazine), but at least kids read them.

[stanwyck]

Not sure about Animal Farm, but I know that there's a debate going in the Seattle school district about Brave New World right now.  The Seattle P-I ran a summary of the argument.  I haven't read the book since high school, so I'd forgotten about the depiction of Indians as primitive savages.

[gmhopkins]

Authoritarians and Bible-thumpers and assorted stupid people dislike JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH.  They think it gives children the wrong idea about adults (who in their view are always to be obeyed without question, and honored).

[cgfunmathguy]

Authoritarians and Bible-thumpers and assorted stupid people dislike JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH.  They think it gives children the wrong idea about adults (who in their view are always to be obeyed without question, and honored).

Hmmm. That's interesting. It was one of the first books my (Bible-thumping, Jesus-freak) sister bought for her daughter.

[gmhopkins]

Uh-oh.  Hit a nerve.  Sorry to have offended you and yours, funmathguy. Bible-thumping Jesus-freaks usually have a few good qualities once you get past the smell of stupid.

[fizmath]

Uh-oh.  Hit a nerve.  Sorry to have offended you and yours, funmathguy. Bible-thumping Jesus-freaks usually have a few good qualities once you get past the smell of stupid.

Your moniker comes from a a poet who was a Catholic priest.  What gives?

[cgfunmathguy]

Uh-oh.  Hit a nerve.  Sorry to have offended you and yours, funmathguy. Bible-thumping Jesus-freaks usually have a few good qualities once you get past the smell of stupid.

Did I mention that she has her PhD? What offends me--and this is true about people at both ends of the spectrum--is when people make generalizations based on what are mostly "convenience samples". The amazing thing to me is how often it happens on a forum that is supposed to be populated by (mostly) academics.

[parispundit]

Since when does having a Ph.D. exclude stupidity? I've had plenty of dumb colleagues. Haven't you? There are lots of idiot savants out there.

But of course bible-thumping jesus freaks are not all stupids. To suggest they are would be like suggesting all commies were dummies. Fanaticism does not exclude stupidity, alas. Must be a consequence of original sin.