Are there any books now banned from publication?

[samuel23]

The last book that I can recall being banned was 'spycatcher' and even that had some copies published before it was withdrawn.
Apart from the obvious such as paedophilia, and terroist manuals for bomb making etc are there any books not these days deemed suitable to be published?

[luckyeight]

Spycatcher wasn't prevented from being published, it was prohibited from being sold commercially, which is why the first copies had to be given away with �15 chewing gum!

[fairkatrina]

Paedophilia is a perfectly acceptable subject of a book - think of Nabokov's 'Lolita' (1950s) or Mann's 'Death in Venice' (1930s or 40s) which are both considered high-brow classics. A subject is only banned if it is a specific 'manual' so a handbook of home bomb making would be illegal, but a book in which a character makes a bomb at home (even with precise instructions) would be acceptable (think of all Fleming's 'James Bond' books, especially 'Moonraker' which tells you how to create rocket fuel or high explosives from hydrogen peroxide...that thing you buy at the chemist to dye your hair).

[samuel23]

luckyeight, fairkatrina, thanks for your replies. I was rather thinking along the lines of a modern day style 'lady chatterley's lover' which was the subject of the now legendary obscenity trial. Once it was banned but is now available. Also , is it, for instance, illegal to own a copy of Salman Rushdie's satanic verses in Iran, or a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf in Russia?
Books that incite racial hatred, are graphic or explict, and cover subjects that are deemed illegal, such as drug peddling, terrorism or crime in a story format, I know, are widely available. What I was trying to ascertain was are there any publications that are not permissable to buy, own, publish etc ~ such as the possesion of a bible in an extreme Islamic state? I'm not holding that up as an example, but asking if there are still books around the world that are illegal to own.

[Ctrak]

I think most obscenity laws work around the idea that something is obscene if it has a tendency to "deprave or corrupt". But it's very difficult to determine how any piece of work does this...even if there are precise instructions on terrorism and/or paedophilia, is the author well researched or encouraging such behaviour? You can never really tell.

[fitdave]

The original Noddy books are no longer for sale, and I believe have had to be edited/rewritten, as they have racial implications regarding his friend 'golly'.

[luckyeight]

See what you mean samuel23... There were a lot books at the beginning of this century that had to undergo 'obscenity trials' which banned their publication, like Lady Chatterley's lover as you say. Think in the UK we probably have some of the most liberal publishing laws now.. I know in the States customs officials regularly ban the import of books with gay and lesbian interest, (on the grounds of obscenity) and indeed there must be books banned in less liberal, extremist states.