Campus Journals Hold Banned Books Reading

The Harvard Advocate and other campus publications held a banned books reading last night at Lamont Library in response to the recent uproar over Salman Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses.

"The reading was catalyzed by Rushdie, although he is not the focus of the evening," said reading organizer Kenji Yoshino '91, a Pegasus of the Advocate, which sponsored the reading.

More than 20 students attended the event, at which members of campus publications, including The Crimson and The Harvard Perspective, read selections from various books that had been banned at the time of their publication.

The books ranged from political propaganda like Mein Kampf to children's literature like A Wrinkle in Time.

"The purpose of the event was to have the presses and organizations of Harvard reaffirm their belief in freedom of speech," Yoshino said.

Yoshino said that Advocate member Adam M. Lifshey '91 suggested the idea of the banned books reading soon after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini banned Rushdie's book in February and set a price on the author's head.

Some of the readers said they were concerned that more people did not attend. But Yoshino said, "I don't think that that has anything to do with what we're doing here."

The books that were read from had been banned for a wide range of reasons. Among the books was J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, which was banned for obscene language as late as 1986.

Another novel featured at the reading, D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow, had been banned for explicit bedroom scenes.

Other books that were read from had been banned for political reasons. Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, endorsed anti-Semitism and was outlawed in Palestine and Czechoslovakia.

And when Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time first appeared, libraries removed it from their shelves because it they said it mentioned witches and ghosts, which were thought to be unfit topics for children.

Advocate President Mallay B. Charters '90 said that she thought the reading was successful despite the low turnout. "I thought it was wonderfully interesting," she said.