An Invitation To Join The U.L.S. — The Underground Library Society

I am again asking for those who would like to join the U.L.S.,the Underground Library Society, to join and write a guest post. I put this request out several times over the course of a year, because I hope to have more people join in the cause.

In an earlier First Year Class at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, The U.L.S. — The Underground Library Society — was created. It is in the spirit of the Book People from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In that novel, all books have been banned, and a few people “become” books by memorizing them, in the hope that, one day, books will be permitted to exist again.

I am again teaching the subject of banned books and censorship, and my students will take part in this organization, and I hope that many of you do also. My students will create posters about the book they choose, put them up at various places on campus, do a blog post on the project, memorize one paragraph form their chosen books, and then give a short presentation about the work at the end of the semester.

In that spirit, I am putting out the call once more for like-minded people to join The U.L.S. All that is needed is to choose a book you would memorize if the need ever arose. The type or genre of the chosen piece does not matter.  There is no restriction on what you would become. You do not, however, actually have to memorize  the book now. You do not need to create a poster, although if you do, I ask only that you use the logo of the U.L.S. on this page. If you wish to join, simply write a guest post in which you say what book you would “become” and why.

I hope many of you choose to join.

In the past, I have mentioned that I would become one of the following books: The Lord Of The Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, or Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

If you do wish to do a post, please email me at frenchc1955@yahoo.com  and write a guest post as a Word doc. Thank you.

Charles F. French

I am looking forward to hearing from new members!

Please, come and join in the fun!

A Second List of Banned and Challenged Books

This is my second list of banned and challenged books. As the leader of the ULS, the Underground Library Society, I will continue to offer theses notices.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence

Ulysses by James Joyce

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck

Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Keep defending books and reading!

The Underground Library Society

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Banned Books Week and The U.L.S.

Banned Books Week — 9/22/19–9/28/19

And

The ULS: The Underground Library Society

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In honor of Banned Books Week, I wanted to revisit this information. As the creator of the ULS, The Underground Library Society, and at the request of several followers, I have decided to put up lists of books that have been banned or challenged. If a book is challenged, that usually means there were people who wanted it removed from a school or library.  Both are forms of book censorship. It is important to note that I am not focusing only on books banned or challenged in the United States of America; unfortunately, censorship is a world wide action.

Here is my initial list of banned and challenged books:

The entire Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling;

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee;

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain;

Beloved by Toni Morrison;

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie;

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger;

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck;

All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque;

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown; and

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak.

I will add more lists of banned and challenged books in the future.

And to all of you interested in joining the U.L.S., the Underground Library Society, please send me an email with a word doc, and write about the book you would choose to save if we lived in a world in which books are illegal.   frenchc1955@yahoo.com