Given that the Puritans and prudes are trying ban any book that has offended at least one person, this Bowdler’s Day is definitely a time to reflect on “what the hell are we doing?” Have we gone mad? It has been a while since I have read Fahrenheit 451, but I am betting there are passages in it that would have the namby pambies burning it today. It was banned in apartheid South Africa and many United States schools back in 1954. Just to name one banned book that is now considered iconic. I wrote about this extensively in Banned Books, Burned Books.
“Bowdler’s Day is celebrated on July 11, the birthday of the physician and philanthropist who published a censored edition of Shakespeare’s works, Thomas Bowdler. Depending on whom you ask, Bowdler is either a prude or a genius. During his career, he heavily edited Shakespeare’s famous works to make them more family-friendly. He regularly censored violence and intimacy from literature, so that they could be read by more people. These versions were also cheaper than the original editions. Bowdler’s Day is celebrated by students, readers, and anti-censorship activists.”
The above is from website National Today. To read more about Bowdler’s Day just click More on Bowdler’s Day
And so it should not go.
