Since this is Banned Books Week in many places, I thought I would bring up a book that was once 'removed' from the reading list of some Canadian schools and is now considered a Canadian classic - The Diviners, by Margaret Laurence.
I read this book not long after it was first published (1974). I remember being enthralled by the book and drawn into Morag's world. Life in the prairies was so different from my experience in the big city that it truly was like travelling to another world. I can remember being astounded when I first heard that there was a burning controversy over this book, that it was considered amoral, blasphemous and I don't remember what all else. Not appropriate for Grade 13 students (who were probably doing a lot worse things than Morag)! All this uproar for a (sordid ?!?!) sex scene and a few swear words?
After reading the Diviners I wanted to read more Margaret Laurence books and proceeded to read the other books about the fictional town of Manawaka. Laurence's books gave me an appreciation of strong, not perfect female characters. They also made me interested in other Canadian writers like Alice Munro, W. O. Mitchell, Margaret Atwood, and Gabrielle Roy to name a few.
Here are two links about The Diviners and Margaret Laurence :
The first is a clip from CBC about The Diviners and the controversy:
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/arts-entertainment/literature/margaret-laurence-canadas-divine-writer/laurences-books-banned.html
The second is an article titled "The Censorship of Margaret Laurence's The Diviner's, 1976 - 1985,written by Sheila Turcon of McMaster University.
Don't forget to read the comments after the article.
http://hpcanpub.mcmaster.ca/case-study/censorship-margaret-laurence-s-diviners-1976-1985
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