LibGuides: Banned Books: Classic Banned Books

Modern Library's 100 Best Novels

Books On Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list available in COM Library that have been banned or challenged elsewhere.

Of the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels published since 1900 in the English language, 9 of the top 10 have been banned at some point and COM Library has all of them.

Find out the reasons for banning and get the call numbers from our library so you can locate the book in our library and read a banned book.

#1 Ulysses by James Joyce
Call Number: PR 6019.O9 U4 1992
Why: Obscenity. Not just banned, but burned in US, Canada, England and Ireland, even after critical acclaim.
#2 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Call Number: PS 3511.I9 G7 1992
Why: Language and sexual references in the book. Vulgarity/obscenity or sexually explicit.
#3 A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce
Call Number: PR 6019 O9 P6454 1998
Why: Banned under the US Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (AKA Comstock Law).
#4 LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
Call Number: PS3527.A15 L6 1992
Why: Obscenity, sexual content, perversion.
#5 BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
Call Number: PR6015.U9 B65 2004
Why: Obscenity, language, immoral, drug use.
#6 THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
Call Number: PS3511.A86 S7 1992
Why: Banned under the US Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (AKA Comstock Law).
#7 CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
Call Number: PS 3558 E476 C3 1995
Why: Obscenity, violence.
#10 THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
Call Number: PS 3537 .T3234 G8 2000
Why: Profanity, sexuality
#13 Nineteen eighty-four by George Orwell
Call Number: PR6029.R8 N49 1992
Why: Sexuality, political ideas
#18 Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Call Number: PS3572.O5 S6 1999
Why: sexually explicit, depraved, immoral, and anti-Christian.
#20 Native Son by Richard Wright
Call Number: PS 3545.R815 N25
Why: Sexually graphic and violent.
#31 Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell
Call Number: PR6029.R8 A63 2003
Why: political theories
#35 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Call Number: PS3511.A86 A85 2000
Why: profanity, sexuality, anti-Christian.
#39 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Call Number: PS3552.A45 G6 1963
Why: Violence, sexuality, profanity
#64 The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Call Number: Main Collection PS3537.A426 C3 1951
Why: Use of profanity
#74 A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Call Number: PS3515.E37 F3 1997
Why: Sexuality,
#96 Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Call Number: PS 3569.T9 S67 1998
Why: Sexual content

Classic Books

Classic books that have been banned or challenged elsewhere, available to read in COM Library.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Why: Racially offensive. Racism, insensitivity and offensive language--The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2002.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Why: profanity, sexual references, and materials deemed unsuitable for students.
The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
Call Number: PR6039.O32 F45 1994b
Why: Satanic
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Call Number: PS3515.E37 F6 1996
Why: Graphic violence
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Call Number: Leisure Collection (Shelved alphabetically by Author) Rowling
Why: Anti-christian, violence
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Call Number: PS3551.N464 Z466 2002
Why: Sexually explicit; doesn't represent traditional values. Sexual content, racism, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group. One of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2002.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Call Number: PS 3570 A48 J6 1989
Why: Conflicts with values of the community.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Call Number: PS 2384 .M6 2007
Why: Conflicts with values of the community.
Of Mice and Men (in Steinbeck Novels and stories, 1932-1937) by John Steinbeck
Call Number: PS 3537 T3234 A6 1994
Why: Racial/Ethnic, Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Language; Offensive Language, Profanity.
The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings
Call Number: PS 1868.A2 M87 2004
Why: Immoral; Conflicts with values of the community.
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Call Number: PS 3561 N68 S4 1996
Why: Graphic language
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Call Number: PS 3563 O8749 S6 1987
Why: Sexually explicit, degrading to blacks
Twelfth Night
Call Number: PR2837.A2 R28 2007
Why: Encourages homosexuality.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Why: Undermines religious beliefs.

Classic eBooks

These eBooks that have been banned or challenged elsewhere, are free for COM students, faculty and staff to download.

1984 by George Orwell
Why: Sexuality, political ideas
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Why: Racially offensive. Racism, insensitivity and offensive language--The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2002.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Why: political theories
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Why: profanity, sexual references, and materials deemed unsuitable for students.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Why: Obscenity, language, immoral, drug use.
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Why: Promotes Homosexuality
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Why: Sick
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Why: Violence, sexuality, profanity
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Why: Profanity, sexuality
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Why: Sexually explicit; doesn't represent traditional values. Sexual content, racism, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group. One of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2002.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Why: Conflicts with values of the community.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Why: profanity, racism, misogyny, portrayals of sexuality, use of racial slurs, and excessive violence
Golding received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Why: Satanic
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Why: Conflicts with values of the community.
Native Son by Richard Wright
Why: Sexually graphic and violent.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Why: Racial/Ethnic, Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Language; Offensive Language.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Why: Banned under the US Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (AKA Comstock Law).
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Why: Immoral; Conflicts with values of the community.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Why: sexually explicit, depraved, immoral, and anti-Christian.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Why: Sexually explicit, degrading to blacks
Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
Why: Banned under the US Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (AKA Comstock Law); smut
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Why: Banned under the US Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (AKA Comstock Law).
Ulysses by James Joyce
Why: Obscenity. Not just banned, but burned in US, Canada, England and Ireland, even after critical acclaim.