We all know the evils of censorship: not ALLOWING people to read the books of their own choice.
But have you ever owned a book that was so BAD that YOU didn't want to be responsible - in the slightest way - for it to fall into other hands? A book that you'd rather burn or rip to shreds than donate to a charity shop... or even risk somebody else' pulling it out of your rubbish bin?
"If people WANT to buy it, I'm certainly not going to stop them. But I'm not going to FACILITATE their reading such a load of:
crappy plot;
evil values;
godawful writing style;
(other)."
Please give examples and reasons. Be as nasty as you wish.
I'll start off with a non-fiction book: "Duérmete, Niño" ["Go To Sleep Child"] by Eduard Estivill and Sylvia de Bejarby.
This is a cruel piece of shit that assures new parents that the best for their child is to cry themselves to sleep until they get used to the idea that nobody's going to come comfort them. ("You've got to keep firm. If you give in once and pick up your crying child, you set the whole learning process back by weeks.") They reassure parents that it's healthier for children to rock themselves back and forth rhythmically, banging their heads against the wall or the bars of the crib, than to be "spoiled" by being cuddled past their official bedtime. They KNOW that they couldn't convince parents to try this method for their own convenience, so they tell them that it's better FOR THE CHILD!
I first read about this book in Carlos González' EXCELLENT "Bésame Mucho: Cómo Criar Tus Hijos Con Amor" ["Kiss Me!: How to Raise Your Children with Love"], the BEST book on child-rearing that I've ever read. I later found the Estivill/de Bejarby book in a 2nd-hand shop. It was quite cheap, so I bought it... in order to burn it.
Reason for burning: a book of pure EVIL!
WOW, Wilhelmina!
I actually asked Dr. González YEARS ago if he'd let me translate "Bésame Mucho" into English. (At the time, it had been translated into German, Portuguese and a 3rd language, possibly Italian.) I started the task without the guarantee of an English-language publisher wanting to bring it out, but it was SO good that I was sure that finding a publisher eager to accept it, once they saw the translation, wouldn't be too difficult.
Unfortunately (for me), I didn't own a computer at the time, so was working during stolen moments on others' machines (incl. public libraries'). By the time I'd finished the 2nd draught of the translation (the whole process took years, on and off), I saw that it had already been published in English - to ecstatic reception by "young mothers who fall in love with Dr. González" (according to The Guardian's review).
I'm sorry that I didn't get my name associated with this masterpiece, but am happy that it's now available to an English-reading public.
Slight digression from the topic, but here's why I wrote "WOW!": I, too, found a cheap 2nd-hand copy of "Duérmete, Niño" (in my case it was the Catalan edition, and falling apart) and bought it to keep it out of innocent hands. I didn't burn my copy. I still have it, for future "research" purposes. But I won't let ANYBODY else read it.
My theory is that once the González book came out, parents were in a hurry to throw out the earlier "Duérmete, Niño", relieved... and somewhat ashamed for having been duped.
I HAVE ripped apart some scumbag books for [deforming/stunting] children, but I (luckily?) forget the titles and authors' names.