This Compendium was exciting to get and to read. The classics that are included are not what I am reviewing. Those stories stand on their own. What this book gives the reader is that reasons for each book to be on the banned books list. While I did not know some of the stories or many of the reasons for the books to be banned, I found the few paragraphs explaining each books ban description quite informative. It is, to me, very interesting what the reasons are.
It is also kind of nice to have so many classics in one place.
This book was received in exchange for an honest review, thank you LibraryThing. ( )

"The banned books compendium" disappointed me, because I'm trying to understand why they were banned? The reasons, dates, are not mentioned. It is simply a volume that has brought together 32 books from the past, which have entered the public domain!

It's a shame, because I would have liked to learn more about these old books, why were they vilified?? The reason for their censorship? ( )

The good news: this compendium contains 32 book, most of which are classics and all of which are public domain. If it’s been a while since you read these books, or if you haven’t read them at all, this is your chance.

The bad news: this compendium is over 8,000 pages long! Although I won a free copy the author intends to sell it for $2.99, according to the introduction. This is a cheap way to make money, as all the books are public domain.

Furthermore, the author put minimal work into the book. Instead of compiling these works from Project Gutenberg, the author should have made this a literary criticism or analysis on why each book has been banned or censored. Start with a summary of the work, including the authors life and historical context, the cite specific examples of the censorship and passages to support the censorship. Finally, make the argument against said censorship. ( )

We are currently living in an environment of suspicion and paranoia which evokes the historical times when freedom of speech, expression, and action were under attack. Curtailing these freedoms are the domain of ignorance and fear by those who don't recognize the rights of others and seek to control the narrative. This is a dangerous trend and should be exposed and resisted to retain the gains the society has made both to keep our democracy vibrant and to allow voices of different members of the society to be heard. This vibrancy is important for our future. I had previously read some of the books represented in this compendium but others were new to me. I would have hoped the coverage extended to some contemporary collections which represent newer trends in our society. On the whole, the introductions and material is appreciated and I hope help us resist the minority who wish to silence new ideas and actions.
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This compendium is of great value with both contemporary and historical context in mind. With some of these stories already in paperform on my shelves both read or planning to read what intrigued me was the added introductions to each of the books and I'm looking forward to add context to books I've already read, or will read. Within the coming months I will greatly enjoy taking pokes at reading this compendium either as a main source of these books or as added information to some of my paperbacks that are within this resource. ( )