Literary Mood Disorder and the Power of Words

a post by Betsy Schow

My mom used to say, "Need a vacation, read a book."

Books have the awesome power to allow readers to escape their lives and step into a new world.

Recently, I've figured out it goes even further than that. My name is Betsy and I have LMD, Literary Mood Disorder.

Whenever I read (or now write for that matter) I am completely immersed into the emotions of the book. A few nights ago, I was really weepy and couldn't figure out why. It's because I was reading a particularly sad book and couldn't shake the emotion even when I'd closed the cover.

Thus I realized I am a total sheep, and should have figured this out years ago. In fact, I bet I was such a moody teenager thanks to the mass quantities of V.C Andrews I read.

Or maybe another road sign was when my husband started buying me romance novels around year 7 in our marriage. (first child was born shortly thereafter)

You are what you eat. Well, you are what you read and write too. Books inspire, lighten, frighten, and sink.

My first three published and in the process of being published books were lighter in tone and nature. Lots of laughs, some snark, and a little bit heart tugging on the side.

The two I'm working on now might just suck my soul through a straw. They are both a lot darker than I am usually, but tackle subjects that I had something to say about. Redemption and choice for the first, and cyber bullying and suicide on the second. So for the last six months I have been the most anti-social, down in the dumps creature to grace a keyboard. My poor, poor family. Hopefully it will be worth it when I come out the other end having grown as a writer and a person.

So to anyone who has ever said, "Oh, it's no big deal. I don't care what my kids read, they're just books after all and not real" -- I attack you with bookmarks and hope those papercuts sting.

We need to watch what we let our children read. We need to watch what we read, keeping in mind how books are changing us. I am not advocating we only read Happy Fluffy Bunny books or keep our kids away from getting a glimpse of the sometimes sad and harsh realities of the world. But never forget that books and words have power.

To change a family

To change the course of a nation

To change the soul

In either direction

"Banned" Books and "Clean" Media

This week is Banned Books Week. The entire blogosphere is alight with posts about the benefits of reading banned books, posts about how we shouldn't ban books, posts about the First Amendment (sorry, non-US readers, I don't know what clause this falls under for you), posts about how lives have been changed by reading a book that was on a banned list.

As members of the LDS church, we strive to seek out uplifting media. The church officially gave one hard-and-fast rule in the nineties, that members should avoid viewing R-rated movies, which quickly became obsolete. The standards for MPAA ratings shifted, and as LDS.org says, relying on the MPAA to regulate the content of your media is like "playing Russian roulette with your standards."

So now the official standard is to find media (in all its forms) that is "uplifting... wholesome... [and] promotes good thoughts."

Which means there's no longer a hard-and-fast rule. Which means you need to think for yourself. Which means you need to let others do the same. What uplifts you may not do the same for another, and vice versa.

So how does this relate to Banned Books Week?

Most books, as I'm sure you've guessed, are banned because of parental requests through schools. But that's not always the case. Books can be pulled from store shelves due to customer complaint and library shelves due to patron complaints.

The most common reasons books are banned are (1) sexually explicit - though this often includes sexual themes, not sexual acts* (2) profane language, (3) unsuited for the age group - this is the catch-all, "I can't put my finger on why, but I just don't want my kid reading it", (4) Satanism - any magic gets this label, including Harry Potter and Narnia, (5) violence, (6) religious viewpoint.

Religious. Viewpoint.

Over the last ten years, 291 titles have been banned (most of them are banned broadly and repeatedly, resulting in thousands of petitions) in schools for having a religious theme. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series was often banned for being too violent and sexually charged, until book three came out and Edward announced he was a virgin and wanted to remain so until marriage. Then the book was challenged for having a religious viewpoint.

Parents all over the United States are successfully having books removed for having a religious viewpoint. This includes the Bible. Religious texts of any kind are not allowed in school or public libraries. Searching my (extensive) public library for "Book of Mormon" brings up a slew of anti-Mormon hate-books and the Broadway musical soundtrack.

Let's think about that: We, collectively as a nation, are more okay with anti-religious hate than we are with Christ's message of love and forgiveness. Look back to the reasons books are banned. We are more okay with violence than we are with sex, even if it is consensual, non-graphic sex.

Looking at a list of the most popular banned books of all time (compiling sales with successful bans over the entire twentieth century), The Bible tops the list. Virtually every classic work of literature makes the list. Les Miserables is a powerful metaphor of God's redeeming love and the juxtaposition of mercy and justice. But it features an unwed mother who turns to prostitution to survive, so it gets banned. Canterbury Tales, The Scarlet Letter, Oliver Twist, Sherlock Holmes (it teaches kids to lie and spy!), and The Diary of Anne Frank are all on the list.

Sorry, 13 year old girl, your thoughts are inappropriate for teenagers.

While those books contain some content that some people might find objectionable (particularly if taken out of context), I argue that those titles all fall under the category of "wholesome" and "uplifting." Les Miserables stands, in my opinion, as one of the most beautiful works of literature to preach the Gospel of Christ without actually being a religious text. Here on MMW, just last week, we had a post recommending The Hunger Games as being "squeaky clean." The series tops the list of books banned in 2010 and 2011**. Parents cited them as being anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitive, and being full of offensive language, occult/satanic themes, and violence.  (Looking at that list makes me believe the people requesting and approving the ban have not, in fact, read the books)

Here's the TL;DR version: If one woman who is seeking out clean, uplifting, wholesome media sees The Hunger Games  as filling that role, what right do you have to prevent her from reading it? What right do you have to demand the book be taken from shelves across libraries and stores? Control what happens in your own home. Make suggestions. Ask for alternate assignments for your children if you need to.

Don't ban books.

*For the purpose of this post, and because of logic, I grouped the bans based on "homosexuality" with "sexual content," though homosexuality is usually listed as its own category. 

** Books are usually only banned when they're popular. Book banners apparently have short attention spans and forget about those evil books once they're not on the bestseller lists anymore.