The 7 Most Controversial Books of all Time

 This World Book Day, Improfane India explores the 7 most controversial books of all time.

They say that a pen is mightier than a sword, this statement is supported by some books that have created quite some waves in the world.

7. Lolita

This novel by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabakov was written in 1955, It sent some ripples down the world for its highly controversial subject-Pedophilia. The story revolves around a middle-aged literature professor who was sexually obsessed with a 12-year old girl who went by the name Dolores Haze. ‘Lolita’ was the pseudonym used by him to refer to Dolores. He later goes on to become her step-father and becomes sexually involved with her. 

This controversial book was also adapted into a film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962. Lolita was also later regarded as an erotic novel by some critics.

6. The Anarchist Cookbook

It’d be a surprise if this book wasn’t controversial. Published in 1971 and written by William Powell, this book contained explicit instructions for manufacturing explosives. Yes! You heard that right, this book actually provided the steps to create bombs!

Along with explosives, it also gave instructions to create rudimentary telecommunication phreaking devices and similar weapons. It also provided methods for the home manufacture of illicit drugs.

It was written in the Counterculture era to protest against the US’ involvement in the Vietnam War. 

It is interesting to note that Powell later went on to try and stop the circulation of the book in which process he failed miserably.

5. The 48 Laws of Power

The 48 Laws of Power is a non-fiction book published in 1998 by Robert Greene, an American author. This book has multiple chapters on manipulation and how to gain a ‘cult-like following’. It is also noted that this book is banned in prisons in many places as it promotes and idealizes manipulation. It is also considered controversial as it reveals the dark side of human nature.

4. The Catcher in the Rye

This novel by J.D. Salinger was originally intended to be targeting adults but is often read by adolescents for its relevance in the teenage world. The novel’s protagonist, Holden Caulfield is an interesting figure who has been a fictional role model for teenage rebellion. Some sources say it was banned and censored and criticized multiple times for its use of profanity alone. There are also multiple instances of prostitution and premarital sex that are mentioned in this critically acclaimed novel.

3. The Devil’s Bible

Codex Gigas is regarded as the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world. Its length is a whopping 92 cm! It also weighs nearly 200 pounds and is believed by some to be written by a single person! But this is not the cause of its controversial image. What added to its weirdness is a very unusual full-page portrait of the Devil, and the legend surrounding its creation. There is also a conspiracy that the medieval people believed the author of this book, a monk, had sold his soul to the Devil himself. Now we at Improfane are logicians, but what are your thoughts on this? Comment down below.

2. The da Vinci Code

This 2003 mystery novel by Dan Brown had many elements that made it a recipe for disaster. The plot includes Robert Langdon, a symbologist, and Sophie Neveu, a cryptologist who tries to uncover a murder of an affluent museum curator. The controversial elements in this include the battle between the non-fictitious Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic sect

 And The Priory of Sion, a fraternal organization founded in Paris. It also includes a conspiracy theory that Jesus Christ had a child together with Mary Magdalene, a theory that the Vatican has ignored and the Catholic community has largely turned away from deeming it as false.

This book was also adapted into a film by Director Ron Howard starring Tom Hanks, many countries including Lebanon, The Philippines, and 7 Indian states banned the screening of this film as it was considered offensive to Christians.

1. Satanic Verses

This novel by Salman Rushdie is unsurprisingly the most controversial book on our list. First published in 1988, this book was inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. The title, Satanic verses referred to a group of Quranic verses that refer to three Pagan Meccan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat. This was clearly a huge no for Muslims as Islam was a monotheistic religion. They blamed the book on grounds of blasphemy and ridiculing their faith. This global outrage resulted in the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issuing a Fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death. Several assassination attempts on Rushdie took place but failed. The UK government offered police protection to Rushdie who was unscathed by this global outrage by Muslim Radicals. This book was banned in India as it was regarded as hate speech directed towards Muslims.

Blog by Ron Savio

Improfane India