Rome's list of prohibited books

Discussion in 'The Commons' started by bwallac2335, Dec 31, 2020.

  1. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    I was looking into this. It used to be counted a sin to read a book that was on the list of prohibited books. For some reason I find this to be a really stupid and silly idea. It is almost like they wanted their people to be blind and ignorant.
     
  2. Rexlion

    Rexlion Well-Known Member

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    Almost? :rolleyes:
     
  3. Moses

    Moses Member

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    Wikipedia's got the list: List of authors and works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum - Wikipedia

    Judging by this, here's all the thoughtcrime I've read:
    - Leviathan by Hobbes
    - Paradise Lost by John Milton
    - Candide by Voltaire
    - Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant. Or at least, I attempted it.
    - The Count of Monte Christo and The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. And I watched the Nutcracker although I've never read it.

    I also have a very old copy of Le Livre de Mon Ami by Anatole France, but my French isn't good enough to get through it yet. And now that I know Casanova wrote his memoirs, I intend to read them at some point.

    I'll bet the Index inadvertently turned the Pope into a phenomenal book salesman.
     
  4. Chartreux

    Chartreux Member

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    Why Paradise Lost?
     
  5. Empty

    Empty Member

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    An ignorant population is easier to control/rule. An educated populace might wonder how "God's" Church came to amass tremendous wealth, build a papal palace, coverup sin rather than root it out, etc etc.
     
  6. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    I thoroughly enjoyed that book when I had to read it in college.
     
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  7. Tiffy

    Tiffy Well-Known Member

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    Has or does any other religious denomination besides Roman Catholicism have or has had, a list of forbidden books I wonder?

    If so I would be interested to know what is on their list. It would reveal a lot about the spirit of that particular religious denomination I think.
    .
     
  8. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    As far as I know only Rome
     
  9. Chartreux

    Chartreux Member

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    I asked about Paradise Lost because it's often misinterpreted as a pro-Satan narrative when it's actually a Christian take of the Greek genre where the protagonist is also the villain and source of his own problems. I read Cheri by Colette which was also on the list of banned books at one time and while not perfect, it actually has some redeeming qualities to it that teach about the problems of the things that make it so controversial.
     
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  10. Moses

    Moses Member

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    Looking at what's actually on the index, compared to the plethora of books not on the index, I don't think it was leaving anybody wallowing in ignorance. While I'm not sure about all the choices, some of them definitely make sense. You'd hardly expect a faithful Roman Catholic to dabble in John Calvin or the Marquis de Sade.

    I'm much more surprised by how many things I expected to see on the list, but didn't. Martin Luther, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and so many others.


    It's one of the funniest books I've read.
     
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  11. Chartreux

    Chartreux Member

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    The Marquis de Sade was truly the Count Dracula or Freddy Kreuger of erotica if there ever was one. At first, I found it really strange that he would show up (alongside the Wolfman and the Phantom of the Opera) in the horror film Waxwork, but when I found out who he was, it made sense, sort of. Colette's books were nothing more than well-written smut save for Cheri and it's sequel The Last of Cheri, but I might give some credit to Gigi. I really think it was reflective of how she wished she had lived her life towards her dying days. She was a true deviant, and no less so than Oscar Wilde, who was still capable of writing some literary masterpieces amidst a life of debauchery. She was denied Catholic funeral rites due to her divorces and obvious perversity. In Gigi, I seem to recall a scene where the aunt of Gigi has a devotional and a rosary lying on her bed while she is coaching Gigi to be a courtesan. I suspect this kind of double-life hypocrisy was common in France at that time (people being bad Catholics and all).