Should certain Books be banned?

In the USA, the First Amendment protects a person's freedom of speech and protects books from being censured. Most European Countries have similar laws. However, there are in fact some books that are illegal to sell, buy and own. Then there are those books - mostly very controversial ones - where people call for them to be banned. One example would be The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, which I am currently reading (Feb. 2024). The controversy around this novel caused me to dive into the subject of banning books.

 

What got me curious - The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell

To start off, I´d like to introduce this piece of fiction and its content. The lengthy novel (975 pages in my edition) was published in 2006 and immediately raised a heated debate about whether this is a book appropriate to print and distribute, which helped spread its popularity - it did become a bestseller. Quite a number of critics and other people have called for The Kindly Ones to be banned.

So, what is it about? At the centre of the story we find Dr Max Aue, a German Nazi moving within the Eastern front in 1941, in what is now Ukraine. So, we experience World War 2 through his eyes; it is his perspective, his background, his feelings we share - and his actions and that of his surrounding fellows we witness. Gruesome atrocities would be the suiting term. Aue manages and executes the killing of Jewish children and women, for instance. These events are described to a certain degree in detail and with not much of a comment or emotional touch by the author. It is a telling of facts, making the tone one of matter-of-factly. 

I guess this is one aspect, this cold way of describing the most inhuman deeds, that triggered the controversy. Plus, in addition to that, we see everything through the eyes of a Nazi, a perpetrator, not through the eyes of either a victim or a survivor as is the case on many other books on this subject. Some critiques have pointed out that this might have an intriguing effect, a dangerous effect on some readers, how some might develop a liking for the evil side, the story planting a bad seed into people's minds so to speak.

Additionally, some readers find it offensive that, as the story is told from the point of view of an SS officer, it occassionally seems to depict the perpetrators as the victims, as the ones who are forced to commit heinous crimes because of the orders and that they suffer psychologically from their own deeds.

My personal view on this particular book: I don't agree with those calling for a ban. The Kindly Ones is definitely not a glorification of the actions or of the ones taking those actions. I also don't think the Nazis are truly depicted as victims. I believe the term doesn't fit here. 

In general I do think it is important to see things through the eyes of a perpetrator because it helps understand how certain events and movements develop throughout history, how certain things come into being and thus, how people fall victim to such movements. Understanding the perpetrator includes, for me, understanding the side of the victim and, for the future, possibly preventing similar events from unfolding.

What books have been banned?

There are a number of books that have been banned. In the US. The Anarchist Cookbook, for instance. Why? It contains practical instruction to build bombs among other things. What is more, a lot of the instructions are faulty and have thereby in fact caused serious injuries. The author, William Powell, has deeply regretted publishing the book. As the rights have been sold to the publishing company, he has no way of keeping it from being printed in those countries where is legal to do so.

One of the most famous books to have been banned was Adolf Hitler's manuscript Mein Kampf. In Germany it is obtainable in a commented edition only, meaning Hitler's words are set into context, statements are corrected, and all in all the extensive notes counteract on the vile idealism of the Nazi's mind. But why has Mein Kampf been legalized? One argument has been that a book of this magnitude can wield more power being banned than not. So, to counteract on the secret glorification of this work as a kind of Nazi-Bible, it has been unbanned in the version with comments and correction.

What is my view on this? I agree on allowing an edited version of Hitler's book to be published. I do believe it counteracts the secret cultism that might otherwise evolve around it. 

And in general? In case of controversy or uncertainty, I'm usually in favor of freedom of speech and press and against censorship. With books like The Anarchist Cookbook, the issue however, is obvious: It has caused injuries and has a great potential to be used to kill or maim people. Plus: there is no cultural value in the book. It is simply a series of dangerous instructions. So, there is not much/ nothing lost by having and keeping it banned. In contrast to this, The Kindly Ones as well as Mein Kampf can be viewed as psychological, sociological, and historically important to understand the developments during the Nazi-Regime.