Tucson USD bans Shaekespeare's Tempest, Chicano Studies books

[Wait Wut]

96. You just reminded me...

...I went to a public school (a very liberal one) and I had read Dante's Inferno on my own time. Because of the intensity of the book, I asked my English Literature teacher if she could either require or suggest it so that we could discuss it during class. She was fascinated by the idea, but it had to be approved by the board. It was turned down because of religious references (duh...it's about friggin' hell). I was terribly disappointed, as was my teacher. A couple of the board members did send me notes admiring my curiosity and taste in literature and apologized for their decision. One had forwarded a list of other books that I might appreciate. From your posts, it sounds like you and I would agree that the board's decision was incorrect. That was 30 years ago and I'm still miffed.

The reason I suggested Inferno to an English Lit. teacher was for the same reason I mentioned in my previous post. The author of the translation that I had read suggested reading other translations for a more thorough understanding of Dante's work. While that suggests he wasn't terribly confident in his translation, I think it was more his opinion that older texts, such as the Bible and Inferno, are open to different interpretations.