What's the most controversial book you have ever read?

Answer 1

Darwin's Origin of Species. It made people question religion, and changed the way everything was viewed in society, because society--and science--were based around religion. Darwin separated the two, and made people question everything.

Oh yeah... and the Bible. haha (Hey, everyone else beat me to it!)

Answer 2

Probably Da Vinci Code or any of the Dan Brown books (which I have read all of) for that matter Also the Harry Potter books which are pretty controversial, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, A Separate Piece, The Scarlet Letter, Of Mice and Men, Go Ask Alice, Flowers for Algemon, Macbeth, To Kill a Mockingbird, and A Day No Pigs Would Die. Books that I have read vast parts of that are controversial are The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, Darwin's Origin of Species, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

People find the weirdest reasons to ban books. Many of the ones I listed I read because they were controversial when I was in Jr. High and High School and I was having fun rebelling :)

Answer 3

I have read several controversial books...
The Bible
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
The Da Vinci Code and Angels& Demons by Dan Brown
Anthem and the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Answer 4

I agree that The DaVinci Code has to be the most controversial book I have read, because for some time Dan Brown was stating that there were facts, when at best there were fictional, myths. And Yes he did use actual fact woven into the story, (the templars, curious obsevations about art, and structures...).

Answer 5

I'd have to agree with most of the posters here that religious texts are probably the most controversial. but for the sake of arguement: "The Tin Drum" by Gunter Grass if only for its association with the movie. "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie as people have been killed for translating it.

Both are excellent, by the way. And, for people scared off by the title of the second one: it does deal with religion and the supernatural but is about an alternative version of the Koran, not the occult.

Answer 6

I'd like to be serious and leave the Bible out of this.

I am going to go with Raney. On the surface it may appear as odd that I would choose this book in particular. However, we read it in my 112 class a few years ago and created such heated debates!

Some others are of course, Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and the Feminine Mystique.

Answer 7

"Hell To Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton" by Barbara Olsen (she was the famous author killed on September 11th), and I'm currently working on The Bible— which is probably one of the most controversial books ever written.

Answer 8

Huckleberry Finn? Lady Chatterly's Lover?

Answer 9

I'd say these books could at least get people talking:
"The Wave" by Todd Strasser
"The War Between the Classes" by Gloria D. Miklowitz
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell
"1984" by George Orwell
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
"The Giver", "Gathering Blue", and "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
"Blubber", "Are You There God? It's me, Margaret", "Then Again, Maybe I Won't", and "Iggie's House" by Judy Blume
"Pranks", "Pageant", "Memoirs of a Bookbat", and "Blood Secret" by Kathryn Lasky

Answer 10

The Bible, because through its authors the existence of an omnipotent creator God is alluded to as constantly acting in human affairs and because it claims the lock on personal salvation through the death of God's Son, Who claimed He was "the way, the truth, and the life" and no one came to God His Father but through Him. I can understand that being controversial in this day and age; it was 2,000 years ago too.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Answer 11

The Green Mile by Stephen King.