Top 7 Most Controversial Books in the World

As Oscar Wilde’s saying goes “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Several books in this world became popular even after getting banned and rejected several times. Either it is for the politics for people, or the moral perversity the books disclosed. In this article, we are going to read about the top 7 most controversial books in the world.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita is a controversial book for all understandable reasons. It is an immaculate masterpiece of lust, delusion, and obsession. Humbert is a romantic, aesthete, and scholar. He has fallen in love with his landlady’s silky-skinned twelve.-year-old daughter, Lolita. To be close to her, he reluctantly agrees to marry Mrs. Haze. When Lolita starts searching for attention elsewhere, he takes her on a desperate adventure in the name of Love.

Lajja by Taslima Nasrin

“A state with a national religion can easily become a religious state.” Banned by the Bangladesh government, Lajja by Taslima Nasrin is a sharp response to anti-Hindu riots that explodes in Bangladesh after the annihilation of Babri Masjid in 1992 India. The book follows the Dutta family consisting of Sudhamoy, Kironmoyee, and their two children, Suranjan and Maya. They have lived in Bangladesh their entire life. Despite being Hindu in a Muslim-majority country, they refused to leave Bangladesh since their friends and family are here. Soon enough, the nightmare of the uprising would arrive at their doorstep and things will fall apart.

Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

Often considered the Nazi Bible, Mein Kampf by Hitler describes his life, ideas, dreams, and frustrations. He talked and discussed his sentiments against the Jewish people and communism in Mein Kampf. This is referred to as the blueprint of Hitler’s military and political campaign. In this document, he also elaborates his strategy for reconstructing Germany and conquering Europe. It is however a fascinating read because it is written by a mind who completely destabilized world peace and practiced genocide, now known as the Holocaust.

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs’s Naked Lunch is amazing in a grotesque, sick, creative, hilarious, outlandish, drug-filled, and brave kind of way. Very clearly this book is a symbol of the brain of the dark, twisted, and dark addicted, but also the genius William Burroughs. This type of book stretches our limitations and helps us to be more aware and further our empathy about certain sicknesses that we are not familiar with. The narration of junkie William Lee takes on various aliases, from the U.S. to Mexico, finally to Tangier and the dreamlike Interzone.  

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

One of the vastly creative and imaginative books by Salman Rushdie is The Satanic Verses. One winter’s morning, a hijacked jetliner detonates above the English Channel. Through the falling wreckage two figures, the biggest star in India Gibreel Farishta, and an émigré Saladin Chamcha returning from their first visit to Bombay after 15 years. They crash down from the sky, washing up on the snow-covered sands, and continue through a series of dreams, exposures, and metamorphoses.

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

“Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.” The influence of The Communist Manifesto is still prevailing. It is an incisive account of the viewpoint of Engels and Marx developed during their hectic political collaboration. They believed that labor creates wealth; hence capitalism is adversative and authoritarian to freedom.

The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger

J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is a classic in the genre of coming-of-age literature. It deals with innocence, identity, loss, connection, belonging, alienation, and angst of teenage years. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of this novel has become an emblem of teenage rebellion. A 16-year-old boy from NY, very different from kids of his age, Holden has several similarities with Salinger himself. He avoided phony people his entire life. Caulfield tends to drift away from all the pretense and fake and is a teller of what is original and real in this world. Joyce Maynard, Salinger’s ex-lover, once stated that “The only person who might ever have played Holden Caulfield would have been J. D. Salinger.”

Also Read: Top 7 Most Controversial Books in the World