I’ll go with the low-hanging fruit: Mein Kampf. I’ve read it, cover to cover. As a piece of propaganda, it’s good. As an example of good writing? Absolutely not (though I will admit I have only read it in translation). Oh, and the whole fascist, racist, and generally shitty worldview of the author that he infuses into the text. And the fact that the author is literally Hitler. You 5-star that book? You’re a Nazi. Period. And as a Jewish person, I don’t look too kindly on them.
Introduction to Dianetics
Yeah, they don’t give you the 5/5 books until you’ve given them hundreds of thousands of dollars
You are awesome.
LMAO. I came into this thread prepared to say “none” because I enjoy arguing, but, uh, yeah. This one.
I googled it and got only the explanation that it’s a self help book on mental health. Am I missing something?
Just wikipedia dianetics to see why:
“Dianetics is a set of pseudoscientific ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body created by science fiction writer and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.”
“Though it is presented as a form of psychological treatment, Dianetics and its core concepts have been rejected by psychologists and other scientists from the outset and are not supported by credible evidence.”
It basically says if you follow Scientology (and spend thousands on thousands of dollars to follow their emotional “auditing” process), you can cure the ills of your life, including things like blindness, heart disease, etc. 🙄
I tried reading this once years ago as I was curious about why people got into scientology. I found this book lying around somewhere. I rarely do not finish a book I started, but this one I could only get part way through. It was just awful pseudo science and seemed to be condescending toward the reader in many ways. At least that is what I remember.
Yes, and that’s exactly what they want
(It’s the book of scientology that gets people sucked in before they realise they’re in a life destroying cult)
Oh, good to know
Battlefield Earth, on the other hand… >!/s!<
My copy from 1983 says it was soon to be made into a Motion Picture. I wish they had waited another 20 years to make it.
Was a better, more poignant story than Flowers for Algernon. That’s for damn sure.
Y’know, I don’t hate Battlefield Earth. It’s actually pretty entertaining as trash pulp scifi goes. It just goes on for SO LONG.
Probably the only book I support burning.
My grandma has the Dianetics book. Apparently she was involved with Scientology for a while? Sadly, no one ever told me the truth (one of those things that when asked about, everyone changes topics) and sadly she now resides in a jar, the only way of asking her directly is through a oujia board.
My stepmom discovered my stepsister was reading that book secretly so she hunted through the whole house and binned it after it was found.
Thumbs up to your stepmom! Children are often interested in banned books. Some can be good some not.
If a child is already interested in a banned book, trying to forcibly take it away isn’t a good way to convince them the ideas in it are wrong.
censorship? nice
I’d definitely prefer Mein Kampf over Dianetic.
Or…just Dianetics.
I was actually recruited by them when I was 20, really needed a job. My friend and mentor Shannon hart Cleary was like “I don’t want you doing that you can live at my house”. Still owe her for that save
I only view Mein Kampf as a good book because it teaches us what to look out for so we can stop the holocaust from happening again
I went to the vet because my cat was acting erratic. They gave me this book and told me to read it as it had life tips to help with the cats mental health and calmness. I never binned a book so fast after googling wth it was.