Celebrate Freedom to Read Week With These Free Books on Legible
by Marci Rae Johnson
It’s Freedom to Read Week in Canada, which is an “annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” So what better way to celebrate your reading freedom than by reading some historically banned books for FREE on Legible? That’s right, FREE! And these books are often assigned as required reading in high school English classes, so yes, there will be a quiz.
Often criticized for using language that we consider very offensive today, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain remains simultaneously a very popular book and an often banned one. Our reviewer of the book states that “while ink is still spilled even today over whether the book is a racist or antiracist text, Twain makes it clear that Jim’s situation is one in which he is powerless over the machinations of the white people around him, and he draws clear parallels between Jim’s situation as a Black man in the South and Huck’s as a child of poverty and little education.” Read the full review here, and then get your free copy of the book on Legible.
Historically banned for its use of obscenity, I think many people instead would love to ban Ulysses because of how notoriously difficult it is to read! As a young English major, I got myself an old, hardback copy with the intention of trying it out at some point (since I loved other books by James Joyce), but my beagle, Higgins, got to the book before I did and “read” it with his teeth. This is his review: grr rrrrrr grrgrrrrrr grrrr. Take it from Higgins, it’s worth at least poking around in, even if you don’t want to read the whole thing. So hey, don’t spend any money on it; instead get your copy free from Legible!
This book of poetry by Walt Whitman has also been criticized in the past for being “obscene” (also “shocking,” “too sensual,” and “trashy). So basically, the 19th century’s version of a steamy romance novel. But like many writers who were ahead of their time, Whitman was just misunderstood by his own era. We know now that free verse poetry isn’t scandalous (nor is poetry that’s a little on the sensual side), and the book is considered a classic today, as well as a very early example of the modern poetry movement. Get it for free on Legible!
