D
1
c/banned-beyond-bordersharperwrightharperwright7d agoProlific Poster

Talking to my cousin in Singapore about a book I sent him

I mailed him a copy of a novel I loved, 'The Satanic Verses'. He called me last night and said he had to hide it because it's completely illegal there. He told me, 'If they find this, it's not just a fine, it's real trouble.' It hit different because we grew up sharing books. Makes you wonder how many stories just stop at a border. Anyone else had a simple gift turn into a weird lesson like that?
2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
2 Comments
shanel13
shanel137d ago
Does that make the postal worker the last person to read a banned book? They have to see it, judge it, and then decide to destroy it. That's a strange kind of power over a story.
6
taylor.jordan
Forget the border, that story stops at the mailbox. Makes you realize our postal systems are quietly enforcing these rules every single day, sorting what's allowed to arrive. We talk about banned books like they're locked in a vault somewhere, but they're often just intercepted in transit, vanished before they ever reach a shelf. It turns a simple act of sharing into a weird game of chance, where the penalty for losing is so serious.
-1