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Show Boole faces ban at VHS Parent: 'Outright attempt at censorship ' By BRYAN GRAY Special Features Writer BOUNTIFUL An award-winning award-winning author who wrote a book-length book-length essay espousing morality in literature is under scrutiny at Viewmont High School, where a parent group is demanding that his most famous novel be banished from the school curriculum. In response, other parents are petitioning the Davis County School District to keep the book. One BYU -educated woman contacted con-tacted the Clippermd said, "It's an outright attempt at censorship. That book is no more lewd than the Old Testament.' The novel Grendel, noted as one of the ten best books of 1971 by Time and Newsweek, came under fire earlier this month when a Bountiful Boun-tiful mother complained that her (laughter was offended by the book's subject matter. Later, the woman and other parents created a 1 'fact list' ' containing selected passages from the novel, and the list has since been circulated in church meetings at several LDS wards. "I'm quite surprised that the book is stirring such a reaction," said Peter Giacoma, director of the Davis County Library. "We have never received any complaints about the book and my own recollection is that it was highly- r tirDTTi regarded and quite well-written. Viewmont principal Paul Waite acknowledged that the novel has been taught to most senior students at the school for four years. "Some 2,000 students have read the book and this is the first complaint com-plaint that has been directed to my office or the school district," he said. "We certainly welcome parental concerns, however, and we have no problem with members of our community questioning any part of our curriculum. The book is currently being reviewed according to district procedure under the SEE BOOK ON A-2 Old English legend, good finally prevails over evil as the monster is slain by Beowulf, a kindly Christian soldier. The novel received rave reviews . when it was first published, and the author, John Gardner, later received the prestigious fiction award from the National Book Critics Association. Associa-tion. The author, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1982, was " acclaimed by both the literary and popular press. Books & Bookmen called the novel "a magnificent ex- pression of extraordinary beauty," Time noted "Gardner shines with ' talent, and the New Republic said, r "The prose is regaL" Gardner later wrote an essay, ! "On Moral Fiction,' in which he noted, "Art must be uplifting, in- spiral ion al and celebratory. Nothing 3 could be more obvious than that ar-" ar-" tistic works should be moral, affir- ? ming and clarifying the Good, the s True and the Beautiful." While library director Giacoma z said Gardner's works are s "sophisticated and very cerebral, one Viewmont teacher said the 1 novel has met with generally enthusiastic en-thusiastic response from students. "I get a better response on tests concerning Grendel than most any other novel I teach,' said Warren n Hatch. "It's a novel that makes students think. Grendel is not easy reading.' n Book CONTINUED FROM A-l guidelines of the National Council of Teachers of English. ' ' The guidelines entail a review by the school's English faculty and, if requested, a subsequent review by a ' school district committee comprised compris-ed of six educators and five parents. Since the school committee met last week and continued its approval of the novel, the decision will now shift to the district review board, according to language arts supervisor super-visor Don Lochhead. "A decision will be made in the next several weeks," said Lochhead. "The report from that committee will then be forwarded, to the district superintendent." None of the teachers serving on the committee, he said, are employed at Viewmont High School. While the controversy at Viewmont View-mont has sparked the interest of several media outlets including the Associated Press, the parents opposing oppos-ing the novel have requested anonymity ano-nymity and been unwilling to speak to news reporters. When contacted by the Davis County Clipper at her home Thursday, Thurs-day, the woman who first complained com-plained to school officials refused to answer questions about her specific concerns. "We don't want any publicity, we just want the book out of the schools, said her husband. "All I can tell you is that there are many people who are against this type of filth." But another Viewmont-area mother who supports the book said the novel is "harmless and praised prais-ed the "sensitive teaching of it by the school's faculty." "These people have never actually actu-ally seen how the book is discussed in the classroom,' said the woman in a telephone call to the Clipper. "I spent Some time listening to the classroom discussion and I was absolutely ab-solutely inspired. It was one of the most uplifting experiences of my life. For self-appointed censors to take a few paragraphs out of context is a remarkable example of sheer ignorance. ' Complaints about the novel, which has also been taught to students at Davis High and Bountiful Boun-tiful High, revolve around incidents of swearing, violence and several references to the human anatomy. The novel is a contemporary retelling retell-ing of the Eighth Century Beowulf legend expressed in the viewpoint of the monster, Grendel As in the |