Forget Fifty Shades - The books so bad they were banned

As the final installment of the Fifty Shades trilogy leave cinemas jam-packed with people desperate to witness the semi-BDSM bedroom encounters created by E.L. James, it’s safe to say that erotica has gone mainstream. But there are still stories out there for those of you keen on something slightly raunchier. we've put together a list of tales so controversial and naughty that reading them became illegal.

Story of the Eye by George Batailles (1928)

This French novella tells the story of the increasingly bizarre sexual perversions of a pair of teenage lovers. Try to see if you can get through the 120 pages. We dare you.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

Praised and chastised in equal measure, Lolita is one of the most censored books in the world. The controversial novel tells the story of an intellectual and pedophile who sets his sights on a 12-year-old girl.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (1928)

Lawrence’s sexually explicit tale of Lady Chatterley’s adulterous behaviour has left little to the imagination of its readers since it came out.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934)

The city of love is far from romantic in Miller’s book, banned in the US for 27 years for its description of seedy sex in Paris’ underworld. As the author himself said: “One can’t get bored with sex, but one can get bored with making such a tremendous issue about it.”

Fanny Hill by John Cleland (1748)

Also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, Cleland’s book is considered the first original English prose pornography. And who wouldn’t want to say they’ve read that?

#Lolita #BraveNewworld #bannedbooks #BDSM