Every September since 1982, the American reading public observes Banned Books Week. This year, as in years past, hundreds of libraries and bookstores across the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by hosting events and by creating displays of challenged works. The 2010 Banned Books Week runs September 25th through October 2nd.
Recently, I helped bring a once censored work back into print. The book is called The Diary of a Lost Girl. It's by a turn of the last century German writer named Margarete Böhme. Her book, a once controversial bestseller, had been out of print in the United States for more than 100 years.
What I did was to publish a reprint of the book’s original English-language translation. I also wrote a long introduction detailing the book’s rather remarkable history. As there is little in English about this once-controversial bestseller, my introduction breaks ground. More importantly, it gives voice once more to a story which critics had long tried to silence.
Though little known today, The Diary of a Lost Girl was nothing less than a literary phenomenon in the early years of the 20th century. The book tells the story of Thymian, a young woman forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution. If her story sounds a little familiar, it’s because Böhme’s book was the basis for the 1929 German movie of the same name. That silent film, still shown in theaters around the world, stars Louise Brooks.
The author of The Diary of a Lost Girl was a progressive minded writer who meant to expose the hypocrisy of society and the very un-Christian behavior of some of its leading members. She also meant to show-up the double standards by which women suffer. Böhme’s frank treatment of sexuality (by the standards of the day) only added fuel to the fire of outrage which greeted the book in some quarters.
The Diary of a Lost Girl is an unlikely work of social protest. First published in Germany in 1905 as Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, Böhme’s book proved an enduring work – at least for a while, and despite attacks by critics and social groups. In Germany, the same sorts of groups which objected to the book also objected to the two films made from it. The first, from 1918, is considered lost, but we know from articles of the time that it was forced from circulation by the German government. The second film, which starred Louise Brooks, has only come down in a heavily censored form.
As the 1929 censorship records show, various groups including a German morality association, a national organization for young women, a national organization of Protestant girl’s boarding schools, and even the governor in Lower Silesia all voiced their objections to the film. As with the book, these groups objected to specific scenes in Thymian’s story. Each found the overall work to be demoralizing.
By the end of the Twenties, The Diary of a Lost Girl had sold more than 1,200,000 copies – ranking it among the 15 bestselling German books of the time. Twenty five years after it was first published, Böhme's “terribly impressive book, full of accusations against society” was still considered a provocation. That’s why, just a very few years later, at the beginning of the Nazi era, conservative groups still unsettled by its damning indictment of society deliberately drove it out-of-print.
In 1988, after decades of obscurity, a facsimile of the special 1907 edition was published in Germany. It was followed in 1995 by a small paperback which featured Louise Brooks as Thymian on its cover. My illustrated reprint (picture above), also with Brooks on the cover and with some 40 pages of introductory and related material, appeared in late July.
On November 14th (Louise Brooks' birthday), I will speak about my new “Louise Brooks edition” of The Diary of a Lost Girl in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Public Library. Start time is 1 pm. My short talk (with a slide show) will be followed by a screening of the 1929 film. This event is free and open to the public. A booksigning will follow.
More info: The new “Louise Brooks edition” of The Diary of a Lost Girl is available from Lulu.com and amazon.com, as well as through select independent bookstores and the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York and the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, California.
Thomas Gladysz is a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, so much so that in 1995 he founded the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and fan club devoted to the silent film star. Gladysz has contributed to books on the actress, organized exhibits, appeared on television, and introduced her films around the country.
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