Books Too Dangerous to Read
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- čas přidán 1. 05. 2024
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Fiction is full of deadly, cursed tomes, but what about real life? Can a book ever actually hurt you?
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Hi! Love your videos!
Thanks for the second warning at 7:12 - but it's actually referring to the incorrect timestamp to skip to: it reads 7:37 but probably should be 8:37.
I'm certain that the anarchists cookbook is left on amazon so they have a digital record of who bought it when. Just a guess though.
I thought it was going to include Liz Truss' latest book...😊
You said, "leather bound" like it isn't human skin. 😂
Any book can kill you if you're unlucky enough
Me: goes to old library
Book that hasn't been opened in 30 years: Curse of black mold!
True
You’re*
Bonk. D:
@@GIBBO4182 fixed it
What do you call an evil book that tries to eat you?
A Necro-nomnomnom-icon.
There actually is a cookbook with (almost) that name.
@@Zandaarl The necronomnomnom
@Zandaarl Link plz?
@@dubuyajay9964 look up the necronomnomnom
@@dubuyajay9964 google?
2 ways a book can kill you:
1) the knowledge in it being a cogito hazard
2) by moving fast enough.
Some commenters also mantioned that if said book is particularly old, it can contain dangerous amount of Arsenic or black mold. I would also mantion that it can be so dusty that it can trigger asthma attack in some people
Or, rather, by moving fast enough then suddenly stopping on you
Well said 😂
@@pedroff_1 Not just speed but also weight. I have no fear of a dime store paperback. But a medieval tome as big of a person? I probably won't be taking it off the shelf without wearing a helmet.
@@nabra97yeah, see option 1.)
the mold and arsenic is the real eldritch secrets of the book!
The Necromicon just sounds like the Terraria Wiki, "Contains knowledge of Eldritch Entities, How to beat them and how to summon them".
YESSSS
It basically is actually.
Thats a perfect description of the book, an Eldrich wikipedia.
People just go straight to summoning without bothering to read about beating
the title means “dead name book” or maybe “book of dead names”
@@JStainto If you look at the end of the book you will see a list of citations and chain links with the name of the respective source.
"This Book Will Kill You"
And that is why kids the Librarian is an Orangutan.
Terry Pratchett?
@@hiya-de5hd Hell yeah
Hahaha.... Love that reference!
Ook!
Some errant magic transformed him, and he has passionately resisted any attempt to change him back.
Can't say I blame him.
The turner diary ban and the anarchist cookbook lack of ban in Canada makes for an interesting statement. “Telling someone how to build a bomb is less dangerous than giving someone a reason to.”
That statement is very true
The Anarchist Cookbook starts off with the authors political beliefs critical of the US government.
@@mEmory______ ...Were you even listening to the part about the Turner Diaries?
@WobblesandBean what about them? I just thought that since the above comment implied that the Cookbook had no political ideas or reasons I would point out that it wasn't the case.
@@mEmory______ i wasn’t trying to imply that. My main point was that a book centered around “here’s why we should do this” can be more dangerous than a book that is centered around “here is how to do this” at least at extremes like bombings and stuff. My belief from this video that the Turner Diaries is generally more politically motivating to the group it is trying to appeal to. Or the groups that agree with it
Well, John Wick did kill that big Russian dude in the library by smashing a book between his jaws.
knowledge is power
@@marcusrauch4223 “knowledge is power”
So is John Wick.
@@salvit6024 I would guess John Wick is this generation's Chuck Norris! 🤣
Boban is a really nice guy!
I think the most dangerous thing about the Anarchist's Cookbook might well be the bits that are *almost* right but will probably get you killed.
yeah there is a surprising amount of straight up false information in there that can end up looking like a suicide if you do them
First lesson of how to handle a weapon: How do I not kill myself
That sounds like "Darwin passages," aka, a method for keeping [those who do not look to secondary sources to confirm information] from fully using the contents of the book. If you trust primary sources without question, you are NOT a leader in the revolution, you are but a pawn in somebody else's game, and pawns are expendable.
@@andrewdreasler428 And if you don't have access to any other sources?
@@MySerpentine then enjoy your banandine, comrade
There's also the case of books made with arsenic, either to produce brilliantly coloured covers or, in one case, to drive home how dangerous arsenic-based dyes in wallpaper, clothing, etc were. The latter was sold with a "do not let children touch this" warning. And arsenic never degrades, so they're exactly as toxic as they day they were made.
I will never fail to be gobsmacked at the sheer stupidity of people, especially kids. "Hey, don't touch this, it will literally kill you." kids:
@@WobblesandBean*puts into mouth*
At first, I thought that's what this video was about.
I'm surprised Nami no Tou wasn't brought up briefly, as much like the effect The Sorrows had, this novel may have supposedly been what further pushed people to see the lonely Aokigahara forest as a place to die, eventually creating its own popular folklore.
yeah I like Nami too esp. when she control the weather.
NGL The quality of these videos legit reminds me of broadcast educational television like on PBS. I'm genuinely very impressed at how high quality the animations and illustrations are for these videos. I've learned a lot from this channel but I am never not amazed by how quality everything is in these videos.
Way better than PBS too.
The King in Yellow being 'too moving' really resonated with me. I have extreme anxiety, so if I read a book that's especially thought-provoking, I sometimes physically hurt with the intensity of the whirlwind in my head. I still read them, though. I understand why The King in Yellow would still be so sought-after despite the ban on it.
"Shadows of the Walls of Death" can literally kill you if you don't handle it with gloves because it contains samples of various arsenic containing wallpaper. There are also some emerald green books that used arsenic to color their book covers.
I've seen it at the MSU art museum.
in a similar vein, marie curies diary is sealed away with her corpse, as both are still heavily irradiated.
In Unordinary, there is a banned book by the same name. The book inspires people to become "vigilanties," which is something that is in direct odds with the in universe societal power structure. It's a good story, not perfect, yet i do find it rather entertaining.
Just in case anyone reading OP's comment doesn't know yet, "Unordinary" (aside from an in-universe banned book) is a Korean web comic available to (legally) read on Webtoon [yes, even in English].
@@amegenshiken ooh I love Webtoon and Tower of God.
The line, "Ideas are slippery, they can happen in unexpected places whether intended or not" really hit me. Well done, TF.
Banning books honestly just makes me want to read them more.
The only reason I've not found a copy of Anarchists Cookbook is because the author genuinely regrets publishing it and asks people not to buy/sell/read the book. Since my impulse to own or read a banned book is a freedom of speech matter, I'll respect the wishes of the one who's speech this book represents.
I try to own a copy of every book actually banned.
@@FairbrookWingates Look around garage sales, you could probably find one already in circulation. Not perfect, but it's a partial solution.
I thought I, being the nosy little sucker that I am, would be the same. But noooope :P When a local bookstore had a banned book sale (that they very loudly advertised as having been obtained through off-the-grid means, like donations and rummage sales and not Amazon or smth), I wasn't interested in the least. Not even when the owner who, for the record, I know and (somewhat) trust, asked me if I wanted to take a peek. The fanfare around the books being banned made me feel like they all suck and their only selling point is morbid curiosity.
All these books are online. Sail the high seas, and you'll find the treasure you seek.
The pen is mightier than the sword…but you gotta hold it just right 😵💫
According to Pratchett
"... but only if the sword is very small and the pen is very sharp"
Or if you are John Wick.
The Necronomicon is the kind of book that opens you more than you open it.
In Deep R'lyeh book read you!
This can actually start a debate about how we are promoting the society to become childish and the dangers that come with that. Specially places like CZcams, where you could get demonetized for saying a word the algorithm doesn't like.
Right? Its almost like the content of the books itself isnt the problem💀
Was almost killed by a dictionary once....fell off top shelf and missed my head by millimeters. The thing was MASSIVE! Catcher in the Rye was the single most boring book i was ever forced to read.
Another "dangerous" book example could be "The Neverending Story," which sucks the reader into its own fictional world, and gradually causes you to forget your real life. (In a way, it's kind of similar to Neverland, but in book form.)
There's a book called "Shadows From the Walls Of Death" with wallpaper samples that contain enough arsenic that warrant specialized containment. My brother and I saw it on display at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. It was in a protective case to protect visitors.
A friend of mine that went to an all girls highschool had some english lessons examining the writings of charles manson. The goal of these lessons was to teach critical thinking and how to identify the ways the author would manipulate young women. A worrying number of girls in that class walk away thinking that charles manson was charming and had a good point.
Immediately reminded of one of my favorite "South Park" episodes: "The Tale of Scroty McBoogerballs"
"The Catcher in the Rye" is taken off South Park Elementary ban list and while reading it, our main cast of four find the book lackluster. They then write a book so juvenile and crass most people can't read it without an intense visceral reaction.
The rest of the episode deals with things like how one gets a book banned and the will of the artist vs. The interpretation of the audience.
12:34 one fascinating example of "Writer makes something that the fans interperate in a different way" is Rorschach from the Watchmen series, I can't remember the exact details sadly but Alan Moore's original interperitations of the character as a deconstructive parody of characters like Mr. A and The Question, a character meant to mock those objectivist Blacka and White morality. But in spite of his ridicule, readers and watchers of the Watchmen series fell in love with the character and propped him up in ways that Moore was shocked to see
Necronomicon in Evil Dead tries to bite you.
Well, one of the fake ones anyway. When dealing with the Necronomicon, always make sure you don’t pick up the wrong book.
"KLAATU... BARATA... [cough] necktie! [cough]" --Ash
putting the Nom in necronomicon
I have never considered Lovecraft's Necronomicon and the Evil Dead's Necronomicons (3 books) to be the same books. But that just me.
@@nicholaspeters9919 apparantly, they werent fake,but all of them are spread in parallel universes
its interesting you mentioned goethe's werther! im from germany, i remember my high school literature teacher telling us that some years before our school time (so around early or mid 2000s i think?) a girl from our school killed herself (threw herself off a local tower monument) cause she was heatbroken due to werther. take it with a grain of salt if it was really cause of werther, but she did kill herself. just something i still remember, so it was interesting hearing it here as well.
Thank you for this one, as slippery and delicate as this topic is. So many people who approach it with the message of trying to tell others "what to think". Rather, this is very refreshing and heart warming that in the end, what you ask is for people "to think"
A very delicate subject handled gently and impartially. I am genuinely impressed, and quite relieved that you were able to tackle this subject as well as you were. VERY good video.
The most dangerous book I knew of before this was Malleus Maleficarum. The book that fanned the fire of the witch trials.
You naver heard of the book hitler wrote?
After seeing the bit about The Catcher in the Rye I think I now know why so many news sites began scaremongering about the movie Joker so much.
those news sites were trying to wishcast a Joker movie mass shooting into manifesting for some reason. One of the big humor websites (Cracked? ) called them out on it.
@talesofgore9424 They wanted a mass shooting so they could milk it for ratings and most likely push a narrative that movies like the Joker were bad for America and it's people, "This movie caused a shooting! We should ban it and ignore any ideas it might put in people's heads!"
0:27 love the use of the evil dead necronomicon
We seem to confuse the difference between banned and limited or restricted. Some "banned" books are just age restricted, but people ignore that fact to make their point.
More than a few book "bans" are, in all sincerity and honesty, actually about curriculum. There's a world of difference between banning a book, and promoting it as a worthwhile source of information.
Trust me, I have _no_ doubt that I would very much hate some of the book "bans", thinking that the book really, really should be part of the curriculum. Still, I wish people would be honest about what is actually happening.
"How to Blow Up a Pipeline" does NOT include any recipes for explosives or anything like that!
What does it have?
@@FelicityUwU it's more of an environmentalist ideological manifesto iirc
@@FelicityUwUI'm about 2/3rds of the way through the book. So far, it's mostly building a case for why the insistence to stay non-violent within the environmentalist movement may actually be detrimental to its cause. It argues that the climate crisis is potentially one of the greatest crises humanity has ever faced, and that more violence has been instigated by protestors, activists and rebels for much less severe threats. It also argues that having a more extremist and militant side of a movement aids in accomplishing the more moderate goals, and it cites examples in the american civil rights movement, the ending of apartheid in south africa, and more. It never outright explains how to actually blow up a pipeline.
@@thegamesforreal1673 a tree was killed for that book on violent climate protests and it won’t even tell me what it promised me to? SMH dude, clickbate really did exist back then
@@thegamesforreal1673 It's funny though because if they try to use violence people will use violence against them and they'll lose.
Most times I'm less than appreciative of ad spots at the end of videos but yours are actually soothing to listen to especially after a video like this one.
It's so true than banning a book really only elevates it's notoriety and often times just applying a bit more academic understanding and some context can sort it out fine. I am reminded, however, on the topic of restricting access to objectionable content and tools of violence; we'll just find some other way to crudely display our ugly, broken sense of self.
Haven't seen the whole video but I have to say that "The Book Thief" immediately commes to mind, as it is a story about the power of words and their danger, specially by emphasizing the way that Hitler used words to cultivate his regime of hatred during World War II.
Harvard has a book with nothing but wallpaper samples in it. Might actually be the deadliest book, or at least the most dangerous. It's called Shadows from the walls of death (awesome title!) Everything is an eerie green. That green pigment, comes from arsenic. Not what the video was about, but it did feel like it was a notable exception.
"This book will kill you.
"How?"
"It's being held by John Wick."
"😳😳😳"
I live in Germany, here “Mein Kampf” (Hitlers diary) is rightfully banned but the commentated version is even read in some schools (History class) so I think that just proves the point here :)
The most scareing story I have read, or more played actually, was "Hello Charlotte". It does something really weird with you, it combines feelings of spirituality with mass suicide... It is scary af.
Been watching a playthrough of it. Haven't finished it yet but OH BOY. It's got some rough stuff in there and is only pretending to be slightly subtle.
I didn’t expect to see another Hello Charlotte fan in the comments here, but I thought of my experiences with that game while watching this too. While I love that game, and I think I can say that I and most people I know can approach the game with enough critical discernment to recognize the difference between depiction and endorsement, I can definitely see how some of the more sensitive topics could be acted on harmfully if not handled carefully.
"This book will kill you!"
"That just makes it better😀"
Im so mad that Tale Foundry doesn't have at least 10 million subscribers, if you see this comment you are morally obligated to subscribe to Tale Foundry
I concede, just subbed.
I think this to me highlights how powerful knowledge and perspective together truly are. Any information learned or reflected on can profoundly influence how someone sees the world, others and themselves. But changing perspective in turn influences how we interact with the world, others and ourselves.
For better or worse...
"How to think critically so the text doesn't decide our feelings for us" What an amazing line. I have read so many books in my years that have made me feel uncomfortable because I knew the author was pushing their ideaoligy hard through the characters and events. So that line really resonated with me.
An interesting thing to note about "Catcher In The Rye" being included in this list is that it was also used as a major plot device in the "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" anime wherein the hacker known as The Laughing Man uses a line from the book as part of his logo. He goes on to inspire other copycats as well, all of whom adopt the same emblem as a meme. There's a part in the series where the detectives of Section 9 even refer to "The Salinger Angle" as a hypothesis for the true motives and methods behind The Laughing Man's actions and use that as a means of tracking him down.
"A book can't kill you"
SCP-3023: ...right.
Hermaeus Mora wants to: know the books location
15:18 A book that everyone was assigned to read in high school? Statistically speaking, I would be surprised if it didn't have a body count associated to it.
By the way, from my favorite list of books that kill comes the one in
**spoilers**
The Name of the Rose: a book with its pages coated with a deadly poison, so anyone who might read it would die before being able to divulge its contents.
The Anarchist Cookbook is a great book to un-alive yourself. Many recipies are more dangerous for the reader than the actual target.
Ideology always determines if a book is dangerous not content
Don't make the pipe bomb in the cookbook. It is not measured right and will blow up in your face. Same for the flamethrower.
Thx man, it's honestly gonna be useful theese days. The pipebpmb part that is. Idk abt the flamme thrower much
@@ardugaleen2231 whatever you're planning, do not
Any book can kill you at a high enough velocity.
In addition to lethal books, there are lethal ideas, not all of which are limited to books.
Was expecting a Malleus Maleficarum mention, as its kind of the real world inverse of the Necronomicon.
I love Maths, so the idea of a Black Theorem, some piece of maths that shatter minds is so cool
Cool
SCP-033 is kind of like that. It proves the existence of a previously unknown integer, named θ', that completely breaks all computing devices if it's integrated with them.
Im almost certain the anachist cookbook that's on amazon is a newer edited version with recipies changed to be less dangerous, that's why it is still sold
This reminds me of a song that was banned because suicides spiked whenever it was played on the radio. It was a sad song and apparently made a lot of people very sad and depressed.
They talked about it on QI if you're interested, that's where I heard of it.
Was it Gloomy Sunday?
I was thinking about a song too, a totally different reason though. Polly, by Nirvana was written to show how inhuman some people doing a specific nasty thing could be, but ended up being used as a mantra by some of those same people who missed the point entirely. I imagine it might have been part of what lead to Kurt's end...
@@AbstractStew Pretty sure that it was Gloomy Sunday. I`m not sure if this is true, but the version of the story I've heard is that the original, Hungarian, version was banned after an outbreak of people self-deleting while listening to that song. Then it was translated to English, and the most cheerful Jazz singer in history, Billie Holiday, recorded her own classic version. According to legend, the same thing happened in both America and England, and at least the BBC, and possibly some US radio stations as well, banned Billie's version for decades. Bjork did a great cover of it, too!
Ain’t no way my man said “slibbery.” 16:55 “…but ideas are slibbery.”
always lovely to see another video from you, Tale Foundry! 💚
I still love the intro.
Hope you keep getting more subs and supporters, so can do more of this amazing content
thanks bro, your warning saved me from the book that almost fell on my head and killed me
19:30 thank you for reminding me to look you up on Nebula!! I love that platform, I'll see you there 😁
Well. That went harder than I was expecting. Good on you!
I loved this episode. There's a deep emotional, almost spiritual mentality to the dangers of books. I think probably one of my favorite quotes from any movie comes from ready player One and I'm not even sure if this was in the book but it might have been.
"Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on the back of a chewing-gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe"
im always happy when you post
its night where i live right now so its just like a bedtime story
I'd argue there is no dangerous books out there, just dangerous people.
Unfortunately, the harsh truth is that, words can hurt and encourage hatred. I never even knew some of these books whereas a handful of other books came to mind that I would rather not mention.
The notion of learning to handle a difficult book is... either a brilliant or dangerous approach in-and-of itself. it might work if some books are classified in such a way that requires a high level of critical thought, training of sort, or be simply unsuitable for most audiences; but even then - I doubt such restrictions would incentivize publishers to reprint ideologically toxic literature without demand, and how would such policy function to prevent a casual reader from picking up the book anyway and getting the wrong messages?
Thank you Tale Foundry, every video you make inspires me to think a little better and delve into the magic of the written word,
Could you guys please do a video on weapons and armour (or just objects in general I guess) that are possessed in some sort of way? I’ve always found this to be a really interesting trope, the idea of a warriors spirit being imprinted on their sword and can guide the next user or something. Would be very much appreciated:P
I love the intro so much
There could be a secret link to ACB. Making it when a person buys one, it put their IP on the map.
This is some of the most compelling material on CZcams. Maybe it's the material itself or the way you tell it.
0:52 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA THING IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS IN A STORY I’M WRITING- that startled me-
Hey, as someone subscribed to Nebula, may I ask for more content regarding Worldsmiths? Really enjoyed it but I’d love more creative minds to dive into. Really grateful for the hard work though!
Oh man. You’re great. Thanks for doing what you do.
Oof... Wasn't expecting the Heath High School mention. It gets forgotten in the school shooting discussion because it happened just before Columbine, which was so much worse.
I grew up in Paducah, Ky in the 90s. I was in 3rd grade when it happened and went to church with Ben Strong, who was the teen that talked the shooter into putting down the gun.
Fun fact: there are "sequels" to the Anarchist Cookbook, from several authors, which go into detail about everything from making drugs and medicine from plants to making biodiesel. The poorly-bound example i found at a yard sale was specifically about homemade medicine, but it had three separate chapters about different kinds of drugs...
It mentioned the Anarchist's Cookbook in the dedication, as inspiration for its creation.
I also have a book from 1964 about how to make fireworks. Most of the ingredients aren't readily available anymore, but some of the larger models described are terrifying. Apparently safety and common sense were not fixtures the author considered important.
Should we be concerned that someone might attempted to do something similar to the Rumbling one day just because that person happened to be depressed about the situation of the world and then read Attack on Titan?
Let’s just hope that person can’t control nukes
@@Antasma1 with the way the world has gone in the past decade, I am legitimately concerned that could actually happen.
ephipiny comes in various ways.
-
only way books can kill you, is when its hard, heavy and literal.
While the subject is grim here, I really like the topic of books' impact on the world. Hopefully you can make another more cheerful video about books that positively impacted the world or peoples' lives. I'm sure the list is probably shorter but definitely worth hearing. Thank you for another excellent video 👍
"No book can kill you on its own"
Me: *knows that there's a book about the dangers of green dye/wallpaper and how it poisons people, with ACTUAL EXAMPLES of the poison wallpaper so the readers know what to avoid.*
I always interrupted the King in Yellow play as informing its reader to a truth about reality, and that existential horror was what drove them mad. (Or more accurately, let them see what others could not and so be _considered_ insane.) I never thought it made them feel too much.
A fantastic educational video guys. Thank you so much for making it 😁
Great video as usual!
All I can think of is jurgen lightner, magnus archives anyone?
The lightbringer series by Brent Weeks is an all around great example of not only dangerous books, but amazing fantasy in general. It's got it's own original magic system, physics system, languages, races, and the best in break-neck pacing. I can't recommend it enough.
In the movie "Conspiracy Theory," there's a subliminal implant in brainwashed sleeper agents to keep buying copies of "Catcher in the Rye," so that if one of their agents goes rogue, they can look for anyone recently buying a copy of it.
Also, there's an episode of "South Park," where the boys write a book called "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs," which everyone in town sees as a masterpiece, reading messages into it that were never intended, satirizing people's reactions to "Catcher in the Rye."
For a moment, i thought the animation included the fact that the author of "Poor Mans James Bond" accide tally blew himself up and lost an arm, but then i remembered it is the unique style.
What a coincidence. I just reread the Sorrows of Young Werther yesterday in preparation for my German literature exam.
I'd love to see you make a video on the game fear and hunger
thats what you get when you open the face exploder book
I still cant get over how amazing that intro is
the "Banned and the Banished" series by James Clemmens talks about a book or set of scrolls that are forbiden and they are being dealt with in a way you describe making them into a course to take the mystery out of it. its a subplot of the main story but still very cool idea.
My personal favorite is The Black Book Companion: State-of-the-art Improvised Munitions, by Peder Lund and Robert K. Brown, Paladin Press.
1. It's a crime this channel doesn't have a million subscribers.
2. Bravo to your point about how it would be a bad idea to ban a book because it makes people have less-than-positive feelings. The world is already so sensitive. It's good for us to safely explore things that scare us--that's what books can do for us.
3. Nebula, here I come!
Text may not be able to kill you, but it can make you lose "the game"
I occasionally empty out the insides of books and fill them with bees and put them in no bee zones
just what i needed for this terrible thursday morning
I remember when Mein Kampf was brought back to the bookstores of my country some years ago. It sparked some discussion in the media at the time, understandably. If I remember correctly, the copies came with lots of disclaimers about the dangerous ideas showed by this book. I don't particularly see this as a bad idea to let this ouvrage be available to the public along with the right keys to read it, like you said in the video. It is probably better than a situation where there is no regulation and anyone who really wants it to could get their hand on it anyways.
This is a great video Thank you!
I opened the video and immediately knew you would mention Werther