I thought this was going to be a thread discussing great literature, lol. That'd be a welcome change from all the political threads.
Who is it that really "controls" literature? The government? It can only do so much. Did you know that prisoners of conscience in England during WWI secretly circulated newsletters to one another that were written on squares of toilet paper?
Controlling information has always been an aim of authorities, for the very reason you posit: literature influences what and how people think. It spreads ideas.
