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Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

telegraph.co.uk

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Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#431

Post by bla3 »

tptacek wrote: post #100

I'd be interested in hearing the most credible/reputable sources speaking out in favor of these changes. I've exclusively seen commentators dunking on this (rightfully so), across the political spectrum. To be clear: I'm wondering if we can find specific people speaking up for this, not an analysis of whose side of the culture war is most culpable for it.

I'm neither credible nor reputable, but I'm in favor of a weak version of this. When reading older books to my young child, I replace language that suggests that women are supposed to stay at home and men are supposed to go to work. One day soon he'll be able to read, and at that point I'll wish that books that were a product of their time would have been updated for the current time, so that he could just read the book, without us having to have a conversation about how things were different then.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#432

Post by mensetmanusman »

babyshake wrote: post #111
bitwize wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling wrote favorably about colonialism; they were replaced with more agreeable authors. Use of gendered language is marginalizing to nonbinary people. It's easy to figure out why these changes are being made in particular, once you take a position of empathy.

> Use of gendered language is marginalizing to nonbinary people. References to brothers or sisters, or mothers or fathers, is offensive to nonbinary people? In all seriousness, not trying to start a flame war, why is that? Is a reference to hair offensive to a bald person?

It’s more interesting to see the word ‘woman’ being canceled in subtle ways at once respectable institutes like The Atlantic.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#433

Post by anonreeeeplor »

jasonhansel wrote: post #299
josephg wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to downplay antisemitism - its a real problem. But why does that bother you, given he's dead? Matilda was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. There's something in it that hits me right in the soul, even as an adult. I hear you when you say his antisemitism is an issue for you - but - I just can't see how that has any bearing on my relationship with his books. As a child I didn't understand, and no…

To be clear, The Witches is full of obviously intentional antisemitic tropes: https://www.heyalma.com/is-roald-dahls-the-witches-antisemit...

I have a hard time believing you are serious. They hallucinated a bunch of context into it that fits any story about secret societies.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#434

Post by [deleted] »

numeromancer wrote: post #387

> These school people hate literature. It stands for everything that they stand against. A work of literature comes from one, solitary mind, not from the consensus of a collective. It is an unequivocal assertion that this is so . It abides, or it dies, but it will not negotiate. It comes before us neither as a supplicant nor a defendant, but as a judge. It cares nothing for our favorite notions or our self-esteem. An…

[deleted]

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#435

Post by [deleted] »

swatcoder wrote: post #181

Those of us who grew up near various religious communities in the second half of the twentieth century are familiar with the edited and abridged versions of media made to be more palatable to the morals of whichever community, as well as the scandals over media which were an affront to them for whatever reason. Obviously, a publisher committed to those communities and who can get the rights to do so will make a “clea…

[deleted]

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#436

Post by swatcoder »

NDizzle wrote: post #388
swatcoder wrote: post #181

Those of us who grew up near various religious communities in the second half of the twentieth century are familiar with the edited and abridged versions of media made to be more palatable to the morals of whichever community, as well as the scandals over media which were an affront to them for whatever reason. Obviously, a publisher committed to those communities and who can get the rights to do so will make a “clea…

Can you give me an example of whatever community it is that you grew up in? Me? Rural northern Arkansas. Dry county. Unaffected by these edited/abridged version of media. In other words, Han shot first in my day, sonny.

That’s more personal than I like to share here, but vaguely I was in the rural Northeast while a rising tide of born-again Baptist churches absorbed Catholic and mainline Protestant communities. Maybe it was more obvious to me because of the flux.

In any case, you must at least remember Wal-mart’s role in demanding “clean” versions of rap and hip hop content (and punk) as those genres went mainstream. That was happening at a national level and persists to this day in all of our streaming services.

The genres had underground roots and artists were not devoted to satisfying the word or theme preferences of the Walton family’s target demographic, but producers and studios knew that obliging them with alternate versions was a compromise that paid worthwhile dividends.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#437

Post by [deleted] »

koolba wrote: post #250
bko wrote: post #15

Here's a good list of changes. Most are about removing any references to ugly or fat. But also other strange things like changing the author's Matilda likes to read to include Jane Austin and John Steinbeck, not calling people crazy, swapping screeching to annoying, removing brothers and sisters to favor "siblings" and using "folks" instead of "ladies and gentlemen" https://twitter.com/incunabula/status/1626860237104…

> In Fantastic Mr Fox a description of tractors, saying that “the machines were both black”, has been cut. In the new Dahl world, it seems, neither machines nor animals can be described with a colour. And removing any reference to color … for tractors.

[deleted]

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#438

Post by SaltyGoodness »

idiocrat wrote: post #354
krona wrote: post #231

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered... Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right. - George Orwell

> Every record has been destroyed or falsified ... Selling the only remaining original unedited Roald Dahl's book for 3 kilograms of gold. Really a bargain for this unique collectibles item. Anonymity and discretion is guaranteed.

The word gold is antisemitic. Why would you reference such a hateful trope?

'Gold' also refers to a color, and so is doubly offensive.

/s - but they really did make changes like that to Dahls' work. It's so disturbing.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#439

Post by mensetmanusman »

heavyset_go wrote: post #144
ilyt wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your triggers are your responsibility; you can just not read author instead of pushing for and celebrating desecration of their work. > once you take a position of empathy. ...and the usual thinly veiled "if you don't agree with my opinion you're a Bad Person". How about taking position of sensibility for once ?

> Your triggers are your responsibility; you can just not read author instead of pushing for and celebrating desecration of their work. The same argument can be made about people who are triggered by this edition of the book. You can just not read the new edition instead of pushing for and celebrating the silencing of its owners.

They are very different responses. After you live life a few more decades, the differences become quite obvious.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#440

Post by anonreeeeplor »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #194
avazhi wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turns out a person being something you dislike has no direct bearing on the quality of their writing and storytelling. If you can’t appreciate the latter on account of the former, that’s your problem.

> Turns out a person being something you dislike has no direct bearing on the quality of their writing and storytelling. It turns out that this has a direct bearing on my perception of his writing. For example i don't have to pay for his stories, if the author doesn't like me for the color of my skin or for belonging to people that the author happens to dislike. I am also allowed to say that these are very objectiona…

He personally fought Nazis and killed them in WWII.

Did you?

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