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

Post by josephcsible » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:27 AM UTC

lamontcg wrote: post #402

neverrroot wrote: post #373

This is truly depressing. It’s 3AM here and I can’t fall asleep. Where is this all heading? Where are we gonna end? The more “minor sensitivities” we take care of in such manner, the more “sensible” things we’re gonna do to “make it right for everyone”, the more they’re gonna be needed. Such a thin skin won’t be able to tolerate not even the wind. Just the other day, they were writing about replacing female with “egg…

> This is truly depressing. It’s 3AM here and I can’t fall asleep. This is the symptom of a social media problem that you have, you should stop reading stuff that makes you that agitated.

Post by Wowfunhappy » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:28 AM UTC

agentwiggles wrote: post #513

Sporktacular wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps they shouldn't silently update the new editions but... "Dahl was a man of his time" is a weak argument when millions of his contemporaries - also of his time, were aware of, and actively fighting, anti-semitism. He had access to the same information they had and made his choice. So he should be judged for it.

I must admit I'd never heard about his anti-Semitism until today. I looked it up and, well, his statements pretty much leave nothing to the imagination on that front. Shitty, to be sure, no argument from me. Still, as a kid who read his books repeatedly, and as someone who has read most of them to my kids in the last few years, I feel comfortable stating that this anti-Semitic tendency doesn't come through on his wor…

Post by slibhb » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:29 AM UTC

Post by josephcsible » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:30 AM UTC

bee_rider wrote: post #344

gedy wrote: post #37

> A most formidable female -> A most formidable woman What is the reasoning for this? Not following what is "wrong" in the original.

In current American English, “female” has shifted to usually being an adjective, woman is a noun. Referring to people by noun-ing one of the adjectives that describes them is something considered reductive by a chunk of the population. If someone is a fan of “female” as a noun: I’m not going to change your mind. I get that changing language is annoying sometimes. I’m pointing out that “female” as a noun does bother s…

Post by josephcsible » Sun, Feb 19, 2023, 4:33 AM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #416

saalweachter wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nothing is lost in the changes This; the old books still exist. No one is coming for them. The copyright-owners have simply decided that the new editions of the books will be different. Hell, this might even be a simple cash-grab: if the books aren't selling as well now, and their royalty checks are shrinking, they may have done some basic market research and determined that the perceived crassness of the works was…

> This; the old books still exist. No one is coming for them. Sure, and beyond that, my point was, if copyright deposit is working, there are copies in public hands , specifically for the purpose of preservation and availability beyond the expiration of exclusive rights, not just old books in private collectors hands.