Roal Dahl censorship

Will books become obsolete? You can find a dearth of information on the internet now. The majority of my reading is done on wikipedia. I like to come on here and read people's posts too. Some excellent contributions on this thread.

 

We’re changing the types of books we stock based on this. There’s not much call for curriculum based books now so we’re more focussed on particular interests. Cars, cooking, animals, well-being etc. are all still very popular. Books where you’re not reading to find out specific information but which are fun to browse and find out interesting random facts are the ones being borrowed. Curriculum based books are still useful for lower ability students who find the internet too overwhelming and who struggle to recognise misinformation. They do, of course, get lessons on that but in the meantime they’d rather borrow a book about the body, that has clearly labelled section on the muscles etc. in eye catching boxes with simpler text, to do their homework, rather than turning to the internet which can require a higher reading level than they are capable of.

That’s only thinking about non-fiction text of course though, whereas the books being discussed are all fiction.

 

I don’t know to be honest. It’s guaranteed that if they’re not updated then they will be forgotten about (once the ones who grew up with them stop buying them for their kids based on their own fond memories of it). It’s funny that a lot of people are upset about it because they want it unchanged for their kids to enjoy it like they did*, without realising that their kids won’t have the same experience they did without it being changed. I’m not saying they might not still enjoy it being old fashioned, I know kids that do, but they’re definitely not having the same experience reading it that their parents/grandparents did.

* I know other people are upset about it for other, legitimate, reasons too, I was just specifically wanting to address those who oppose it for that reason.

 

Yep, hundreds of thousands forced to take strike action and barely a peep from him. But he feels the need to wade into this non event...

 

Do the educators tell the kids that Dahl was an unapologetic racist..?

 

People still read Shakespeare and kids definitely have the same "experience'!! (Good and bad) reading it.
I know we are mainly focussed on children's books here but some are attempting to 'revise' language in adult literature using the same 'relevance' argument. 'Bad' and 'wicked' reversed their meaning in a recent generation but surely we dont need to change preceding literature because of that.

 

Why do they need to? If It surfaces in the content of the book then address the specifics. Are you advocating banning anything written by people who are squeaky clean regarding their moral values? Should we not separate the source from the content? I doubt Shakespeare or many great writers' morality aligns with modern values but do we ban them because of that.
Have you read Farenheit 451? We are on a slippery slope.

 

It seems a bit OTT - at the end of the day no one is more then a few clicks away from seeing someone getting beheaded on the internet. I guess though there is a line, should Mein Kampf be banned? Probably not because of its historical significance, but you wouldn't want to "promote" it as a book to read. I think removing the word "ugly" from a childrens book though is a bit ridiculous, which I believe is one example of the changes made. It just reminds me too much of 1984, going back and changing the past. If you don't want your children exposed to Dahl, don't buy him and don't let your kids read it - it's just this attitude that you're not allowed to make that decision yourself - some unaccountable censor is giving you no choice - their version or no version, but lets be honest there are so many additions of his books its going to be around forever in its original form.
As for his personal life - I've no doubt he was racist, most people were, in their time they should be judged, not based on our time - in the future people will be looking back and condemning our norms and behavior just as we do to our ancestors.

 

They've edited out the groping scene from Crocodile Dundee.

 

What about the Basil Fawlty scene with him reaching round the corner for the light switch only to inadvertently 'grope' the female Australian's breast. Sybil catches him in the act and says... "If you are going to grope the guests Basil, at least have the courtesy to stay in the same room " As an aside - the guest herself was not offended upset or traumatised. Pretty sure much of Fawlty Towers incurs the wrath of the PC brigade nowadays.

 

Yeah reason I gave my example is it was part of a wider joke. Mick Dundee had already visited a bar and almost pulled a trans gender person. With the editing it made nonsense of a pre-empted gag. I'm sure this could happen in books too.

 

Still one more in there Dragon

 

Yes, a lot of stations pulled the entire episode with the Germans, apparently mainly because of the short scene where the old Major says something really racist - but in the context of how it was portrayed it shows him to be out of date and wrong, however, that kind of nuance is lost on the eternally offended.

 

I was actually speaking to someone in education. But who said anything about banning? Not me.
My initial argument was against petty censorship. But you’ve sort of answered your own question. At what point do we fill in the bigger picture, while we’re acting as self appointed, moral & cultural custodians?
I’ve been involved with creative arts all my adult life & at no point have I made the assumption that the work can be disassociated from my personal character, good or bad. That’s not my decision to make.
Valid point, but by your logic, Gary Glitter would still be on the radio..

 

It's Basil the rat where Major is extremely racist isn't it?

 

I won’t be happy until it’s retitled ‘Charlie & the Vegan Chocolate Factory’..
Have that..!!

 

Gary Glitter may not get much air time but Wagner does.

Depends on the social class of the artist and the audience I guess.

 

I didn't realise Wagner had done much since his appearance on the X Factor... Although antisemitism was probably standard in the 1800s and he didn't serve multiple sentences for noncing.

 

I don't quite remember, its when he's in the bar with the newspaper I vaguely recollect. Anyway, its THAT one.