Roald Dahl: Ruth Langsford slams ‘dangerous’ changes to books
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European publishers have joined hundreds in slamming the woke decision to water down Roald Dahl’s collection of books. Dahl’s Dutch publisher, De Fontein, refuses to change the original version by warping Dahl’s unique humour. Its director, Joris van de Leur, said softening the language in the children’s books causes them to “lose all their power”.
Puffin and Raold Dahl Story Company have planned to make hundreds of changes to books the author’s books after assessing the sensitivity of the books.
One of the redactions will be to remove words like “fat” when describing Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate factory.
Talking to the Telegraph, Mr van de Leur said the exaggerations used to describe the young character are a “figure of speech” that captures the idea of “gluttony and excess”.
“Children understand what such literary hyperbole is. They really don’t think all fat kids are greedy,” he said.
The publisher, who described Dahl’s humour as “second to none”, said he will be demanding the companies to explain their revisions.
The censorship of the author’s wonderful material has also sparked anger in France with publishing house Gallimard which argued the rewrite “only concerns Britain”.
Gallimard first published James et La Grosse Peche and Charlie et La Chocolaterie back in the 60s and has represented intellectual giants such as Marcel Proust and Albert Camus.
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“We have never changed Roald Dahl’s writings before, and we have no plans to do so today,” Gallimard stated.
Following Puffin and Raold Dahl Story Company’s plans, bookstores have seen a surge in the sales of Roald Dahl’s original works.
Many in Britain have also criticised the decision. Piers Morgan said: “The thought police have taken a meat cleaver to some of the best-loved children’s stories of all time.”
Salman Rushdie added: “Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed.”
But it has also seen attacks from across the Atlantic, with the writer’s organisation PEN America saying this kind of censorship shows a “dangerous new weapon”.
Susanne Nossel of the organisation said: “Literature is meant to be surprising and provocative. That’s part of its potency. By setting out to remove any reference that might cause offence you dilute the power of storytelling.”
She explained that “selective editing to make works of literature conform to particular sensibilities could represent a dangerous new weapon”.
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