Yes, you’ll still be able to buy unedited Roald Dahl books
After Penguin Random House faced backlash for "sanitizing" Roald Dahl, the publisher announced it will release unedited versions of his work
Aux News Roald Dahl
The woke mob hath been stymied! After all the uproar over giving Roald Dahl’s books a contemporary gloss (criticism of which, it’s worth noting, actually seemed to come from all sides of the political spectrum), The Roald Dahl Story Company has made a concession. The updated versions of beloved children’s stories like Matilda and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory will still be available, with their more modern sense of morality. But so too will the “classic,” perhaps more problematic, versions.
According to the Associated Press, publisher Penguin Random House announced on Friday that the original, unedited versions will be published later this year as “The Roald Dahl Classic Collection,” so “readers will be free to choose which version of Dahl’s stories they prefer.” (Presumably, these editions won’t be completely unedited: as many pointed out during the debate, Dahl himself approved changes to his text during his lifetime, revising the Oompa Loompas from “black pygmies from Africa” into generic fantasy dwarves.)
“Roald Dahl’s fantastic books are often the first stories young children will read independently, and taking care for the imaginations and fast-developing minds of young readers is both a privilege and a responsibility,” said Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s (per the AP). “We also recognize the importance of keeping Dahl’s classic texts in print. By making both Puffin and Penguin versions available, we are offering readers the choice to decide how they experience Roald Dahl’s magical, marvelous stories.”
Changes to the original text found in the new Puffin versions attempted to address instances of sexism, ableism, and fatphobia in Dahl’s work. While some inevitably decried the changes for “woke-ism,” others argued that sanitizing Dahl’s work would only serve to hide the author’s more distasteful beliefs (read: racism and antisemitism). Freedom of expression advocates like PEN America were among those who spoke against the edits, as well as author Salman Rushdie, who called the move “censorship.” Now a new generation can choose between the censored or uncensored and figure it out themselves.
28 Comments
It wasn’t the end of the world and now its even less so. You have a choice, fine by me. Being pro choice is okay…
Uncensored FTW. The work is the work is the work. Sanitizing it is just a way for parents to skip having uncomfortable conversations with their children. Read it as is or don’t.
I’d probably just pick up books from this century. Fuck the last one.
Thank goodness… Charlie and the Chocolate Factory just isn’t the same without Charlie’s catchphrase: “Fuck, that’s some good cock-sucking chocolate!”
And who could forget at the end, when Willy Wonka declares: “I have had it with these motherfucking children in this motherfucking factory!”
Copying this from a friend who reposted this on their FB page, because I think it helps contextualize what this whole thing was actually about for the publishers (read: Money and flogging a dying/outdated franchise back to life):Two pence on the Roald Dahl “controversy” kicked up by the Daily Mail (and echoed by a subset of the left fixated on “cancel culture). The issue isn’t ‘liberal’ censorship, but commercial interests.1) The Dahl franchise is big business – worth a fortune to the Dahl estate and about to spin off into a series of big budget netflix shows (in a deal worth big money to the family).2) Sales of the books themselves have steadily declined. Parental memory and the wider franchise (films, shows etc) plays a bigger role in maintaining the brand. Publishers clearly projected this trend forwards.3) The actual books (if you pick one up now) seem badly dated in terms of the various references. Also the nastiness of Dahl himself really stands out in a number of ways. Both in terms of some of the bigger plots and the descriptions of individuals etc.4) The huge deal with Netflix has clearly lead Puffin (the publishers) and the Dahl estate (the copyright owners) to decide to republish ‘cash in’ editions tied to the series. A commercial decision has been taken to ‘update’ the books to make them more saleable. The edits (if you look at them) soften some descriptions which parents would typically self edit and switch references to make them more familiar to today’s audience. Minor edits of reissues is a very common practice amongst publishers for several decades. Many other children’s books have had similar.5) Far from being made by ‘liberals’ the edits have been agreed by a deeply Conservative political organisation (Dahl foundation) and a mainstream commercial publisher (puffin). The result (despite what is implied) are not edits substantive enough to do more then paper over the problems with the books. Dahls personal nastiness, racist and anti-semitic politics still shape many of the narratives in a way that is clear now but easier to miss when we were kids.6) To any rational person the books should be left unedited and allowed to gradually fall from the public eye. Parents who read them as kids might retell them to their kids and self censor the worst bits. The issue for Puffin and the Dahl family is this kills their cash cow.6) The debate then isn’t about Liberal censorship it’s about commercial interests trying to patch up a ‘product’ to keep flogging it. I have a real fondness for my memory of the books (and use a “children are maggots” Matilda mug as I teach) but I can see I wouldn’t normally chose to read them to my son now just as I avoid David Walliams books (for the same nastiness published by a current author). If my child got really into one of the netflix shows might I then – probably. And might I buy a slightly edited version if my childhood copy has gone missing – probably. Would I be put off buying other reissues if I found it jarred constantly with what I want to model as acceptable ways to talk about other people to my kids – probably. That’s the market the editions are trying to crack into.It’s not about a ‘woke war’ or cancel culture. Its an attempt to enable a company to mass market books that have probably passed their sell by date.
Well put.
What’s the TL;DR
It’s about money.
Same as it ever was: “Woke corporations” don’t exist. They are bowing to public sentiment in order to keep maximizing profits on their existing IP. That it happens to be the correct thing to do is incidental. The bottom line is The Bottom Line, always and forever.
This kind of rational take could hurt sales of my own children‘s book, “The Woke Mob: They’ve Come To Take Away The Things You Like But Haven’t Thought About In 20 Years – And There’s Nothing You Can Do About It.”
Get out of here with that rational, reasonable analysis. If your position can’t be boiled down to three words likely to make people’s blood pressure rise upon reading them, it has no place in modern American discourse.(It should go without saying that I’m being highly sarcastic here, but again, modern American discourse, so: Yes, I’m being highly sarcastic here; it’s refreshing to see someone actually address the issue rationally, instead of falling back on emotional reactions.)
If there was a Grimm estate, I’m pretty sure they’d be pumping out sanitized books to cash in on the Disney movies.I haven’t noticed a clamor for original Bros Grimm stories for parents to read to their kids at bedtime.That being said, it still kinda bothers me on principle.
3) The actual books (if you pick one up now) seem badly dated in terms of the various references. Also the nastiness of Dahl himself really stands out in a number of ways. Both in terms of some of the bigger plots and the descriptions of individuals etc.The harder edge of Dahl’s books is precisely what makes them appealing to kids.
Now do Piers Anthony!
She can’t, she’s too old!
He should be canceled just for those godawful puns in his titles.
Honestly, I would find the attempt entertaining and probably hilarious.
That’s only going to lead to a new Xanth novel with a title like Perfumed From An Unseen Censor and I hope you can live with that.
In which AV Club reluctantly admits that censorship isn’t popular.
How long before someone publishes a Roald Dahl Extreme Edition with extra added racism?
The Fuhrer’s Cut will be such a gas…
For Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, just get the original edition.
The Holy Bible, GOP Edition? It’s only a quarter in thickness.
Yes, I hear you Clem Fandango.
I used to have old editions of both Charlie books, with the African pygmies and nuanced depictions of Chinese people. They were old when I inherited them and they eventually disintegrated after a few reads.
As pointed out, these won’t be the original versions. black pygmies shipped in from Africa to work in his factory is something Dahl and his estate want people to remember.
I’m holding out for the My Uncle Oswald rewrite.