Well, that didn’t last long. On February 24th 2023, Sky News reported that Roald Dahl’s classics are to be kept in print after outrage over changes to his books. Originally, earlier in February, the Puffin sensitivity readers were told to take out any offensive content in Dahl’s books. I have recently written about this absurd situation in the New Conservative and many other writers have commented on this issue. It looks like the point has made it across to the publisher as it has made a U-turn.
In my article I stated: “It’s time to start collecting the old Roald Dahl books, and if you already have them, consider it a duty to keep them.” However, you will no longer have to run around the country like a maniac raiding Waterstones or W.H. Smiths to lay your hands on the original copies before they go. The unaltered versions of the books will be kept on the shelves alongside the edited versions. I do not understand why the edited versions must be kept on the shelves. Unfortunately, you will no longer be able to make a nice side-hustle from selling the original versions. To some extent, the censorship mob have won this battle.
It is not only writers who complained about the changes. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined the criticism, his spokesman saying that works of fiction should be “preserved and not airbrushed” and that the PM agrees with the BFG that we should not “gobblefunk” around with words. The Queen Consort Camilla also defended freedom of speech and the right of authors to express themselves, telling a group of writers “to remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or your imagination”. Such prominent interventions are welcome.
This debate should not have happened. It is plain stupidity and a step in the direction of making our world more like Orwell predicted in 1984. The fact that these books were made for children to enjoy shows that the censorship mob are desperate for the new generation to join them at a young age, before they can make choices for themselves. The average child is not going to care what gender certain characters are, like the Oompa-Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who are going to become “small people” rather than “small men”, as they are too busy enjoying the book. I am glad, at least, that children will still have the original versions available, rather than the edited versions being all that they know. Moreover, parents will not have to go through the embarrassment of reading the edited books to their children. With any luck, the uncensored version will fly off the shelves while the woke versions pile up and, eventually, get pulped.
Jack Watson is a 14 year-old Hull City fan. You can subscribe to his Substack newsletter, Ten Foot Tigers, here.
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Try reading some Mark Twain. It’s probably lucky that Mr Twain is probably not often used in schools. Or least I don’t think he is. These fantastic works were full of the language of the time in and around Mississippi etc with “Puddenhead Wilson” “Life on the Mississippi”, “Huckleberry Fin”, etc etc. To rewrite any of this would be a total travesty. This obsession with reshaping the real world into some kind of Liberal Progressive Utopia is beyond absurd, and is 100% harmful. Reality is always better than fantasy and if some of that reality is maybe unpleasant then that is unfortunate. The Guilotine was unpleasant. But it actually existed in the real world.
Thing is, Mark Twain’s work is in the public domain. If people want to publish abridged versions of his work, let them. At the same time, anyone can publish the unaltered versions. When an author’s work falls in the 70 years post-mortem period, an estate or rights holder can hold those texts hostage and only allow altered versions to be passed off as the author’s work, which is unacceptable. Copyright law, as it stands, doesn’t take into account a psychotic bunch of cultists getting their grubby hands on an author’s work, changing it and passing it off as the author’s own work.
Amazingly mature, perceptive and well-written piece for a 14 year old.
Except that he’s overlooked that the uncut texts won’t be put in the children’s sections of bookshops, thus making the altered Puffin books the default version. This is a piece of ‘smoke and mirrors’ by Penguin to fend off criticism until the row dies down. The only acceptable outcome is that the rewritten versions are withdrawn, the Kindle versions restored to the original text and an exchange programme put in place to allow children to replace their altered editions with unaltered ones. Anything else is literary vandalism and a woke cult victory.
Ah, wasn’t aware of that and fully agree with your assessment. Still an excellent piece of writing from the author who obviously didn’t realise this either.
That’s what you keep saying but do you have actual evidence for that claim or is it just supposition?
Penguin announced that the unaltered versions will be released under the Penguin imprint. That’s the adult imprint and the books will thus go in the adult section of bookshops.
Look at the ‘Look inside’ Kindle previews on Amazon: they all credit the woke organisation responsible for the rewrites, so the electronic Puffin versions have already been altered ahead of the paperbacks.
Until the Penguin editions are released, the unaltered versions are not being restocked. That’s evidence in itself.
The only thing Jack is missing is that the original texts aren’t really being kept in print. The target audience of Roald Dahl’s children’s books are children and the altered Puffin books in the children’s sections of bookshops, that will be put in libraries and school libraries are corrupted texts. The purchased Puffin versions on Kindle have likely already been ‘updated’ to the corrupted new text.
Putting Penguin Modern Classics (or whatever) editions on adult shelves in bookshops guarantees they won’t sell in big numbers after an initial blast. After that, they will lack prominence on the limited Waterstones shelves, then stop being in stock and become order-only before finally going out of print due to lack of demand. So, in two to three years’ time they won’t be available anymore and we’ll be looking at another 40 years of the corrupted texts being the only ones available.
As I’ve said elsewhere, the only way this abuse of the 70-year post-mortem rule is dealt with satisfactorily is a modification to copyright law that requires that if a rights holder or estate wishes to release altered versions of books, they have to state that they’re ‘Retold by’ prominently on the front cover, the 70 year post-mortem period is forfeit and the uncorrupted, original text is immediately put in the public domain, so anyone can publish it. Otherwise, effectively, the rights holder or estate is withholding access to an author’s work for decades, which is unacceptable.
Very good points, well made. I like your suggestion: “retold by”.
Good stuff.
But the woke mob aren’t desperate. They are up by several goals and attacking relentlessly. With this Roald Dahl incident, we just managed to clear one off the line.
It speaks volumes (excuse the pun!) that within days of announcing the Roald Dahl rewrites and absorbing the backlash, the censorship of the adult James Bond novels was announced. That’s not desperation: that’s confidence bordering on arrogance.
Never heard of “sensitivity readers” until now. Something the Heritage Party would have no truck with.
I love to see the sales figures for the ‘edited’ version compared to the originals.
People will buy the books that are in the children’s section of bookshops. They won’t even look for the books in the adult section.