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There has been a severe backlash in the last few days to the proposed ‘edits’ to some of Roald Dahl’s most loved children’s books. So much so, that Penguin Random House Publishers have now confirmed that all his works will be published in their original form, and no edits (read censorship) will be done to any of the text.

The proposed changes to some of the language used in the books were meant to bring the stories in line with ‘modern sensibilities’, and to remove text that may be offensive to some people. Even award-winning author Salman Rushdie called the changes “absurd censorship.” He was not alone in his condemnation and with the latest statement from Penguin, it seems the ‘woke-washing’ attempt has been abandoned.

The “enormously fat” 9-year-old boy in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was simply called “enormous,” while the “Cloud-Men” from “James and the Giant Peach” became “Cloud-People.”

Miss Trunchbull, the principal in “Matilda,” no longer has a “horsey” face, and “eight nutty little idiots” are now just “eight nutty little boys.”

Roald Dahl has always been a controversial figure and has been accused of racism, misogyny and antisemitism, something his family has apologised for in the past. But the edits proposed seemed to be targeted more at ‘feels’ than genuine -isms.

“The last few days have demonstrated just how important Roald Dahl’s stories are to fans all around the world, and we’ve been deeply moved by the strength of feeling. The most important thing to us is that the stories continue to be enjoyed by all. Puffin UK’s plan to print two editions of the book will give readers — whether 7 or 77 — the choice to explore the stories in whichever way they wish,”

So what’s the big deal? I often come across books that were part of my library as a youngster that I would not necessarily want my kid to read today. I think for instance of the Wild West antics of Louis L’Amour’s gunslingers and their attitudes towards Indigenous Indian tribes, Henry Rider Haggard’s descriptions of the ‘natives and savages’ in King Solomon’s Mines, and even parts of the much-loved Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

These books have descriptions and ideas that are not compatible with how we think or behave today, and as an impressionable child, I don’t want my kid to read some of the language used in these books, regardless of whether they are written down in a ‘classic’. So, we just don’t read them. Because that is always an option.

This does not mean that those books should be burned or changed. They are markers for a time when the world was less evolved and more ignorant and should remain there as a reminder of humanity’s stupidity and cruelty. But they also serve as a gauge of how far we have come.

“We can’t start rewriting works of literature because it suits our so-called moral code.”

As a bibliophile, I shudder at the thought of censorship in books. I don’t like the ideas put forward in Mein Kampf (still available from Barnes & Noble Publishers), and some of the text in the Bible leaves me horrified. I think Fifty Shades of Grey is a terribly written grooming guide, and the less said about Royal biographies the better.

Yet those books exist. I just choose to not read them.

[source:nbc]