Winston has been at work, it seems.
Roald Dahl’s children’s books are being rewritten to remove language deemed offensive by the publisher Puffin.
Puffin has hired sensitivity readers to rewrite chunks of the author’s text to make sure the books “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”, resulting in extensive changes across Dahl’s work.
Edits have been made to descriptions of characters’ physical appearance. The word “fat” has been cut from every new edition of relevant books, while the word “ugly” has also been culled, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The resulting abominations are not Dahl’s work, they are the work of nasty prodnosed, interfering, tedious fuckers who cannot let a work exist in its own time without meddling.
Hundreds of changes were made to the original text – and some passages not written by Dahl have been added.
In The Witches, a paragraph explaining that witches are bald beneath their wigs ends with the new line: “There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.”
So, as I say, not his work, rather a vandalism of his work. Why don’t they just burn them and be done with it?
I know that the literary world has been destroyed by the parasite of wokeism and authors are supposed to employ sensitivity readers before publication. In this case, the scumbags cannot leave something alone after publications. Watch out all those other works eh?
Personally, I will never use a sensitivity reader. The woke would probably choke on some of the stuff I’ve written. Well, let them choke on cake.
Alexandra Strick, a co-founder of Inclusive Minds, said they “aim to ensure authentic representation, by working closely with the book world and with those who have lived experience of any facet of diversity”.
A notice from the publisher sits at the bottom of the copyright page of the latest editions of Dahl’s books: “The wonderful words of Roald Dahl can transport you to different worlds and introduce you to the most marvellous characters. This book was written many years ago, and so we regularly review the language to ensure that it can continue to be enjoyed by all today.”
Lions. We need more lions.
In a few years time all they will be able to publish will be a book of blank pages. In a plain brown cover.
Dear me! Certainly not. That is how 1984 starts – Winston Smith buying a blank notebook and starting a diary. That kind of subversive book is even worse than the ones with printed pages.
No, best ban all books and go full Fahrenheit 451 and burn ALL books and the houses where they are found.
Simon Webb has just done a video on this. It would appear that the estate sold the rights to Netflix and it seems that it is their cultural rapists who are responsible for the defilement and degradation.
Burning them would have been more honest.
Okay, I’ll look for his take.
Here:
https://youtu.be/c25wVenelZ8
“Alexandra Strick, a co-founder of Inclusive Minds, said they “aim to indoctrinate the minds of youngsters in order to bring about communism”.”
What? I’m aiming to ensure authentic representation here.
“This film/TV programme/book contains attitudes and language of its era. Some viewers/readers may find this content offensive.”
This tiresome and patronising kind of warning appears more and more these days, and I’m bloody sick of it. One of the worst offenders is the TV channel That’s TV (UK). You can’t watch an episode of ‘The Likely Lads’ or ‘In Sickness and in Health’ without a damn trigger warning flashing up at the start.
These warnings exist simply to try to stop complaints from the terminally offended and sensitive. So you’re ‘offended’ by a film, TV programme or book made 30, 40, 50 or 60 years ago? Well, boo-fucking-hoo. Aren’t there more important things in life to be offended by?
It’s even worse than the paragraphs you quoted, Mr Longrider. Oompa Loompas being male is offensive for some reason. Now they are ‘gender neutral’. Good grief.
I used to wonder why people seek out earlier editions and printings of books. Now I know. It’s so that you can avoid these bastardised new editions of old books.
‘I used to wonder why people seek out earlier editions and printings of books. Now I know.’
Me also, Simon.
Perhaps they ought to have a look at the bible or quran. Could do with a re-write…
‘And lo, god/godess removed a rib from Adam, and created Eve, but he/she dropped it and by a miracle also created a whole alphabet soup of … ‘ there, I have made a start.
It is just a way to get more money from the books. In a few years they will offer the option to have original and modified – ignore them you are giving them free publicity.
Ray Bradbury with Fahrenheit 451 saw it coming.
So far the naughty books are not being burned – just completely Bowlderised.
Dear Mr Longrider
In next week’s news: The Mona Lisa is to be diversified and inclusified with a full set of beard and moustache and a touch of the tar brush.
DP
We used to laugh at Thomas Bowdler, the English editor who in 1818 published a notorious expurgated Shakespeare, in which, according to his frontispiece, “nothing is added to the original text; but those words and expressions omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family.”
Truly, there is nothing new under the Sun.
“There is nothing new under the sun.”
That is from the Bible, Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 Verse 9. There is so much nasty stuff in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, that if you excised all the bad bits it would be a very thin book indeed. Ecclesiastes is quite interesting though. There is a passage that states that there is no kind of afterlife so you had better make the best of the one life that you do have.