“Words matter,” begins the discreet notice, which sits at the bottom of the copyright page of Puffin’s latest editions of Roald 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.” By comparing the latest editions with earlier versions of the texts, The Telegraph has found hundreds of changes to Dahl’s stories. Language related to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race has been cut and rewritten. Remember the Cloud-Men in James and the Giant Peach? They are now the Cloud-People. The Small Foxes in Fantastic Mr Fox are now female. In Matilda, a mention of Rudyard Kipling has been cut and Jane Austen added. It’s Roald Dahl, but different.One of the most bowdlerized books is The Witches, about a boy growing up in a coven of witches fully as unpleasant as the crones in Macbeth. The book has been cleaned up…a lot:
“A witch is always a woman”, went the 2001 version of the book. “I do not wish to speak badly about women. Most women are lovely. But the fact remains that all witches are women. There is no such thing as a male witch.” That became, simply, “A witch is always a woman. There is no such thing as a male witch.”The tweaks are endless:
Other alterations are about weight. “Fat little brown mouse” becomes “little brown mouse”. “‘Here’s your little boy,’ she said. ‘He needs to go on a diet’”, becomes “Here’s your little boy.” Elsewhere, Miss Trunchbull’s “great horsey face” becomes simply her “face”.Color is especially absent. Any color:
Rather than “turning white,” a character turns “quite pale”…. In James and the Giant Peach, the Cloud-Men have become Cloud-People, Miss Sponge is no longer “the fat one”, Miss Spider’s head is no longer “black” and the Earthworm no longer has “lovely pink” skin but “lovely smooth skin”. In Fantastic Mr Fox a description of tractors, saying that “the machines were both black”, has been cut. In the new Dahl world, it seems, neither machines nor animals can be described with a colour.And it’s not just words. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the original illustrations have been changed so that Mike Teavee, with his 18 toy pistols slung about his body, no longer has any pistols—which goes with the fact that the text doesn’t mention them anymore either. The publishers have erased everything that made Dahl’s children’s books funny and unique. As always happens when the censors get hold of things, a stupefying sameness becomes the norm. Imagination, excitement, vivid imagery, pleasantly exciting ghoulishness—none have a place in the woke censor’s world. And considering that this is happening to all children’s books, no wonder fewer and fewer children can read. With every passing day, there’s less material worth reading. Read more at: AmericanThinker.com
Pentagon advisor wants to create mind control neuro-weapons. This should terrify us all
By News Editors // Share
Covid “vaccines” found to be EIGHT TIMES deadlier than the disease itself – government data
By Ethan Huff // Share
National security advisor: China providing weapons to Russia a “real mistake”
By Ramon Tomey // Share
Debunking McGill's "dirty dozen" hit piece: Flawed sources, pharma ties, and biased reporting
By newseditors // Share
Your lyin' eyes: Corporate media panics with 'fact checks' over Biden's obvious decline
By newseditors // Share