Roald Dahl book edits: Peter Hitchens says past being 'OBLITERATED'

[@talktv]

Are edits to Roald Dahl books a slippery slope?

[@iang-lb7nx]

Do you really need to ask that question?

[@peterjones6507]

They show we are at the bottom of the slope. Turns out Orwell was a prophet. .

[@LordEriolTolkien]

It all went downhill in 1939 when they renamed the Agatha Christie classic now known as 'And then there were none'

[@user-ug8wx5er1w]

Started in 1997

[@ThatGuy-cb3yv]

Slippery slope? They jumped off the cliff. It's disgusting and offensive.

[@mkrake2429]

The fact there is even a profession now known as "Sensitivity Reader" is the first problem. A lot of people, whether they believe in the work they do or not, will try to justify the money they're getting paid. So if you're hired as a sensitivity reader (I still cannot believe this is a thing) you're going to find offense where there is none, because your paycheck literally demands this of you.

[@abazely2743]

Like diversity supremos,adding to the long list of UK's 'productivity' drivers to decrease the National Debt.

[@andrewhotston983]

Yes, totally agree.

[@aor3220]

& What are the necessary attributes to acquire the sensitivity reader job? Who determines what's insensitive? What's their criteria? I see things on T.V, online, newspapers Nd books that I find offensive all the time. That's life! Nobody has a right to not be offended!

[@seandelap8587]

What a huge insult to the memory of Roald Dahl these people should be very very ashamed of themselves

[@alanscouser]

Totally agree. The lunatics really HAVE taken over the asylum! All of them should be sacked.

[@goodyeoman4534]

Now when have you ever met a radical leftist who felt even one iota of shame?

[@joeclarke7048]

Unfortunately, they're probably very proud of their moral superiority.

[@SagaciousFrank]

​@@joeclarke7048 , and the increased profit margin they expect to get out of it.

[@loafersheffield]

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute."

[@Jack-cs4tq]

it's really happening

[@HOHLfmly]

You are correct! My daughter tells me “ Mom, you can't say that!” or “that's not the way it is said anymore”. These 30-year-olds are changing everything! Most seems to be to be more sensitive but I wonder where this could go.

[@dobr4481]

Hysterical much? Hitchens wants to try living in Iran for a week. His trouble is that he goes looking to be offended & outraged, the very thing people on the Right accuse the Left of. I would've thought that illiteracy & education were more pressing concerns than removing words like 'fat' from 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' but prioritising the real needs of ordinary people was never a pressing concern for conservatives.

[@smfvmd]

“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”

[@loafersheffield]

@@smfvmd I'm wondering if the people who👍 or commented, other than yourself, got the book reference?

[@boxmad9850]

Orwell's 1984 has never seemed so real up until now.

[@ColinMill1]

We can now look forward to a version edited by the Thought Police themselves.

[@douglasmacrae8947]

His book should be in the non-fiction section.

[@johnflavin1602]

@@ColinMill1 The irony, imagine a world where we can only read a censored version of 1984. That’s where we’re headed.

[@ColinMill1]

@@johnflavin1602 Indeed. I suspect that the library in any 5 minute city won't have room for a copy anyway.

[@ecc84]

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

[@sadev101]

i only learned dahls book were awesome when they came out and should remain as is

[@athejbaka7084]

I hope we repeat history specifically a mid century German state who wouldn’t allow this happen

[@julienewman1761]

So changing a word from fat to enormous, seriously this is beyond a joke. The boy was fat. END OFF.

[@vincekerrigan8300]

Julie. Yes, this shows how stupid these people are - fat is NOT synonymous with enormous, which means extremely big. An 'enormous' hero, say, in a book, would be large, muscular very fit individual, but the complete opposite of fat.

[@jusplayin]

Calling people fat will hurt their precious feelings and they’ll probably have a mental breakdown along with it

[@MyMccarron]

They're being taught a lot worse in schools

[@lionesshuntress]

Exactly. A family friend ended up pulling her children out of school and homeschooling them because the school was introducing pride and sexuality into the classrooms of 5 year olds. Thank God she got them out of there before any real damage could be done!

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

@@lionesshuntress That's silly. You can't make someone gay. I'd do homeschool, b/c too many cannot spell beyond a 3rd grade level.

[@janetclaireSays]

I am a Leftie American Democrat and i too believe that past literature and all other artwork should be off limits for changing. You don't rewrite the past. If you don't like Raold Dahl children's books there are plenty of others to choose from for your child. OR you read them and discuss with your child what you disagree with, and have a learning moment.

[@evolassunglasses4673]

Our societys have been captured by international finance capitalism and we are post the old Left v Right paradigm, in my humble view.

[@stevetodd7030]

I wonder if the woke crowd will go as far as to remove slavery from history, or change the colour of those enslaved into white people?

[@goodyeoman4534]

Leftie, rightie. Almost makes no difference. Everyone is bowing down to this unhinged minority of woke radical types. It's weird. The latter do not probably even make up more than ten percent of the population, but seem to have the whole country in a stranglehold. When the pendulum (eventually) swings back, I hope the retaliation is pitiless. Too much has been done to just let it go.

[@dobr4481]

It's not a question of 'rewriting' books, it's about certain words & attitudes that may now pose a problem for parents. Over sensitive it might be but to talk about totalitarianism & the 'obliteration' of the past is hysterical. Anyone wanting to read the originals only has to buy a copy on ebay. This is not the 'thin edge of the wedge' the conspiracy theorist Right wish it to be, it's an attempt to bring children up with a better understanding for others than the previous generations. What is disturbing is that the people who choose to excuse or gloss over Dahl's anti Jewish ideas & his misogyny are those who are up in arms about the word 'fat' being removed. If these measures foster a kinder outlook amoung children then surely Dahl himself would have approved of them. You have to ask why the Right Wing media are choosing to report on this issue whilst ignoring the real issues like library closures, cuts to education & funding for extra curricular projects for children. They'll always be more interested in covering stories about missing women & salivating over the sordid details than the welfare of Britain's children.

[@judyparsons1333]

​@@dobr4481 if the author was still alive he should have sued the publishers its a disgrace what's the next thing burning of books and you know where that started

[@georgiakerek7999]

Again, why don't we do something about all this.

[@JONSEY101]

And yet it only continues as long as people let it! People have become too complacent, can't be bothered, or simply say they don't want to get involved. There will come a time when people will have had enough but by then it will be too late to change anything.

[@melvynslote457]

I cannot agree more when you say people cannot be bothered. You start mentioning this to many people and their eyes glaze over from boredom They obviously wish to return quickly to the vacuous television so called entertainment or have no idea of the bigger picture of living in a society and what this entails.

[@JONSEY101]

@@melvynslote457 So very true! It seems more important for people to want to know if so and so got with some fool on some beach on a TV show than it is to truly care about how things are being changed around them, things that will have a REAL impact on their lives.

[@annmc8392]

If you don't like a book don't read it.

[@71ibanez]

Such a sad state of affairs😢

[@wheelzwheela]

That’s why physical media is important.

[@paulshorney3465]

Some people must have too much time on their hands! 🤔

[@NoidoDev]

It's called "elite overproduction".

[@OldMod67]

I became a bookseller in the late eighties and still remain so. I recall subtle changes to Blyton's Faraway Tree stories, especially character names, when reading my 70s copies to my son and comparing the editions I bought for him. This is a real leap though, actually taking part of the dark humour of Dahl's stories out. As a child that kind of humour was a real draw. I will find it hard to recommend back catalogue books more and more. File under Woke.

[@rmharding5263]

If we're to have a polite and caring society where reaching out to change books is on the agenda, can we please start with affronts such as offensive language in songs, violence and sex on television etc and please leave those of us who wish curl up with a classic and a box of bonbons alone.

[@AnimaChristisalvame]

He who changes the past is against the truth. Spot on as always, Peter Hitchens.

[@jasmineflower1988]

As soon as I learned about this I rushed to buy a set before only the new prints are available. Been wanting to buy the collection anyway to pass on to future generations. Got the push I needed

[@williambarnes3868]

They started on Enid Blyton and 'Noddy'. It was only a matter of time before they got around to sanitising every book ever written. Dahl may not have been the geatect childrens author who ever wrote but his work should NOT be Bowdlerised or changed. Who are these self-appointed censors anyway? What gives them the right to decode what I or my children should or shouldn't read?

[@rogergreen2695]

Something needs to be done, after all our ex PM's have infringed God's only words by coveting others - (and they were not their neighbour's oxen?)

[@gedhuffadine1873]

Surely these changes mean the books cannot be sold as works by Dahl anymore. They should be retitled and then the new versions scrutinised for plagerism of original works.

[@abazely2743]

Under Netflix's copyright acquisition all the forewords to new prints will no doubt be written by Harry and Meghan.

[@valmid5069]

*Truly disgraceful way for dishonoring a British WW2 veteran's works*

[@barbarahalkyard1901]

The world has gone mad.

[@seandelap8587]

How many people who want to cancel Roald Dahl's books have even read them none I would be willing to guess

[@stevetodd7030]

They just saw the oompa loompas on TV and the fat kid getting sucked up the chute.

[@72secondprize]

What on earth has happened! The BFG is no longer allowed a black cloak. How do they explain that? Is this to appease the cloak community?

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I don't see how "enormous" is better than "fat!" As a bigger person.

[@mrman9561]

How can the English language be deleted this should not been happening especially to Roald dhal ,he did nothing but say it how it was

[@penguinegg01]

"First they came for Roald Dahl, but I don't read Roald Dahl, so I said nothing..." You know how the rest goes.

[@alexnicole7431]

I would be interested to know why the cenotaph is considered problematic. It commemorates those who have lost their lives in War irrespective of gender, race or religion. The only people who seem to think it's problematic are those who haven't bothered to look in to what it means.

[@lindacurley3267]

My daughter loved his books and his books are enjoyed by millions of kids. The books cover some difficult subjects, but kids are savvy enough to take the right view, they love them. Nazi's burned books, a lesson to be learned.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

But Eugenics was our idea and it doesn't work

[@davidedbrooke9324]

We have a great past and the empire was benign and uplifted all within it.

[@EmpiricalMind]

If we as a nation don't vociferously protect our history, culture, and traditions, the 5tth column in this country will remove every last vestige of all of it, if something is worth having, it's worth fighting for, and I can't think of anything much more important to fight for than our ancestral heritage.

[@EthanKnight97]

Books burnt by "Sensitivity Readers"

[@sallywright8065]

How on earth is the term ‘enormous’ less insulting than the term fat?? 😳. They should leave these books alone.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I'd rather be "fat." I, personally, am hardly "enormous!"

[@WesternOutpostDonVonFilms]

Some writers I know are pressured by editors to remove references to God in their work or not to write anything negative about anybody who is not a Caucasian. They feel their creativity is being smothered. It has to stop. Art should be free!

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

But it's ok if they're white?

[@jrpeacock8695]

Roald Dahl banned but its ok for drag story hour? i am 56years old this year and its realy scary aand depressing how the world has changed for the worse.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

You can disagree w it, but know you can't make someone gay. That's dumb af. I don't agree w editing or drag queens for kids. Running out to the streets is a bit censorship, tho.

[@AndrewJFO]

Wait until the only statues and portraits allowed are Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, Chairman Mao/Xi,...and Big Brother.

[@grahamwalker9193]

Fahrenheit 451 is just around the corner.

[@chele277]

The best part of the day for me was giving my son bedtime stories, it was our special time, I read him Enid Blyton even thou at the time was classed middle class. All of the Dahl books, The Hobbit, all the classics. My son has dyslexia as do I but we both love books. Dahl stories leave them be as they are

[@aryastark772]

Jesus. I’m a Left leaning liberal but this is absolutely ridiculous

[@stud6414]

You are the problem

[@aryastark772]

@@stud6414 What? No I’m not, for having difficult political views? I said I disagree with this, so do a lot of left leaning voters. If you want a world with no different political views other than your own then you’d welcome the world of 1984 and no better than the far left who censor things

[@robertheywood2553]

Maybe you should get the Minister for Culture Lucy Frazer on the programme to explain WTF she is doing about all this 21st century Nazi Book Burning vandalism

[@berniefynn6623]

YOUNG PARENTS need to be made aware of this and not to buy this crap. protest at shops who sell these , impede their business.

[@alandavies3727]

This woke mob really need to be gotten rid off. They’re out of control. Change words in Roald Dahl books, then it won’t be Roald Dahl. Puffin Books should Puff-0ff.

[@janetbarkwith]

I don't much like Roald Dahl books either, Mr Hitchens! I'm so glad to find a kindred spirit. I'm rather tired of Dahl being almost sanctified, as if everybody must adore his works. Which does not mean I am in favour of rewriting his books post mortem; I am not.

[@bri_____]

The gill statue absolutely must come down. Given everything we know now about the BBC

[@mikeoglen6848]

Which other works of art do you want to smash? Which books do you want to burn?

[@bri_____]

@@richardshortall5987 Look at the statue online, Richard. It literally depicts a naked boy with an elderly man. Given the saville revelations. Given the ongoing accusations in the BBC. And given Gills life, it should absolutely come down. It's disgusting!

[@bri_____]

@@mikeoglen6848 I don't want to burn books. However I would prefer undeniably pedophilic statues, sculpted by known n0unces, to not be placed on tax-payer funded buildings. Call me radical.

[@mrobo9037]

Stop buying these books, the publishers will loose £ BIG TIME!

[@alanscouser]

Exactly! DON'T BUY THESE PATHETICALLY WATERED-DOWN BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!

[@charleswatson1093]

@M Robo Presumably you mean "lose".

[@hegetv2111]

What they are doing with the books by Roald Dahl is absurd. Yes, if the books had been written and published for the first time today, a significant number of words and descriptions probably would have been different. But they were not. Every book is a reflection of it's time and zeitgeist. You can't change the past. Sensitivity readers are especially problematic when non-contemporary books are being edited. They are removing details, explanations and characteristics that are ment to create images in the reader's mind, as literature should. Remove this, and eventually one is left with nothing.

[@sticksman1979]

Luckily the Ian Fleming Estate got the rights back to his books, which will evade censorship of his writing.

[@wesleyhubbard6552]

So drag queens dressed in s&m gear reading to children is fine but some of Dahls words are not? Ok gotcha 👍🏻

[@jgk1703]

Why don't they just burn all the old books, there was a group of people similar to the woke mob who done that in the 1930's, their name escapes me 🤔

[@susanjackett9268]

All that will happen is Dahls former editions will become expensive collector's items, whilst our children won't ever wow his truly excellent turn of phrase, his fantastical descriptive ability and the real fun of the amusingly fearful moment. It's abusing our children to deny them true descriptions and excellent authors!

[@1949Matilda]

It is all History, Art, Literature of its time. Discussion about its rights/wrongs used to be called "intellectual argument". What a bland, bland, unintellectual world we are becoming!

[@leonardgibney2997]

I wish Dahl was alive to give his view. Surely some relatives have a view? I recall complaining to the BBC about the editing of Enid Blyton in the 1980s.

[@willow666able]

"he that controls the past controls the future".

[@richtaylor6039]

Well, I for one am extremely grateful to Dahl for his contribution to neurosurgery. My shunt has kept me alive for decades.

[@adamsimmons631]

I was born with the same condition at birth. A shunt was fitted at birth, and replaced at age 15 because I had grown taller. The replacement shunt, fitted in 1991 is still working to this day. Roald Dahl was an excellent storyteller, and his books should be cherished, not put into the hands of people who are offended of their own shadow

[@gavinmillar7519]

Peter is always calm and measured - well worth listening to. Marshmallow totalitarianism - very true. Buy old books.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I had to special request a book by Stephen King, "Rage," in an earlier edition of the Bachman books. He pulled it, b/c kids were emulating the school shooter story! I wanted to see what the fuss was...can't know that til I read it in CONTEXT.

[@ready260]

Who decides?

[@17th_Colossus]

1984 is here. Start archiving everything.

[@davidjohnbonnett]

The value of my copy of The Witches, I had back in the 80's has just gone up. 🤔

[@kafkastrial8650]

Ship of Fools is comes to mind !

[@TalesFromTheScript]

Brings a whole new meaning to "Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected". Tragically ironic, and utterly outrageous. The man must be turning in his grave at this cloud cuckoo land complete and utter codswallop.

[@elizabethjohnston3549]

I forgot he done that show I loved that show as a teenager

[@williamthurl2607]

It's all in the book ' 1984 ' ; Throw in Ray Bradbury's ' Fahrenheit 451' ) where the job of a ' Fireman' was to BURN books and you have the future- Life imitating Art...

[@bbouchan1]

I was always one of the first to criticize the Islamic culture for doing many of these things.......but we are no better!

[@davidharrington1133]

These books will be on the top shelf of filling stations next to the porno mags. The un-redacted version will be flying off the shelves.

[@greigallan5845]

Scotland Yards contentious statue list? Wouldn't they're time be better spent weeding out the Couzens & Merrick's from their ranks?

[@1949Matilda]

How prophetic was George Orwell's 1984? Thought Police!

[@stevetodd7030]

There was the Gollyw**s from the Enid Blyton books that I first remember getting the chop. I have also seen the aforementioned stuffed dolls on sale in some shops at the seaside.

[@MJ-tg7wv]

You learn from the past - and if you are not intelligent enough to recognise that stuff is written in context. It has got to the point where you need to get second hand books. I bought up the old BBC Shakepseare productions - they are the only ones worth watching - and some I was lucky enough to see live. To be honest - the stuff that is supposedyl sensitive is far more sinister.

[@victoriamatthewman2707]

Pathetic. Really. Dahl had it right when he wrote about Twits. Leave his work alone.

[@henrylivingstone2971]

My heavens, Hitchen’s voice is perhaps the most eloquent thing I’ve ever heard. He and his brother, the late Christopher Hitchens, were probably the best speakers of our age. The way they articulate and formulate arguments based on fact and evidence and their wide array of references is fascinating. They never resorted to ad hominem attacks or cheap appeal to emotion. And even though they had greatly differing views they maintained that kind of gentlemanly verbal sparring that is sadly no longer extant.

[@fingerpicker2]

It seems the woke young are determined on a dystopian future . The one click generation have grown up at the most privileged time in history it seems they are completely oblivious to the enormous human sacrifices that made it so. Good luck I think your going to need it

[@johannabarry4672]

I think that's the problem. They will change their tune quick enough when they find their many privileges are not actually a human right.

[@stud6414]

Keep being law abiding citizens the English. It's really working out for you.

[@shirlski]

Who are these editors?

[@richardmullens4707]

Mad, crazy people are wanting to rewrite the books!

[@WesternOutpostDonVonFilms]

Peter Hitchens is one of the wisest men on the planet. Thank God for people like him.

[@elisamcgowan4774]

This is one step away from the book burning the Nazis did, 'sensitivity Police' is a fancy way of saying it.

[@mariaefelices6543]

Puffin books we boycott now well done

[@kevinallsop1628]

Can't wait until the publishers edit the Koran.

[@andrewhotston983]

You'll be waiting for a long, long time.

[@colinfeltham7293]

The real, ongoing headline is the impotence of the majority who oppose this madness but do nothing.

[@lisasmith2660]

People need to leave history alone, what happened in the past you can't or shouldn't change, learn from it and concentrate on the future

[@frugalissima2930]

Bristol University has recently asked its staff and students for suggestions for alternative names for university buildings such as the Wills Building and the Fry Building because of their founders' associations with slavery.

[@stephfoxwell4620]

Which s bizarre. Because the Wills family only made their fortune after slavery was abolished. Their tenuous link is the grandfather had a single tobacconist shop and the tobacco came from Virginia. As for the Quaker Fry family, they were key players in slavery abolition. The tenuous link there is some cocoa came from Venezuela,which had some slaves. Frys made chocolate. The other was the Coalbrookedale iron makers the Goldneys. This tenuous link is that some iron chains may have been used on slave ships. Ludicrous.

[@abazely2743]

​@@stephfoxwell4620 All tobacco,cocoa and iron must be abolished.

[@bobbydeazy]

Imagine rewriting farenheit 451 or 1984 lmao the world's doomed

[@rosajucglaserra4506]

We are severely ill...

[@michelleward-kantor1274]

Utter lunacy. Is this even allowed? So glad I have many of Dahl’s books. Anyone who has read his books will know that the nasty characters in Dahl’s books always met their end. Children were often the heros. Dahl did not like people who were not well-meaning.

[@elizabethjohnston3549]

I only have one in the house i also have a new book called the wolf who cried boy if you see it have a look its the opposite of the boy who cried wolf I read it to the kids I had to stop no learning just telling kids don't believe your parents

[@georgemeacham8591]

I've just desensitised the complete works of Morrissey. Unfortunately, the only allowable words left are: "Dear hero............Dagenham Dave........Go easy...."

[@lookandlisten5740]

There's some bad people on the rise.....and they're from the Left.

[@louiscrinklewood2232]

Peter Hitchens is crazy, how can you not like Road Dahl? Guy no doubt wrote some magical, imaginative stories that will live deep in our memories.

[@robhaskins]

Sorry about that. I listened a couple of more times and you're right and I agree!

[@janetbarkwith]

Well, it wouldn't do for us all to be the same - which is rather what all this sort of anti-woke argument is about, in a way. They are trying to dumb us all down to the same level. I don't Dahl's work either!

[@ItaloGallese]

FFS 🤦‍♂️ as a half British- half Italian … this is British tradition.

[@brocktoon8]

There is ZERO antisemitism in any of his books!!!! I have read them all.

[@grahammorris5490]

I get to a certain point updating some of the language to make it say more understandable but when I hear them changing things like the term "going white as a sheet", its errr...what? How is that offensive or problematic in any way? No doubt they will somehow make the leap of 'white sheets - Ku Klux Clan'

[@marilena7848]

NO. "Updating" language to make it "understandable" is a Big No. You can use footnotes where truly necessary. (1) It opens the door to "sanitizing" texts. (2) It stunts the expansion of a child's vocabulary and understanding.. "Updating" often means dumbing down, replacing perfectly good words with childish ones. If 9 yr-olds are only given books with a "scientifically" (!) determined list of words that 9-yr-olds already know, they won't advance much.

[@charleswatson1093]

@@marilena7848 Hear, hear! Good for you.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Well, they scared their slaves like that by pretending to be ghosts. Just saying. It turned into the clan later.

[@jonharrison9222]

And, once again, Hitchens opines without thinking.

[@nickagnew965]

its time for people to stand up to this nonsense instead of shaking their heads.i feel i must defend Dahl he was not only an outstanding writer but he displayed great courage and bravery during world war 2 in the fight against the Nazis.

[@thehypest6118]

Please for the love of God everyone who comes to this video read 1984 before that's changed too

[@LordEriolTolkien]

Language IS Thought. Control Language; Control Thought. I Dissent.

[@darrellpowell6042]

The publishers today said they WILL NOT change the books original text. they have listened to British public outcry over censorship. Francesca Dow, managing editor of Penguin, which owns Puffin, said: "We've listened to the debate over the past week which has reaffirmed the extraordinary power of Roald Dahl's books, and the very real questions around how stories from another era can be kept relevant for each new generation." Our new Queen has said : the Queen Consort told an audience of writers and publishers: "Please remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination. Enough said."

[@henrikpersson4698]

this guy sounds just like christopher hitchens. not surprising but it's remarkable how similar they sound.

[@stephenflook4156]

Its his brother

[@mikeoglen6848]

They grew up together...

[@roen6800]

Peter Hitchens must be the most cynical man I've ever met, but he's always enjoyable to listen to!

[@James-no5sr]

Peter is Top G

[@simonclare100]

This generations madness, it is bringing nothing good

[@martinhoy1]

I know what he means. The modern way is:- “ That’s was then, this is now” forget the past.

[@highlandqueen8120]

Who authorises this nonsense

[@evolassunglasses4673]

ZOG

[@blowduke]

It’s no wonder there not burning them all .