The Dark History of Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is one of the most beloved children's authors in the world. But the man behind the books had a much darker mindset and personality than we were lead to believe.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:11 Thanks for 100K subscribers
2:25 Why The Witches Was a Banned Book
4:17 Why James & the Giant Peach has been Banned
4:53 Why Revolting Rhymes was pulled in Australia
5:26 The Dodgy Book Cover Controversy
5:44 What's a Snozzberry?
7:12 Why Children Should read Dark stories
8:50 Dahl's Racism
13:27 Dahl's AntiSemitism
16:32 Dahl's wife Patricia Neal
17:56 How Dahl helped Stroke Survivours
18:55 Dahl's time as a pilot and spy
20:07 His ex-wife & daughter speak out
20:50 The Dark Side of Dahl's personality
21:06 Dahl's abuse of his publishers
24:27 Conclusion
Disclaimer: I am a Book Depository Affiliate. I am not sponsored for any of my reviews and will always disclose if a book I am reviewing has been sent to me for review.

[@Kevin_the_Caveman]

I'm not particularly a proponent of thinking of books completely separate from their authors, however I do think that there is nothing surprising that great authors can be disgusting human beings, while there are saints that have not a speck of creativity in them... I think accepting that people are complex, can accomplish great things in some areas while being terrible in others, is simply having an adult view of human complexity.

[@amberadams9310]

I do think it makes some difference whether the author is still alive or not. If they’re being unapologetically awful and they’re still living, I wouldn’t buy any future works. But if they’ve already passed away, or for buying works second-hand, it may be ok to eat the meat and spit out the bones. (However, I do own a book I don’t even want someone to buy at Half-Price Books after what the author did in the past few years, and having learned how inaccurate the history in it is)

[@1984isnotamanual]

In my opinion great writers have to see the worst of life to truly write about it greatly

[@jasonhawkins6888]

There is a disturbing trend these days to bathe in the bad blood of the dead. It never seems to fail that the moment an artist dies these days hardly a second passes before we (all of a sudden) discover what a disgusting pig they are. I think that modern context blurs this for us, and our compulsion to "cancel" them (perhaps to elevate ourselves without putting in any real work) is a little too predictable. Hell, there's mainstream comedy movies from 10 years ago that absolutely COULD NOT be made today. Not because the writers were discovered to be racists/sexist/phobist, but because our sensitivity has changed. So, when it comes to Dahl, Lovecraft, Tolkien (and someday Rowling, King, Martin) I'll just leave my pitchfork in the shed and let someone else feel compelled to tribalize virtue. Good video though, you are very knowledgeable on the subjects! 🤜💥🤛

[@artemisia2002us]

@@jasonhawkins6888 There is nothing wrong with acknowledging a writer's personal character flaws while still crediting them with being talented, hardworking craftsman. It is an adult view to do so. Not doing so is, imho, a childish pushing away of what one does not want to hear because it doesn't "feel good". BTW, he probably had a serious TBI from the war which impacted his behavior in a deeply negative way.

[@vincentbatten4686]

So long as we are aware of who the people were and how that may have influenced their writing, then we are free to enjoy the work divorced from the person who created the work. It's all about understanding and accepting the whole truth and not ignoring atrocious behavior in order to create an easy reality for mindless consumption. That's just my thoughts on the whole separate the art from the artist. Both sides are kind of missing the point imo.

[@PeacockandPuppets]

I remember reading this short story by him involving a wife killing her husband with a lamb leg then feeding the murder weapon to the investigating police. Some how this was a formative memory to me

[@solbutton1611]

Holy shit…

[@bycromwellshelmet2369]

I'm sure I remember this story from an early episode of _Tales of the Unexpected_ which was introduced by Dhal himself. The other weird one was the macabre wager involving the loss of a finger if a lighter failed at any attempt.

[@aziraphaleangel]

@@solbutton1611 To be fair, that story is from one of his collections of short stories aimed at adults. Even Dahl never got that dark in his kids' books.

[@lunalovegood8931]

My year 7 English teacher read this out to my class when we were meant to be doing a spelling test once. Also a formative memory of mine.

[@pintrest6507]

Lamb to the Slaughter

[@thomasbell7033]

I've been a journalist and occasional creative writer most of my life. I've met lots of successful writers in both my occupations and I find that Arthur Koestler said it best: "Liking a writer then meeting the writer is like liking goose liver and then meeting the goose."

[@garydeforve5055]

It may seem random that the grasshopper mentions that he doesn't want to be eaten by a Mexican, but I think it just relates to the fact that Mexicans are known to eat grasshoppers traditionally. They call them 'chapulines'.

[@gnostic268]

Mexicans aren't a separate race either. It's a former Spanish colony with the elite considering themselves more pure because they have mainly European Spanish blood. There are mestizos who have intermarried with Indigenous people and are only half pure European Spanish. Then there are the Indigenous people who lived there for thousands of years prior to colonization. So Mexican society is itself somewhat bigoted towards people of non-European blood.

[@wonkydonkey8349]

wow - after learning about snozberries, the name willy wonka takes on a whole new meaning

[@missbluesea]

Lol!

[@kelseycoca]

better than Willy Wanka

[@worthybutter2004]

Well, as far as I know those stories aren't canon to each other. But interesting bit of trivia, anyway!

[@johnsheridan5231]

I remember reading a passage in his book Going Solo, an autobiography of his adult life around the time of the war. It was during his recovery after the crash mentioned in the video. He was bandaged up pretty snugly, and could not see anything for days on days. He was attended to by a female nurse, and he essentially fell in love with her and her voice. He waxed poetic about her, on and on. He finally got the bandages off, and looked at her. He said something along the lines of 'that was disappointing' and then made no mention of her ever again. Very clever author, quite unlikable otherwise.

[@HiDefHDMusic]

I wouldn’t say that Dahl was one of my favorite authors, but I do remember reading his books quite vividly. The scratchy doodles on the covers that passed for cover art never seemed to match the comedic whimsy of the book, but looking back they seem to betray that behind the clever prose was a man who didn’t quite grow up.

[@samanthacook2688]

Going Solo is a great book, as is Boy. Finding out more about the back story helped me make more sense of his very first published short story A Piece Of Cake. I especially love the transition from stream of consciousness to dreaming and delirium then back again.

[@samanthacook2688]

@@motherofcatsnz I loved that last chapter. It was touch and go that he ever made it back to England, what with the ships all sailing through hazardous Nazi filled waters. They didn't all make it. Then it was only his RAF wings that saved him from a right good beating at the hands of a gang of drunks in London. Then he walked for hours to his sister's place, laden down with his weighty bags of lemons etc, along with enough pieces of silk fabric to make a dress for each one of his sisters. His mother was so pleased to see him as she had already once received the dreaded telegram and had no idea if he was even still alive after his plane crash in that Gladiator. A special mother and child reunion if ever there was one.

[@jonharrison9222]

How do you know…?

[@samanthacook2688]

@@jonharrison9222 If it's me you're asking then it's all in that last chapter of Going Solo.

[@grapeshot]

Yes there's definitely a reason why they say you should never meet your heroes.

[@tayzk5929]

Based and redpilled Roald Dahl

[@GravityFromAbove]

I just read a Czech fairy where a prince goes through a series of three tasks accumulating a firebird, a golden horse, and a golden haired princess. Just as he is about to bring these to the king his brothers meet him on the road, and then violently cut him up into pieces and steal his treasures. Which came as a radical shock within the story, without a hint of foreshadowing. Czech stories are often dark as pitch. The dead prince is later reassembled and brought to life pouring over him the water of death... then the water of life. I love darker fairytales. Thanks for the dive into Roald Dahl's work and background.

[@nidohime6233]

Iván and the Firebird, right? Is a famous tale of slavic culture.

[@ashleygibson2342]

Folklore is so interesting for how grim and dark it can be.

[@GravityFromAbove]

@@nidohime6233 Basically yes. That's it!

[@brigidspencer5123]

Originally fairytales were created to entertain adults not children. It was Walt Disney that invented “happily ever after” because the original fairy tales frequently had violent, frightening ends.

[@kevinsysyn4487]

Children are taught to fear witches..... and not to fear the people who burn witches.

[@allanchalmers9778]

Now there's a valid point.

[@Mars-ev7qg]

Yes that is so true. In first grade they have books teaching kids to fear witches but they don't make the students read the crucible until tenth or eleventh grade. Things that make you go humm.

[@vypa-bk1iy]

Because witches are bad and the people who burn them are good

[@mikeydubbs8565]

@@Mars-ev7qg in third grade, they had us read a book about the Trials, but then again, I grew up not even 20 miles away from Salem/Danvers, so we learned a bit more about Colonial history than the rest of the country probably did/does; it’s part of our heritage

[@Mars-ev7qg]

@mikeydubbs8565 Yes, that's a very unusual situation. Maybe other places will start following your school's example. I wouldn't hold my breath for it though.

[@h.c.8731]

This just goes to show that a good editor sometimes has more to do with a book’s success than the author.

[@Dizzydollie7]

This can be true even if you’re absolutely wonderful at writing, too

[@hcb0218]

@@Dizzydollie7 "To write is human, to edit is divine." Stephen King

[@Dizzydollie7]

@@hcb0218 write drink, edit sober - someone famous but I forgot

[@bevanborges4047]

Lady of the Library, this video is interesting. However, you should remember that the book "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is actually Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is only the title of the 1971 movie with Gene Wilder. I don't mean to sound rude, but this error kept jumping out at me as a fan of the books.

[@seanisnotjohn]

She doesn't care about the books she just wants to be outraged at a beloved children's author

[@mokeygreen]

Ok I’m ready… I have been avoiding a deep dive on one of my favorite authors because I knew the time he lived in. You have an honest face so I’ll take this journey with you

[@Myperfectshell]

I opened up my phone a few summers ago and randomly read his entire collection of short stories right in my browser while relaxing in a lawn chair. What a trip that was. There were points where the writing was very strong, and good enough to keep me reading, but overall the experience left me with a low and dark feeling, a feeling like he was just messing around, that none of it really mattered, there wasn’t any central message or set of values behind his artistry as a storyteller. This has since clouded over my fonder memories of reading his best books as a child. Odd mind he had.

[@luckyphil45]

Woo 100k! I always enjoyed his books growing up. I have heard about there being a darker side to his character but never looked into the specifics, so this was very interesting!

[@taylorcarmen5336]

I hate that ableism is seen as less toxic than other kinds of hatred. The use of his wife's words is such a clear mockery of the disabled. Which says nothing of the fact that the witches all have limb differences

[@emmajones8715]

Congratulations on your 100k you deserve 100% that number. You are a little KZbin gem!! One of my favourite content creators x

[@saranohmusic57]

"A boaster, liar, and a bully" My father who sexually abused me loved Dahl. Thank you for this video. The obsession with "good"&"bad" children needing punishment .... the joy he took in punishment.... definitely something off about it.

[@constancedarko6017]

Ooo sorry my good sister

[@NoLefTurnUnStoned.]

Sorry that happened but your father may have loved marmalade or Mozart.

[@Atlas92936]

As someone who has been bullied, I am a big believer of justice and appropriate punishment

[@SisterUnity]

The grasshopper comment on being eaten by Mexicans may be a reference to insect based dishes in regional Mexican cuisine. For example, here in Los Angeles, the authentic Oaxacan restaurant, Guelaguetza, serves a plate of friend crickets. My friends tell me they are crunchy.

[@Sherlika_Gregori]

These jerks are everywhere in literature. Hemingway, Ágatha Christie, Patrícia Highsmith. Tell me who isn’t a jerk.

[@Sophie_Cleverly]

As a children's author, I'd say everyone I've met has been pretty lovely... But there are definitely some of the big names I would avoid 😅

[@beybey8253]

Agatta? What did she do? 🤯

[@jackieking1522]

I've a friend who knew Alan Garner and thought him something of a snot. I met Margaret Mahy and she was just stunning..... so like every "classification", probably a mixed bag.

[@AW-uv3cb]

Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell aaand... J. R. R. Tolkien! (Yes he was also a product of his times which caused him to have a somewhat idealised view of women, but he was proudly opposed to anti-Semitism in an era when that wasn't a given, a nature lover and by all accounts a caring friend, a loving husband and father).

[@bigphilly7345]

Yeah, if we only read nice people, then we’d have very little (good) books to read.

[@kelseylee2871]

This was such a fascinating analysis of Dahl's work and character. And congratulations on 100K!!

[@thatbberg]

Wild that The Witches as an entire work is an antisemitic blood libel metaphor yet THAT is what it got banned for.

[@grapeshot]

I remember all those years of reading comic books in the back where they had the advertisements including the one to order sea monkeys. And we found out the person behind the Sea-Monkeys was a Hitler fan boy as well as racist.

[@CinziaDuBois]

Oh my god I forgot about the Nazi sea monkey creator!!

[@grapeshot]

@@CinziaDuBois And he was Jewish.

[@nidohime6233]

The sea monkeys don't have the fault it was advertise as a pet by a nazi. Also the are known as artemia.

[@CraftyVegan]

I think the main takeaway for the idea of “death of the author” needs to be accompanied by a hard look at the content of the author’s work and whether the authors’ baggage and harmful ideologies bleed through into their writing. As a “for example”, the books of the Dean of science fiction, Robert Heinlein, are filled with homophobia, incest, misogyny, and of course a bit of racism, which follows along with his own harmful beliefs. I don’t believe that these authors should be censored, but they should be read with a critical mindset rather than set forward as literary beacons.

[@sourgreendolly7685]

As grim as this may sound, literal death of the author on top of that helps too. I wouldn’t want to spend any money that went to him if he lived today but he doesn’t so I’m not financially enabling his behavior. I’ve stopped spending money on living writers for that reason. Even the one that made me want to write wasn’t immune from that. There’s always the library, second hand shops, and even free digital file depending on one’s personal morals if you’re interested anyways.

[@gubernatorial1723]

Well, I never. I only read 'Stranger ...' and for the life of me believed him to be acute about things.

[@CraftyVegan]

@@gubernatorial1723 I grok. But especially in “Stranger” he’s sexist and homophobic. There’s several paragraphs near the end after Mike starts his church about how Ben is reassured about Mike not having gay sex because Mike refuses to offer water to “effeminate men” (and masculine women for that matter) presumably because he “groks a wrongness with those poor inbetweeners”

[@CraftyVegan]

@@sourgreendolly7685 oh for sure! And it does help if the family of the author are decent folks… and if they’re not, I’m certainly not above finding their book at the library (even online libraries) and reading it that way so I don’t have to give my $$ to them or their estate.

[@gubernatorial1723]

Thanks for your details, read it in the far-off less aware early eighties as a dewy-brained youth. One of the golden books from my dead ultra-cool eldest brother, The others from memory being a Gormenghast, a Hesse and Silas Marner. The first section of the last is forever the definitive summary of the falsehood of fundamentalism, known a hundred and fifty years ago.

[@winterburden]

Thank you so much for this absolutely fascinating video! And congrats on 100k, you're amazing! 🙆‍♀️

[@skannerdk7268]

Here comes the smear campaign, I will cherish his works and so will my children.

[@reniasva]

Imagine being a french-german historian (modern history, including the medieval and a bachelor in art history that wasn't worth its money) whose german grandparents were people who voted for the Nazis....... It's not that easy. My grandmother had her last child (my mom) at age 35 and my mom had me at 42. I'm technically one of the few people born in 1990 with Nazi grandparents. My french grandparents were in the Résistance. The wedding was interesting, to say the least..... Anyways, I know what it feels like to love people with a weird history. To put it mildly. Love your videos!!! Big fan!

[@ShmoopDooper]

People are complex. I've read his autobiographies and I still respect him for his good qualities despite his alleged bigotry. I also think people can be too thin-skinned about that type of thing. I don't think he was nearly as racist as people seem to think. He simply wrote based on his life experiences and didn't sanitize his phrasing to accommodate a modern audience.

[@lesliemoon6323]

When I read his biography I was shocked to find this out about - what was - my literary hero. Thank you for this video! Also, Haifa is in Palestine, Israel didn’t exist until 1948 after the Nakba and destruction and colonization of the Ottoman Empire.

[@samcalven12]

Ottoman Empire also engaged in destruction and colonization of other nations too though.

[@danmitchell1955]

Yeah including Middle East and what Romans called Palestine which was called Judea and Israel all conqueres do the same thing Muslims did in Middle East when they took it in 6th century and so on .

[@LaineyBug2020]

Congrats on 100k! 🎈🎊🎉🥂🍾❣🕺💃🏽❣

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you!!

[@RU81111]

This was really enjoyable to watch, it had a strong hook, a good vibe all the way through, and I feel like I learned alot. I hope yall have a good day and I look forward to the next vid.

[@CinziaDuBois]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@theresahemminger1587]

I heard a radio interview with Patricia Neal when she had started working again when no one thought she ever could. The interviewer kept trying to get her to express anger against Dahl who, I think, left her for another woman. (It’s a long time ago so I can’t swear to details). She absolutely refused because without him she would not be a fully functioning actress. She had no illusions about his character otherwise but did not waver in her gratitude to him. They had other tragedies in their life together losing two young children in terrible ways.

[@bullterror5]

Sounds like someone who got to ride on a Yacht with Epstein 🙄

[@bethhague8470]

You definitely skipped over his childhood lol. Dahl was a very privileged man who came from what we would probably now call the last of the aristocracy. He attended multiple high end schools regularly traveled abroad and was well connected in politics and money. The reality is that he probably grew up in the echo chamber of antisemitism, racism and misogyny and because his circle doesn’t change much during his life people whom he found worthy of his time would reiterate this to them. There was never really a chance he wouldn’t be antisemitic, he was just way to privileged to ever have his views tested or pushed beyond his own self indulgence.

[@apex2000]

product of his upbringing?

[@phoenixliv]

Aw just like little Draco Malfoy. Explaining the behavior doesn't excuse it.

[@yingyang1008]

Yes, no doubt he would be concerned about the plight of Palestinians

[@bethhague8470]

@@phoenixliv I mean if you’d read what I said you know I don’t think it does. There is a reason his wives and children don’t get along with him. He actively chose not to challenge his view points and died an old bitter man who held the same views his whole life. You also can’t really compare him to draco malfoy who was fictional character canonically left at age 17 (a very formative age) so we can’t know if he ever would/did change his opinions and outlooks on life.

[@clementineharper7473]

I basically agree with you but he was no aristocrat being the son of Norwegian immigrants to Wales...

[@kayla-zc7se]

this video is absolutely phenomenal, and the work you put into it is so apparent. wow. so impressive.

[@sunpi]

i love your videos so much! watched you for yearsssss and its so nice seeing you grow

[@zebrapark1]

Just discovered you and have been devouring your videos while I work....I'm a children's book illustrator and found this absolutely fascinating... I knew he was a jerk....but wow...illuminating!

[@janeylane87]

YAAAY Congratulations 100K!!!! Also yaaay Livestream

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you!!

[@robertgronewold3326]

I think every author can have questionable content in their works, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by complete accident. Always important to look at the whole picture. Though I've heard stuff about how Dahl was a character for YEARS. Honestly, if he was around today in the age of social media, he would probably be largely despised.

[@christinepaige2575]

And deservedly so, imo.

[@jazzmylife9649]

I joined the publisher George Allen & Unwin around the time of the publication of the first UK Edition of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. The demand was enormous. During the Christmas period a van load of the book was being delivered to 'Foyles' daily, and sometimes, more than once a day. It is interesting to note that the Northern sales representative, a long serving and highly respected individual, Archie Chown, totally refused to promote the book to any bookseller or related book trade wholesaler. He openly stated that he "utterly detested the book". This in real terms, for him, meant a significant loss of potential income. A man of principle. Something of a rarity in the contemporary world.

[@Eric.Taylor.1962]

I think this my favourite video so far. Well researched and presented Cinzia.

[@MikkiProductions204]

Congrats on reaching 100k! 🥳🥳 I have been a subscriber since 2011, when Pottermore was a thing, and I found your hilarious Pottermore video, I subscribed and have been here ever since 😊 I, unfortunately, cannot attend the livestream as it will be at 2am for me, but I will definitely watch it after! Congratulations Cinzia! 😊🎉🤩

[@lizjolly5454]

Congratulation on 100k subscribers .... It's still showing!

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you so much 😀

[@jakdagger1076]

I remember raising an eyebrow when reading his foreword to a collection of authors short ghost stories that he had put together, supposedly women are great at short stories, particularly ghost stories, but lack the ability to write good novels. His books most definitely had a big influence on my love for reading but I can think of plenty of female authors who have written far superior novels and short stories than anything that he wrote. A bit of a cliché but I guess he was a product of his times. Anyway, loving your channel, always a good watch.

[@tayzk5929]

It's subjective bro. Calm down.

[@jakdagger1076]

@@tayzk5929 Bro? oh no, it’s happened again, i’m really sorry, my dad was a bit of a player. I’m sorry dear brother that you thought I needed to be told to calm down.I promise you I was very calm when I wrote the post, but since we are family you’ll soon get to know this. So your mother? Was she a lady of the night or was she just a loose woman? Dad had strange tastes.. are you a Dwarf?

[@tayzk5929]

@@jakdagger1076 Yikes, relax.

[@jakdagger1076]

@@tayzk5929 Thank you for the concern dear brother but if I got any more relaxed I’d be dead.

[@tayzk5929]

@@jakdagger1076 Nah chill

[@harmcamstra6862]

Hello Lady, I really enjoyed you talking one of my own golden oldies, RD. Never knew about him, but divored his books as a kid. Thanks for al the time and efford you give us.

[@flowermeerkat6827]

Roald Dahl sounds like a completely unpleasant human being. However, I can totally relate to his having a strong preference for a good pencil. Kudos to Knopf for refusing to deal with Dahl because he was unpleasant. I seriously doubt that an institution would have such scruples now, profit prevails now, not civility.

[@zeltzamer4010]

This comment is laughable given recent events. Publishing houses hire literal ‘sensitivity editors’ now. Anyone trying to write something even a fraction as jaundiced as Dahl’s stuff probably wouldn’t be allowed within fifty feet of the building. Hard to say what their goal even is there, since they went as far as to remove inoffensive, non-racist parts of his books like the words “hag” or “screwy.” And you can’t really pin it on profit, either, since it’s been met with almost universal backlash (although I guess they are technically selling two versions of all his work now.)

[@ciarangleeson2880]

Why did he not just buy his own pencils? Or use a pen, for that matter?

[@mzjamm2]

Thank you for this bio of Roald Dahl. I remember when his 1st wife had her stroke. Lately, I've seen much more content about him. It all seemed so flowery and I knew there was more to him. Again, I want to thank you for your well-rounded narrative.

[@nopenope3131]

This was FASCINATING!! I had absolutely no clue that most of my favorite childhood stories were filled with so many salacious details! Keep up the great work, and Congratulations on 100k!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🍾

[@CinziaDuBois]

Glad you enjoyed it! and thank you

[@lifeofpandora8056]

Well this was phenomenal, I never knew! What a great video, Cinzia, thank you.

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you so much!

[@hellybelle5]

I image you've read the real fairy stories (Brothers Grimm, and Anderson's versions) and they're actually dark, whilst Dahl's work is comparatively light hearted. We loved his rewritings of the nursery rhymes 😄 A lot of his writings are definitely not for children.

[@Literarydilettante]

Dahl always reminds me of Wodehouse, whom MI6 labelled as "not a Nazi sympathiser, but a silly ass" during WWII. They were both prime products of their time, and those were some bigoted times. Keeping that in mind, it's easier to separate the work from the creator, and enjoy the beauty of the English language and some of its best performing fleas.

[@yingyang1008]

But it was OK to be a Stalin sympathizer?

[@Havermeyer7908]

People defiantly tend to unfairly tar Wodehouse with the Nazi brush. I think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time

[@nataliesmyth9013]

This is the first video I’ve seen of yours, and I just wanted to say that you are wonderful and I’m so glad I found your channel!

[@radiosnail]

Well done on your 100k Cinzia. Found this one quite interesting ma'am.

[@ForTwnT420]

This was so informative, and one of my favorite videos of yours so far! Dahl has written so many of my treasured childhood books. I'm very sad to hear he wasn't a very good person!

[@sweeney60]

I was once told that artists either make art from the good that is within them or they make it from the good they wish was within them. I think Dahl may have been doing a little of both. I don’t know what was going on inside him but if I had to venture a guess, his trauma both physical and mental from the war probably shaped who he was and how he viewed the world. Perhaps his writing was a way to try and make something good out of all the toxicity he had created around himself. Maybe he wanted to both inspire kids as well as warn them about the darkness that was out there in the world. I don’t know, but I would like to believe his work was a way of trying to do some good even if he wasn’t capable of doing good elsewhere.

[@NapoleonCalland]

If you read his autobiograpy, that "Perhaps" becomes more of a "Very probably". Hurt people trying to compensate for hurting people ?

[@energybengt]

Well expressed … I feel similarly.

[@worthybutter2004]

I think it's not just the war that traumatised him, because I've read that when he was a kid, he suffered a lot of abuse from his teachers at school. So it's possible he was already pretty traumatised from his childhood, the war only worsened it. It's also possible that him writing his stories was a coping mechanism for him. Like an escape from his difficult life.

[@mmendi1114]

Very balanced presumptions. I suppose when analysing authors as such we fail to look at it as wholly as possible. One important factor to consider is the context and environment. For all of those who have been, seen, and felt war's consequences, they have said that it is the most destructive creation of mankind. War is an enormous effective factor in people's lives collectively and individually and to understand Dahl is to understand the context that he was brought up in and the values he had in that era of GB, and his ever evolving world views. Looking at Dahl from the perspectives we hold now will only lead to useless judgements of him. Jordan Peterson always says, seperate the wheat from the chaff and in Dahls case it has to be seperated. All of humanity has its dark side of the soul and praise be to those who do not deny it, work through it, and try at least to understand it with patience and hope of betterment. His novels appealed to me immensly as a child ( they still do) but his ability in making me imagine and picture his texts in my mind and still remember thim to this day is unique to say the least. May his memorable work live on, and may we as readers increase our understanding of humans in different chapters of history.

[@MameysMedley]

This was brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@nondisclosureable]

I have always interpreted the adult Snozberries reference as testicles, because it connects with the old 'Twig and berries' analogy.

[@sashaflip7450]

I used to be obsessed as a kid and teen with celebrities and one day at 17 years old I cried cause my parents wouldn’t buy me a poster and cd of my favorite bands and my mother got so upset. She said “you are hysterical over people you don’t know! You’re here crying and they’re in their mansions laughing at you. For all you know they are terrible humans” that day I came to the realization that these are people who I might not even like if I met personally. It’s interesting growing up and realizing that you can’t just idolize or admire people you don’t know cause they might be crappy human beings.

[@Jamiesayla]

Wow, your 100k subscribers mark made me remember to subscribe. I love your content. Thank you!

[@HeatherMarieDriscoll]

Thank you for this !!! So informative and I truly appreciate your brilliance

[@CAP198462]

The only comment I think would be fair to make is I appreciate your mature response to this knowledge about Mr Dahl’s personal life. It’s taken on board without ending in an impassioned plea for torches and pitchforks.

[@TheLala114]

Thank you for putting it all out there. It’s not about cancelling them, it’s about presenting all sides of their character. His writing is brilliant for kids but they should know about the character of the man.

[@boogiewoogie9770]

Why? Do you read a biography of every artist you experience the work of? Their work is not them. Complex people. Perhaps that's why they create? Artists should not be concerned with the petty morals of the general public. Especially the middle classes.

[@TheLala114]

@@boogiewoogie9770 As a matter of fact I do. When an artist or person interests me or I enjoy their work. I do read/research their backgrounds. I do so because I’m curious about what influenced their creative process and who they are/were as a person. As implied by my pervious comment, although perhaps not explicitly stated, I don’t judge him for who he was and I can separate the art from the man and/or the prejudices of the time and his upbringing.

[@sandrafreeman515]

@@TheLala114 While you can, children usually cannot. Also, for myself, I stopped researching the lives of people who work in art, literature etc because it is always disappointing to discover the negative aspects of their personalities. Children would, in my opinion, suffer unnecessarily by being presented such adult topics from their favorite authors too early in life. As an elementary school teacher, I can assure you that most children will not be able to separate authors and their eccentricities from their work and many good books will be spoiled for them if such things are revealed about authors, especially their favorite ones during childhood. Let them enjoy their childhood and their favorite authors. Then, in college, the lives of authors can be studied by those who are interested in such things.

[@TheLala114]

@@sandrafreeman515 I also teach primary and at no point have I suggested that we introduce the negative aspects of an author to children. But if a child were to ask, they should be given the correct information, as age appropriate. A lot of the children, I teach are from ethnic backgrounds and they think Dahl is fantastic. I would not wish to take that away from them, but if they were to ask, I would answer honestly but contextualise my answer so that they understood that society as a whole was very different and therefore so were ideas around race, etc.

[@TheGezzagirl55]

I had a similar journey with Dhal. After reading Neale’s biography, I was confirmed in my unease in what appeared to the adult me to be his misogynistic view of any but ‘pretty’ or young women. Older women are mostly treated as monsters, unless they’re motherly’. I read his adult short stories with fascination and they confirmed my view. A flawed misogynist, with skills.

[@epicurusone6897]

Just discovered your channel … brilliant!! Interesting and very entertaining. I’ve definitely subscribed. Thanks!

[@GabyGibson]

Dahl's dark side is something I've enjoyed in addition to his lighter stuff. Thanks for highlighting it

[@leelovesmusic4226]

Another great video by the lovely Cinzia DuBois

[@CinziaDuBois]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Thommy2n]

When I got older I also started to realize the same anti-semetic issues when I rewatched one of my childhood favorites, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, Most of the things the movie adaptation is known for were thanks to Dahl penning the screenplay. Most notably… the childcatcher. Who is basically what would happen if nazi wrote a stranger danger PSA. I mean… seriously Dahl! I will treasure my childhood memories of your work. But… who hurt you?!

[@bendover7841]

Jews

[@ciarangleeson2880]

His teachers at school.

[@ilPUMAdog]

Fried grasshoppers is a popular food in Oaxaca, Mexico. Maybe Dahl heard about it and found it interesting enough to reference in his book.

[@joeyoung431]

Isiah Berlin, a friend of Dahl's, once observed that Dahl wasn't an anti-semite, he was an impulsive, choleric, provocative sounder-off who spent decades coping with chronic pain conditions, a succession of personal tragedies (Pat's stroke wasn't the half of it) and a deficit of official recognition for his work. In that capacity, he was predisposed to say horrible things. He deserves criticism for those statements, absolutely, but they shouldn't be taken as expressions of his actual opinions. I believe it was his youngest daughter Lucy who said "Anything you could say about him would be true."

[@gubernatorial1723]

Thanks Joe.

[@toniyoung8474]

Just found your channel. Love your analysis and personality.

[@AlexielRaziel]

I will always love Dahl because he was an extraordinary writer and story teller, even before he wrote children's stories. But man, was he a jerk. lol

[@lucindachambers3855]

Congrats on 100k!!! I would love to attend your celebratory stream but unfortunately that's 2am in Australia lol. There in spirit!

[@derekdavis5310]

You handled this topic extremely well. Great work!

[@krcmaine]

Congratulations! It's still 100k 🥳🎂🍾

[@alagorical8001]

Amazing video as always thankyiu xxx

[@tomcrowell6697]

while witch typically translates etymologically as 'wise woman'... I know many men that practice various alternative faiths and refer to themselves as male witches. I use the term bard myself since I like language, learning, and stories as a way to be more in touch with my ancestry and faith.

[@davidwooten3924]

Lovely to see you!

[@CinziaDuBois]

You too, David!!

[@spacemanspiff3052]

Another great post! Thank you!!!

[@bryanneskinner]

To be fair, Dixon Ticonderoga pencils are fire. This was an excellent video. Thank you for sharing. I'll have to check out the podcast and second channel.

[@andy2950]

I was aware of Dahl's nefarious personal life, but in this excellent video, your wonderful, beautiful idiosyncratic delivery is like human catnip. Hope the "real" you is feeling better, and surfing the joy of 100,000 subs. ❤️✌️

[@Gojirosan]

Superb video, excellent subject matter, well presented. You rock!

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you kindly, Dave!

[@whimsicalmusedesign]

I love listening to your voice and method of information delivery...It is so interest!

[@KarlWitsman]

I am watching this a year later and you have nearly 200,000 subscribers, so you are far better than mediocre, my dear. Please don't put yourself down.

[@petersvillage7447]

Your commentary was so thorough, but I have to add something you didn't - Dahl played a significant part in changing the treatment of hydrocephalus in children, by collaborating on the development of the Wade-Dahl-Till valve. This device was a marked improvement on what had been in use previously, and benefitted thousands of children. It's been superseded, but it was a significant step forward in treatment. Having said this, I'm now concerned that you'll reveal that you researched this but left it out because it turns out Dahl's contribution has been overstated..!

[@tgh965]

...just tripped onto your content. I very much enjoyed this video. Thank you.

[@Kayla-vy7bd]

i loved this video so much! i was hoping you could please send me a link of the sources - i’d love to read more about this xx

[@marrickvillian]

As a young boy in the UK I was given a collection of Dahl's books, and I devoured them all. My enduring favourites are "Danny, Champion of the World " and "Fantastic Mr Fox" and I am relieved to see that they didn't feature in this video. Both books are built around strong themes of the underdog, stealing from the rich, and I like to think they had a formative influence on me. Not long after I read his adult books, "Uncle Oswald" and a collection of short stories, and WOW, that really gave my prepubescent mind plenty to think about. haha This was before 'The Witches" "BFG" "Matilda" era, which I honestly didn't enjoy as much. He was clearly a complex character, and a product of his time and I'm glad I only knew him through his books. Thank you for the enlightening video! Subscribed x

[@CommissarMitch]

I always say to draw a line between the art and artist. Especially when they are dead and you can not really support them financially anymore. But I can see how people may be mad about learning these things. I get it.

[@CommissarMitch]

Additionally I do not think we should use a modern lense to look back at morality of the past. This is however extremy subjective. A racist is a racist no matter where and when they live.

[@kahlilbt]

I'm not out mad learning these things. A little shocked, a little interested, but my world isn't rocked. I still love Matilda lol

[@ChrisCollins068]

@@kahlilbt Yeah but so many of these people will be seriously affected because they are too damn sensitive and upset about everything 🤣

[@prixe12]

@@ChrisCollins068 Shut up chris

[@clairesutherland232]

Happy to see your video today. Got a banging headache had have to stay in bed. Matilda is my favourite at well.

[@professortony9538]

Here comes the patrol of "political correctness". Criticism is good up to a point: when you know how to admire the work and contextualize it. The rest is anachronism. Alterity is contextualizing in the author's time, not in the time of the patrol of "political correctness".

[@CinziaDuBois]

here comes the overly sensitive snowflake anti-woke mob who get triggered by everything without ever bothering to watch the video to see how off the mark they are 🙄

[@professortony9538]

Was Dahl anti-Semitic? Was Dahl racist? Here in Brazil, the politically correct patrol tried to sink Monteiro Lobato's boat, a precursor of children's literature in our country. You are so predictable, anachronistic and, why not say, vulgar to call me "overly sensitive snowflake anti-woke mob who get triggered by everything" without ever bothering to know who I am. Internet is for us to hate each other from a distance, is that it? You wanted me to throw confetti on your review? Confess...

[@Musclehustlerz]

I found this very interesting & it made sense. Thanks for the Knowledge drop🙌🏽🥂

[@Kari.F.]

Of course his children's literature was "dark". He grew up reading Norwegian and German fairy tales (the latter translated to Norwegian). Many of the greatest classic novels I have read in my life were written by authors whose opinions and "eccentric" behaviors is utterly repulsive today, but that were commonplace and mainstream in their lifetimes. Do I like that Knut Hamsun was a Nazi sympathizer, for example? Of course not. I was sorely disappointed when I found that out. As a writer myself, and a lifelong reader, "Growth of the soil" (Markens grøde) is still one of the best books I have ever read. I would probably not have agreed with Hamsun the man on anything. That doesn't mean that I can't admire his talent. I don't think I need to read the full life biography of every painter before I allow myself to be awestruck by their paintings when I visit a gallery, either. Or do research on the opinions of an architect before I buy a house he or she once designed for the first owner of the house. Life doesn't work that way for me. Does it for anyone?

[@jasminejanoyan9726]

My thoughts exactly!!! Thank you for not being afraid to be the voice of common sense.

[@AuraSparks]

Not everyone likes to take in art from terrible sources. Not sure why you're framing something as simple as informing yourself and choosing better art as such a silly impossible thing

[@zeltzamer4010]

@@AuraSparksBetter person doesn’t necessarily equal better art.

[@emmaleec1714]

This is fascinating! I loved the uniquely dark creativity of Dahl as a kid but I never knew much about the man. Thanks for sharing a video I didn't know I needed. And congrats on the 100k!! You've earned every single subscriber with all your hard work

[@hallievanoutryve3109]

The Witches and Matilda were some of my favorite books in childhood.

[@unclvinny]

This video is wall to wall juiciness, I’m so glad KZbin helped me stumble in it. I don’t hear people talk about Danny the Champion of the World …ever, basically, even though I loved it as a kid I guess everyone else missed it? Anyway, your thoughts on the man and his work were engrossing. Congrats on 100k! And you’ve spurred me to check out a few of his books I missed.

[@worthybutter2004]

Yeah, it's definitely not one of Dahl's most famous stories, but it is rather good. Not to mention the BFG makes an appearance in it.

[@kanampersand]

This was so interesting!

[@user-ez4fk6tf6v]

It's weird and amazing that writers like Dahl preach some form of acceptance, courage, kindness and we as readers are inspired and shape ourselves in those values but they themselves end up falling short on living up to those values. Also props to the editor made a rotten dude's body of work less awful. Edit: I just find it funny that Dahl wrote books and would've never liked most of his fans because they were a different color, from a different country or the opposite gender he's like a badly done family guy cut away gag.

[@boogiewoogie9770]

Perhaps you should contact his family and tell them that he was rotten...instead of sniping at him online. I'm sure they will respect your opinion.

[@boogiewoogie9770]

@Don´tbehasty Everyone's fair game these days. Everyone's a critic! Everyone is a perfect little angel too! Ho ho! You don't like his work then just move on.

[@boogiewoogie9770]

@Don´tbehasty I was referring to the OP's comments but of course no one likes racists apart from racists. As long as his work isn't racist who quite frankly gives a flying fig? He's dead. My gran was occasional a bit racist. Should I now refer to her as rotten also? Shhh...guess what? Lot's of British people were racist in the past. Including the parents of many commenting here re how rotten Dhal was.

[@boogiewoogie9770]

@Don´tbehastyOk so did racism infuence his work? If so please provide examples of overt racism published by him. I will absolutely concede that hate was his intent if the examples provided reveal this.

[@boogiewoogie9770]

@Don´tbehasty Mmm ok. It would be also interesting to research if there was one author writing prior to 1980s who didn't include racist tropes in their work.

[@evanames5940]

Thank you. While I did not read them when I was young, because I did not pick up the reading habit till 8th grade; I read or encourage my children to read Dahl. Peace and Joy

[@lesliemoiseauthor]

I would love more videos like this. CONGRATULATIONS 👏👏👏

[@nobbynoris]

There were male witches. Roald Dahl just didn't know enough about ancient English history.

[@dabtican4953]

Ancient English history?

[@gretamoffat8666]

Thank you so much for this I often tell my daughter about him ,After reading his wife’s book In the ninety .

[@Dizzydollie7]

I just re watched Fantastic Mr Fox with my child, who liked it but didn’t get it, and I was watching it like it was a horror film. Thanks for this video so I can figure out this man lol