The New Roald Dahl

Lately, I've been thinking about the recently-announced revisions to Roald Dahl's children's books.

For those who haven't heard: the late Roald Dahl's current publisher, Puffin, has hired sensitivity readers to help bring his classics in line with modern sensibilities. The removal of references to ugliness and obesity are getting the most attention, though I've also read that they updated Matilda's taste in literature. (Kipling's out; Austen's in.)

Personally, I'm not one to tell other people what to read, or to let others tell me what I can read. If there's a market for the edited versions of these books, then so be it.

These are children's books, after all, and although I'm quite happy to read classic children's books myself from time to time (Thurber's The 13 Clocks is one of my favourites), I realize that an adult reading a children's book is probably going to have different experiences--and different tastes--than a kid reading a children's book.

What adults read, show, or give to children is and should be put under more scrutiny than what we read or watch ourselves. I don't personally worry about whether something has aged well when deciding what to read, but I realize that attitude is inappropriate when kids are involved.

Old works of art should be available for those who want them, and those with offensive material should be properly labeled for the sake of those who would not enjoy them. If revised versions are made, then they should also be clearly labeled so that they won't be mistaken for the original. Where literature is concerned, I don't think that an update needs to be a replacement.

Given the choice, I'd rather read an unedited copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over one of these newer editions for the same reason I'd rather watch It's a Wonderful Life in black-and-white rather than in color.

But, as long as I'll always have a choice, I'm not going to worry.

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