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

Are edits to Roald Dahl books a slippery slope?

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.

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

“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."

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

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

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.

They're being taught a lot worse in schools

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

"This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs - to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance. " G.Orwell 1984

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

Such a sad state of affairs😢

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?

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

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.

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

Books burnt by "Sensitivity Readers"

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.

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?

That’s why physical media is important.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The world has gone mad.

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!

Fahrenheit 451 is just around the corner.

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!

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

"he that controls the past controls the future".

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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...

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.

Ship of Fools is comes to mind !

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

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

1984 is here. Start archiving everything.

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.

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

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

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 🤔

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

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.

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

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

We are severely ill...

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

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

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

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

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'

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!

Mad, crazy people are wanting to rewrite the books!

Puffin books we boycott now well done

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

Why is this segment shorter today when they are usually at least 20 minutes long

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."

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

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

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.

Who decides?

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

Can't wait until the publishers edit the Koran.

It’s no wonder there not burning them all .

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.

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.

Prisoners have been making art for decades. Charles Bronson comes to mind.

Where does this end? Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare?...

I made a point to call in on my local Watersons this afternoon to collect a new copy of Gulag Archepeligo by Alexanda Sholtinetzyn and had a chat with store person who informaly told me they have been revised for 25 years or more to fit in with modern sensiblities ? He added that he imagined they may be re pub lished in their original form if there is a demand ? Ive heard that the over zelous woke zombies have George Orwell in their sight s but i have most of his core books already Homage to Catolonia is the one which really ctriques the fallacy of the marxist comunist social Utopia probally more so than animal farm or 1984 ? It would appear that the Governments since the Late 60s have allowed the dumving down of educational standards and that History and Geograthy are no longer taught or studied in any meanigful way Its seems clear to me that the far left have not read the back stories behing the marxist woke dogma and are acting the usefull idiots for our enemies ie Totaltatian and Fundementalist countries Wild Swan is another masterwork documenting Chinas so called Cultural Revolution which cause untold milions to die horribly under crackpot Mao s paranioa in the late 60s early 70s The far left just keep banging on about Hitler and his fascist and seem happy to call parents concerned with their childrens saftey far right ? Pathetic

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

Even Tolkien is considered Racist these days I was told by an Oxford Undergraduate who apparently Specialized in Anglo Saxon That The Lord of The Rings is a Racist Book

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

When do we delete the fart references from David Walliams now?

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

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

This is the only way those clamouring to be offended can own a piece of great writing, as they are certainly not writing it themselves, but it is no longer Roald Dahl it is Roald Dahl plus those making these changes. I have the original Ian Fleming novels complete with old money prices so I know they are Fleming but they will be next. I also have many comedy DVD’s because at some point when you buy them they will have had changes made.

This generations madness, it is bringing nothing good

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