The controversial decision to rewrite excerpts from books by the author of ‘Fantástica Fábrica de Chocolate’

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Sponsored by Puffin Books, part of the Penguin Random House group, and the Roald Dahl Story Company, which manages the author’s legacy, a review of Roald Dahl’s work divided Britons. Illustrations by Quentin Blake based on some of Roald Dahl’s characters In the new editions of the books — including the classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — references to gender, appearance and weight of the characters were deleted or modified. Dahl’s curators and editors said the novels have been updated to better serve modern audiences. The books are published by Puffin Books, part of the Penguin Random House group. Part of public opinion agreed with the changes, but many were against it, including the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak. Sunak’s spokesperson stated that works of fiction should be “preserved, not retouched”. Borrowing a word from Dahl, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “When it comes to our rich and varied literary heritage, the Prime Minister agrees with the great and humorous giant BFG [personagem da obra O Bom Gigante Amigo] that we shouldn’t ‘gobblefunk’ (play) with words”. In Brazil, something similar happened in 2020 with the children’s books by author Monteiro Lobato (1882-1948), creator of Sítio do Picapau Amarelo. his books, in a review conducted by the author’s great-granddaughter. ‘Censorship’ Writer Salman Rushdie also criticized the change. “Roald Dahl wasn’t an angel, but that’s absurd censorship”, posted the author of The Satanic Verses on his Twitter “Puffin Books and those responsible for Dahl’s legacy should be ashamed of themselves.”The Roald Dahl Story Company stated that the changes that emerged from the review process — begun in 2020 — were “small and carefully considered”. Pullman told the BBC that it would be better to let Dahl’s books “disappear” than rewrite them if they are now considered offensive. “If Dahl is offensive, stop publishing it,” Pullman opined. “Read all the other wonderful authors who are writing today that don’t get as much attention because of the enormous commercial weight of authors like Roald Dahl.” But British-Indian poet and author Debjani Chatterjee disagrees. She thinks it’s “a very good thing that editors are reviewing your work”. “I think it was done very sensitively,” she told the BBC. She gave the example of changing the word “fat” to “huge” in the texts. According to her, the new term “is even more fun”. What has changed? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character Augustus Gloop is now described as “huge”. The word “fat” has been removed from all books, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph; Mistress Twit of the Twits is no longer “ugly and bestial” but simply “bestial”; In the same book, “a strange African language” (“weird”) is no longer listed as strange; The words “crazy” and “unbalanced” were also dropped because of mental health concerns, according to the paper; A threat to “knock her flat” on Matilda was exchanged for “give her a right talking to”; Color references were also changed: the coat in The BFG book is no longer black; and Mary now stands “still as a statue” instead of “white as a sheet”. Tribute or change of heart? “There is no reason why the BFG should not have a black cover. That seems absurd to me,” children’s author John Dougherty told the BBC. “In the case of Augustus Gloop, for example, the main point of the character is that he is very overweight because he does not stop eating, he is a glutton.” “There could be an argument that in today’s world this is offensive,” Dougherty points out. “I think if you decide that’s the way it is, the only solution is to take the book out of circulation. I don’t think you can say ‘let’s change Dahl’s words but keep the character’.” Kate Clanchy, a former teacher who reviewed her own memoirs after being criticized for parts of it, said children’s books should be treated with special care. “Augustus Gloop is a greedy character. He will continue to be morally greedy and his moral greed will be wrong whether or not we get a lot of references to how fat he is, which I think can be annoying.” “We always update children’s books. It’s a tribute to the way these books are becoming classics… that we’ve adapted them again.” Laura Hackett, deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times newspaper, said she would continue to read the originals of Dahl’s books to her children in “all their full, nasty, colorful glory”. “I think the mischievousness is what makes Dahl so fun. You love it when, in Matilda, Bruce Bogtrotter is forced to eat the entire chocolate cake so he doesn’t get stuck in the Chokey [um dispositivo de tortura]. That’s what children love.” “And removing all references to violence or anything that isn’t clean, nice and friendly is removing the spirit of these stories.” Roald Dahl is one of the UK’s most popular children’s authors BBC ‘To children of today like’ The books were modified after being reviewed by readers directed to look for potentially offensive content in the works. The company that manages the author’s legacy, the Roald Dahl Story Company, worked with publishers Puffin and Inclusive Minds, collective working for inclusion and accessibility in children’s literature. A spokesperson for The Roald Dahl Story Company stated that they wanted to “ensure that all children continue to enjoy the wonderful stories and characters of Roald Dahl.” books written years ago, it’s not uncommon to revise the language along with other details like the cover and page layout,” he said. “Our guiding principle at all times s has been about preserving the stories, the characters, and the irreverence and incisive spirit of the original text,” he added. Dahl, who died aged 74 in 1990, remains one of the UK’s most popular children’s authors. In 2021, Netflix bought the rights to his works. Anti-Semitic comments he made throughout his life make him a problematic figure today. In 2020, his family publicly apologized for “the lasting and understandable pain caused by Roald Dahl’s anti-Semitic statements”.

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