You know, for something you'd think I'd be interested in

[conuly]

I actually have *no* interest in Dahl's heirs authorizing changes to his children's books.

Which I guess mirrors the interest I had in reading Dahl with the kids when they were little. I read the hell out of his books when I was a kid, and we certainly read other books from my childhood, but I had exactly no desire to revisit any of his books with them. Not even in a "wow, just realized this is problematic" way, I just wasn't feeling it.

It *is* slightly amusing to watch people knot themselves up under the apparent assumption that this is something shockingly new. Yeah, no. Lots of books have endured edits over the years to update them and alter elements that somebody realized sounded really bad. Some of those edits work better than others. (Young Wizards, yes! Fudge series, not so much.)

I do have *one* thing to say, and it's not even on this subject. I'm not saying the sort of book this person decries doesn't exist, because of course it always has, since of course it's parents, teachers, and librarians who buy books and recommend them to others - but ffs, it's not that hard to find recently-published books featuring kids who largely are handling their own adventures. They're not even freaking hidden in a back catalog somewhere, as a commenter further down implied, they're getting Newberies and other awards.

Comments

[grav_ity]

I was mystified...and then I found out that Netflix has bought, like, all of Dahl's books.

[movingfinger]

Yes, this is about a corporation pruning and shaping material to ensure its own welfare, nothing to do with readers or Dahl or, hm, artistic integrity.