Cancelled (2 Viewers)

[hydromancer]

Yeah some form of exhibition like that which retains or even adds historic artifacts. Presume there must already be published literature about him whom I've never heard him of before but have heard of the University in California.

 

[ann post]

It's a bit like them taking all the sketchy shit out of roald dahl books because its less work than actually saying our favourite childrens stories come from a different era and we don't like how that era reflects on us.

 

[magicbastarder]

that's a rather subtle argument to try to insert into a book for kids, to be fair.

 

[ann post]

that's a rather subtle argument to try to insert into a book for kids, to be fair.

It's not just kids books, more accurately, it's books that people want to make more money from.

Publishers are cynically using ‘sensitivity readers’ to protect their bottom lines | Zoe Dubno

As books become intellectual property assets, publishers become asset managers trying to future-proof their toxic investments

www.theguardian.com

 

[ann post]

I suppose rather than erasing history, it's all a bit like a mild airbrushing job RE Berkely, Dahl, Fleming etc. Painting the roses red and all that.

The Berkeley Library, in Fellows' Square. Designed by Paul Koralek of ABK Architects, an imposing Brutalist structure opened in 1967 as the "New Library". The Berkeley name was adopted in 1978. In April 2023, the College decided to "dename" the library due to the fact that Berkeley owned and worked slaves on his property in Rhode Island. The library will be renamed in the future.

Brutalist library would be a good name. It would describe what it is which is helpful in a library.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

that's a rather subtle argument to try to insert into a book for kids, to be fair.

Disney+ put those kind of warnings at the start of their old movies, they’re not exactly deep but I think Peter Pan has a paragraph on them dressing up as Native Americans before you watch it.

Honestly, editing the texts doesn’t bother me. So many classics exist in multiple author-approved editions anyway and usually Penguin or whoever have picked one as their default text.

It all depends on context. Removing a racist term from PG Wodehouse or some pure hatred from a Ronald Dahl to preserve the bits that are worth reading is a good move to me. Removing that from something like Of Mice and Men is a bit more nebulous as you’re denying the veracity of those characters. Absolutely slap a warning and an intro on the books though.

 

[egg_]

A big part of what I liked about reading Dahl as a kid was the hatred - the thrill of realising the the author hated authority figures and hunters and entitled children and (bizarrely) gum-chewers and, well, pretty much everyone. Except people who were kind-hearted and fun-loving, like me

 

[Deadmanposting]

It still - for me - gets back to once you green light this sort of editing, you are allowing it for all-comers.
Just because this round of edits is in tune with our feelings on how the world should be represented, it doesn't mean the next round will be.

Most readers can handle almost anything you throw at them. And it can almost make the books more interesting. "Wow, this guy is kind of fucked up. I am not sure I like this."
If you're offended, put it down and pick up another one.
If the books themselves need to die or fall out of favour, then let it happen. ROald Dahl or Ian Fleming don't have to be perennially important and read by every generation. Let them lose value. Let them rise and fall.
That seems to have more artistic truth than whitewashing them for each generation's norms.

Just a view

 

[magicbastarder]

dahl was often heavily edited/modified by his publishers before the books went to print anyway. it was either him or blyton who once had their main publisher simply refuse to publish one of their books because they thought it was so objectionable.

 

[Deadmanposting]

Pretty sure Dahl made or approved all previous edits while he was living.
Happy to be proved wrong.

Taking the word 'fat' out of books is arguably good and arguably bad.
I'd argue that it's certainly not wholly good.
Plenty of fat people want to reclaim the word, and edits like this make that a tougher job. They are by definition saying that fat is offensive. Clearly everyone's mileage on this will vary.

You get caught in the weeds pretty quickly on this stuff tho.

 

[taubstumm]

I suppose rather than erasing history, it's all a bit like a mild airbrushing job RE Berkely, Dahl, Fleming etc. Painting the roses red and all that.



Brutalist library would be a good name. It would describe what it is which is helpful in a library.

let reddit name it, they’ll come up with something reliably stupid. Booky McReady-Pants or El Librario Brutalitastico or something

 

[Space]

Just burn it down.

 

[hydromancer]

 

[Deadmanposting]

This guy fucked!

 

[ann post]

who are they?

 

[hydromancer]

The Dahl family ?

 

[Deadmanposting]

who are they?

Test subjects for the Willy Wonka factory mishaps

 

[magicbastarder]

if you squint, he looks like a thin tony soprano.

 

[Space]

Whatever happened to Sophie Dahl?

 

[Cormcolash]

Brutalist library would be a good name. It would describe what it is which is helpful in a library.

LIBRY MCLIBRARYFACE