We recently read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to our 8 year old son. We skipped over certain parts of the story. My wife is a librarian, writer and poet. She said that she respects the stories and Dahl's vision, but parts of his books are not aging well. I asked if that means it should be rewritten. She said, "If they are still inte…
We recently read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to our 8 year old son. We skipped over certain parts of the story. My wife is a librarian, writer and poet. She said that she respects the stories and Dahl's vision, but parts of his books are not aging well. I asked if that means it should be rewritten. She said, "If they are still intended to be read by children, yeah. They aren't being entirely rewritten--just edited and updated. My understanding is that certain words swapped out to modernize the language, but the story itself is not changed."
Also, she said she "understands where people are coming from. Dahl's books tend to be dark and his characters tend to be exaggerated, so I'm not sure if editing them will really work. sometimes I think it's better to let a book go out of print than try to bend it to suit a new audience. And I'm saying that as someone who loved these books as a kid, but recognizes as an adult that they are problematic." So she kind of agrees with you Sonny, let them go out of print... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I would rather see them go out of print than be "improved upon," but I also really don't think it's necessary. Just put out both versions. Or, you know, don't put out the silly version with the modern updates.
We recently read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to our 8 year old son. We skipped over certain parts of the story. My wife is a librarian, writer and poet. She said that she respects the stories and Dahl's vision, but parts of his books are not aging well. I asked if that means it should be rewritten. She said, "If they are still intended to be read by children, yeah. They aren't being entirely rewritten--just edited and updated. My understanding is that certain words swapped out to modernize the language, but the story itself is not changed."
Also, she said she "understands where people are coming from. Dahl's books tend to be dark and his characters tend to be exaggerated, so I'm not sure if editing them will really work. sometimes I think it's better to let a book go out of print than try to bend it to suit a new audience. And I'm saying that as someone who loved these books as a kid, but recognizes as an adult that they are problematic." So she kind of agrees with you Sonny, let them go out of print... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I would rather see them go out of print than be "improved upon," but I also really don't think it's necessary. Just put out both versions. Or, you know, don't put out the silly version with the modern updates.
Yes, we must protect the children from references to Kipling and Conrad.