Bestselling author Daniel Handler says children should read about “sad” things and not be protected from “offensive” words.
The Lemony Snicket author has criticised publishers for rewriting Roald Dahl’s books to make them more “inclusive” by removing words like “fat”.
The 54-year-old said he understands the “urge” to remove offensive language, but condemned the “tinkering” with the work of the BFG and Witches author.
The author of A Series of Unfortunate Events called Dahl’s work “offensive”—and called it that.
Dahl, who sold 300 million copies of his work, wrote children’s classics such as James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Twits.
Children should read about ‘sad’ things and not be protected from ‘offensive’ words, says bestselling author Daniel Handler (pictured)
The Lemony Snicket author has criticized publishers who rewrote Roald Dahl’s books to make them more “inclusive” by removing words like “fat.” Pictured: Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in the 2004 film of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Anjelica Huston (left) as Miss Eva Ernst, the Grand High Witch, in a scene from the 1990 film based on the children’s classic The Witches by Roald Dahl (right)
In February last year, it was revealed that Puffin Books had rewritten a number of texts to remove language that modern readers might find offensive in the areas of race, gender, weight and mental health.
It was forced to make an about-face after announcing more than 50 changes to Roald Dahl’s 1983 children’s novel The Witches last year
These changes mean that characters are no longer described as ‘fat’ and references to ‘mothers’ and ‘fathers’ have been replaced with references to ‘parents’ or ‘family’.
When asked on the Private Passions podcast if he supported rewriting Dahl’s work, Handler said, “Well, I was against it. I mean, I understand that urge.
Dahl (pictured), who sold 300 million copies of his work, wrote children’s classics such as James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Twits
‘You know, when you’re with a kid and there’s a strange noise in the middle of the night, you kind of want to say that nothing’s wrong.
“If they see something in a news story, I understand that you want to be protectionist.”
He continued: ‘That simply cannot be done, and it certainly cannot be done by manipulating Roald Dahl to the point where his words are no longer offensive.
“His words are insulting. I mean, he was an insulting person in some ways, and his stories are full of really, really miserable things.
“That’s a wonderful way to learn about miserable things.”