Roald Dahl's French publisher will not rewrite British author's translated books

The French publishers of late British author Roald Dahl have said that they will not be rewriting the translated books. This comes after it emerged that the English editions of Dahl's books will be rewritten by publisher Puffin to remove allegedly offensive language and make the stories more palatable for the newer generations. The publisher had hired "sensitivity readers" to rewrite certain portions of Dahl's books so they “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”. Some of the edits include the removal of words that describe physical appearance of characters like "fat" and "ugly". Other changes include addition of gender-neutral terms. For instance, while earlier Oompa Loompas of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were "small men", they are now "small people".

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Éditions Gallimard, the French publisher, has said that the changes were done only to the English version of the books. “This rewriting only affects Great Britain. We have never modified Roald Dahl’s writings and we have no plans to do so today,” a spokesperson was quoted by The Guardian.

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The reactions to changes made to Dahl's stories are mostly negative. Salman Rushdie, the Booker-winning author who was violently attacked last year, wrote on Twitter, "Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship/ Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed.”

Fantasy author Robin Hobb wrote, "The best part of owning books on paper is no one can come into your home and change them. My Roald Dahl books will remain as he wrote them."

Dahl is widely regarded as one of the greatest storytellers of the 20th century. He is best known for his popular children's books, which often feature dark humor, fantasy, and imaginative characters.

In addition to his children's books, Dahl also wrote several adult novels and short story collections, many of which are known for their macabre and twisted themes. His writing has been praised for its vivid imagination, humor, and ability to capture the attention of both children and adults.

But Dahl's writings have also been controversial. Some of his stories and characters has been criticised as ableist and insensitive to people with disabilities as well as possessing anti-Semitic undertones. Even his personal views on topics such as race, sexuality, and gender have also been deemed problematic.

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