I wrote previously about the current publisher of the late, bestselling children’s author Roald Dahl’s books deciding to issue new editions of beloved classics like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda”–except with major, woke revisions suggested by sensitivity readers.
Now, in a several tweets on the Twitters, author and steadfast progressive Joyce Carol Oates actually managed to ask some intelligent questions about the wisdom of rewriting Dahl’s books.
Here’s how she began:
She shared a great example of how ridiculous the notion of “improving” great works is:
Then in a reply tweet to her opening tweet, she wrote wisely:
[P]rose so radically revised by “sensitivity readers” should be noted as collaborations. it is unfair to readers to be deceived into thinking that they are reading the original work.
if Dahl is so egregious as to require such wholesale whitewashing (sic) why republish him at all?
Oates came up with a wry, potential “rewrite” of another classic book:
She even got her cat Zanche in on the action, who called for a “boycatt” of English:
Sadly–but unsurprisingly–the sanity from Oates didn’t last; by the time night fell, she had picked back up a conversation she started earlier in the week about conservatives and transgender people:
Lastly, as for any publishing house deciding to mess with literature like Dahl’s masterworks or Shakespeare’s plays, I’ll leave the proper response to Willy Wonka (played by the late, great Gene Wilder):
