To think Roald Dahl books should be banned in schools and libraries....

[Oakenbeach]

.... because he’s known to have had expressed some highly anti-Semitic opinions.

most illustrations I've seen have been by Quentin Blake

Pastabest:
I would hate to be judged on my opinions now in the future by future standards. I might be wrong now but I don't mean to be wrong and I would hope future generations would understand

Maybe you should think a bit more about your opinions now before expressing them, if you really fear they may be deemed merely unfashionable in the future?

Just because Dahl would have been 104 years old if he were alive today does not excuse anti-Semitism. His books are a different matter as long as they don't reflect those views. You can't excuse blatant bigotry in his personal opinions though.

Yabu I think his books are brilliantly written and very funny, I don't recall any anti semitic undertones in his books? What he expressed was outside of his children's book writing so has no bearing on it. He was from a different generation and you have to allow for that, you may not like what he said but removing his books is a daft idea.

Would you also ban Enid Blyton ,she had a lot of references to "Golliwogs" in her books and her views could be deemed as somewhat controversial by todays standards ?

She’s already been banned in some places!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2013/12/07/huncoat-school-removes-offensive-enid-blyton-classics-4221885/amp/

He wrote porn as well, cheated on his wife and kept one of his daughters with MH problems doped up on sedatives and alcohol. Books still v readable though.

People are allowed to have different opinions, you don't have to agree with them but they are allowed to have them. You can't make everybody think the same way you do, everyone is different and 104 years ago was a very different time so stop judging him by our standards now because it was not the same when he was growing up.

And Richard Wagner’s music’s banned from
Israel!

Yabu

You can't make everybody think the same way you do, everyone is different and 104 years ago was a very different time so stop judging him by our standards now because it was not the same when he was growing up.

So you do agree that if he was alive today his books should be banned!.... Also. I hadn’t realised anti-semitism was ok in the 70s

Charles Dickens was anti-semitic but the world would be a much poorer place if we banned his work in schools. Lots of great art was made by people with unsavoury views and habits; we can't ban them all.

When the wind blows was written by Raymond Briggs. Makes Roald Dahl look like sunshine and rainbows.

zzzzz the poster is referring to her husband that part of her comment.

In what way was Elvis a racist?

Raymond Briggs!!!!!!!!! Not Dahl. I think I will research things a lot more before I post again. Thankyou for pointing that out.

I thought it was interesting how Spielberg made the BFG.

I think by all means educate children when they are older about his objectionable views.

However he wrote brilliant stories which made me very happy as a girl who had a very sad and traumatic childhood. As a poor girl Charlie and the chocolate factory was brilliant to read and gave me hope.

Yes ... while we're at it prehaps we should ban Enid Blyton for being racist and sexist and hating children,.
Poe for marrying his 13 year old cousin
Lewis Carol for propsing to 11 year old Alice
Maya Angelou for previously beimg a sex worker anx a madam
Or prehaps we should George Orwell for beimg a communist
Or prehaps Conan Doyle for beiliving in fairies.

There are many authors who have unsavory pasts or views, banning them woukd mean banning sone ofthe greatest works of lituture. For views that were common place in their time.

ODFOD

Shakespeare was also pretty anti-Semitic, the Merchant of Venice was pretty bad. Maybe we should ban him too.

So you do agree that if he was alive today his books should be banned

No no one is saying that in fact everyone is disagreeing with you.

Yiu can dig up something unsavory about pretty much every great authour that if they were alive today people like you would ban their books

No. He was one of very few authors of European heritage to denounce the stop and search of black men in the 70s and 80s. He had been witness to a brutal and unfair stop and search which was near fatal for a black man. Even back then very few educated white middle class authors acknowledged injustices based on race.

His sense of humour is beyond belief. But his moral beliefs will always keep me reading his books

Yes please expand on this timeline of schoolmates with holocaust survivors for grandparents.

Let the books stay. You wouldn't refuse treatment from a doctor if he said the same.

That would be censorship and so must be resisted at all costs. YABVVVU!

YABVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVU. None of the opinions are expressed in his books. If we banned every book because the author was less than an angel we'd have none left! Most of the greatest writers in history were alcoholics/adulterers/a bit sexist/a bit racist. This is a crazy post.