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.

Childhood classics, developed my interest in reading as a child, and no antisemitism in the books as far as I know. YABVU!

Yes, Roald Dahl was reprehensible in many ways and I probably would decline an invitation to dinner with him because of his anti-semitism; I don't take breaking bread with others lightly. I don't take art (or 'art' in Dahl's case) lightly either and the value of creative works has nothing to do with the beliefs of their creators. (Even if they've been tried & convicted--Hamsun for support of Nazis & hence endorsement of anti-Semitism, M.P. Shiel for paedophilia to mention a couple.) I presume you don't visit art museums on the chance that you might come across a Caravaggio (probable murderer)? you don't listen to radio because you can't know in advance whether a song by John Lennon (wife-beater) might come on? you refuse to read Classical writers because slavery? that you believe that no matter the aesthetic value of a work, no matter its influence on subsequent thought, no matter its beauty or profundity, it should be hidden or perhaps immolated if its creator was a shit? Now that I think about it I was going to ask a neighbour, a knowledgeable local, about the badger sett in my back garden but I don't know if I'll bother because it would take to long to suss out his views on immigration before learning what to do.

Sometimes I open a thread fervently hoping that OP is obviously a troll. I'm often disappointed.

Henry Ford was an antisemite, should we ban ford cars?
Hugo Boss was a nazi, yet people still buy their products. Volkswagen were founded in Hitler but they are still going.

Now Dahl invented a device (Wade-Dahl-Till valve) that has saved thousands of children's lives- let's ban that too!
And let's boycott The Roald Dahl Foundation that raises money for sick children across the country.

Do you see how ridiculous you sound? If you want to ban Dahl's books for comments that he made (which do not appear in his work) when actually he has helped children to foster a love of reading as well as saving lives.

@OP. You represent a far greater threat to minorities like Jews than Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

The ideology of cultural control that you espouse is just a mild version of fascism. The defence against the horrors of the past reoccurring is freedom of thought and sppech, which you would eliminate.

^This.

Once you start on this road, it becomes a slippery slope. There will always be something else to ban because it’s anti-semitic, racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. Or because the author expressed those views. Or because they associated with people who had those views. Or because the definition of those terms starts to expand as the puritanical zeal inevitably increases.

Let’s recall which regimes have banned books in the past, shall we?

Roald Dahl books were massive when my DC were growing up. Really, it was like Harry Potter. I had my reservations because he presented a very skewed view of morality - some quite nasty actions and people were put forward as heroic. But my DC turned out OK. They were avid readers and absorbed their influences from a wide spectrum of sources.

I was weaned on Enid Blyton. I’m not racist, sexist or xenophobic. (Can be a bit snobby though but I’m not blaming her for that).

As long as there is balance, I think we can cope with some controversy in the mix.

OP, I suggest you don't research Walt Disney...

If he was around now his books still wouldn't be banned because of his views. He'd just be called out on Twitter constantly.

I work with many middle-class, left wing, avowed anti-racists who have expressed views similar to Dahl's, mainly along the lines of Jews 'playing the victim' throughout history. One colleague memorably said to me "at one point are they going to realise that maybe all these bad things have happened to them (pogroms, the holocaust) for a reason. They really need to look at themselves and their behaviour" I think anti-semitism has always been an acceptable form of racism in some liberal circles.

Anyway, back to the books. I didn't like Dahl when I was growing up but I loved Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie. Both wrote horribly racist books. I can't say it had a negative affect on me at all.

As far as I’m aware, there’s no anti-semitism expressed in Dahl’s children’s books.

I’m uncomfortable with the notion of banning books because we don’t agree with the authors opinions, especially so when these opinions aren’t touched upon in the books.
And as pp say, once we start along that road, where do we stop? There’s so many dead authors who held and expressed views that we’d consider unacceptable these days.

Yet who's going to want to read a kids book by Fred west etc?

I think that since he's dead, and as far as I know there is no anti-Semitism in his books, there's absolutely no reason to ban them. If he was alive and profiting from book sales then I would personally choose not to buy them. I think it would be appropriate for a proportion of royalties to go towards a charity that combats racism and anti-Semitism. I try not to support (by buying works by) living artists whose views or actions are morally questionable e.g. Roman Polanski. But I'm still a big Buffy fan so

No, that’s ridiculous..

If RH and GG had been of RD’s generation, they’d not have been convicted

Nonsense. The offences of which they were convicted were just as much of a crime 20 years earlier.

Dahl has saved an awful lot of lives through the publicity he has given to the need for measles vaccinations and his involvement in the invention of the cerebral shunt. I'm prepared to cut him quite a lot of slack for that.

I kind of get the op's point though.
In a way. It's interesting what people turn a blind eye to. I wouldn't accept a dinner invite with Roald Dahl. (I mean I know he's dead ) In turn I wouldn't want to throw my money in his direction. Where you spend your money is what you support, how you nourish things to flourish.

I’d like to know how the OP feels about boycotting the medical device patented by Dahl - which I didn’t know about before reading this thread. If you wouldn’t ban that, why ban his books?

His books are magical. Don't be ridiculous.

Oh shut up.

I think this is a more interesting discussion than the OP has got credit for. I'm a bit at the posters who describe anti-Semitism as 'a difference of opinion' or suggest that having been anti-Semitic in the 70s is the equivalent of Classical writers accepting slavery.

JacquesHammer's point about the quality of output is an interesting one, I think. Gary Glitter's output has become totally unacceptable, but then it was crap. People are less quick to stop listening to Elvis who had a proven interest in 14yo girls.

I do think there needs to be a separation of artist and art because otherwise there might not be much left, and there's definitely a difference between an artist whose views are represented in their work and one whose views are not. Kevin Spacey is an interesting example though, who was dropped from his acting role when his odious nature was made public. What do we think about that?

RD wrote about child abuse in a way that's both palatable to little children and deeply moving. Matilda makes me cry my eyes out every time. I haven't met a child in care yet that doesn't adore RD stories. So just fuck off op

Fahrenheit 451 OP.

Yes we should. And we should tear down bridges and blow up buildings designed or built by those with racist, homophobic, anti Semitic or misogynistic views. Then we can sit amongst the rubble and pat ourselves on the back for being so woke.

Dahlietta makes an interesting point. I dont think its just about quality of output, I think its more about the harm caused.

Someone having reprehensible views is bad, but I can usually separate their art from their views.
Gary Glitter was actively abusive. So its not just that he didn't produce quality music. I cant hear his music without linking it to child abuse.

@Oakenbeach i can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to read RD books. If you have kids I feel sorry for them growing up with a parent like you who won't let them read kids books.

I must admit I have never felt the adoration for Dahl’s work that many people do.

Interesting enough to read once maybe but I’ve never felt any desire to re-read.

Oh please bore off Op. Your argument has no standing and you are now just spouting rubbish
If you dont want your children to read RD then don't let them , but don't try and take the joy of his work away from others.
His views are from a different generation, were they wrong? Yes. Does it affect anyone living now? not nessecerally. If he was spouting his rubbish views now he would be arrested, and i could perhaps see your point, But he was from a generation where it was unfortunatley more acceptable to say those things.
As pps have said there are thousands of books that could be banned due to their authors opinions (that are there, in print, in the books they wrote, unlike RD he never put these so called statements into print) . Enid B wrote about gollywogs etc, it was acceptable back then. Most of her work has been rewritten and republished without the racist undertones, should they still be banned?
What do we actually know about todays children's authors, the likes of Tom Bates, jeff kinney,Jacqueline wilson, David walliams etc? We know nothing, they could secretly hold all kinds of anti semantic/homophobic/racist/sexist views. But we dont know for sure. Should we ban them just incase? I have met Walliams twice, he gave me the creeps and made my skin crawl, he wiped his hand after shaking hands with a "commoner", like he was trying to make sure he didn't catch anything, he was very obnoxious and quite rude imo. Should i stop my girls from reading his books? I won't because 1 they bloody love the badly written tripe he spouts and 2, they are reading and enjoying it, something which is becoming lost in todays generation.
As a pp asked, would you refuse medical treatment on your child because they would need to use a Device invented by RD? Would you say sorry Dr but RD invented that, he was anti sematic i cant let you save my child using that? I doubt it, I'm pretty sure you would save your child.
What about MJ? What he did was pretty abhorrent yet his. music is still played n the radio? Nothing in his songs refer to rape of paedophilia. Yet Eminem openly raps about rape and wife beatings and murder and is still massively popular....