I groaned when I saw they were making 'new' RD books. Why?? Why not invest in NEW authors instead? Then i saw the list of well-respected contemporary children's authors who are involved in the project and I wondered if i was just being mean-spirited. If they get to have fun and make some money then maybe it's ok. But still, I'd rather publishers were promoting those authors' OWN BOOKS. There, I said it.
I had the same series of thoughts but landed on being unapologetically bored with this kind of "milking it" exercise. My first job in publishing was "milking" Peter Rabbit - yes, you can milk a rabbit, I did it for nearly three years at Penguin! - and since 2014 the rules about manufacturing new versions of Peter Rabbit et al have blown apart, which although legal I find ironic and awful considering how much Beatrix Potter's work was exploited in her own lifetime because she didn't have the proper legal protections. Love old books / make new books to love, is my philosophy.
I remember being amazed by all the racism and homophobia in L-Shaped Room when I read it as an adult, but also thinking it was probably an accurate depiction of 1960s England. That interview with Lynne Reid Banks sounds great - she seems like a thoughtful person who evolved as society did.
Huda and Me was a fun read, but did it really have "none of the prejudice of Dahl"? It seemed to me to be very strongly in favour of conservative patriarchal beliefs, just as Dahl was. All the male characters were strong and compassionate and morally right, while all the post-puberty female characters baked cupcakes and did beauty treatments and had babies. Akeal and his dad were heroes, but Akeal's mum was completely passive, even when her children were in danger, and the villains (a crazy baby kidnapper and an ice-hearted, child-hating flight attendant) were all single, childless women. I guess as readers we tend to notice the 'prejudices' that affect us. Having said that, I do support true diversity in publishing, which includes authors who have different belief systems to me! No book could ever be inclusive of every possible reader, so we need lots of books by lots of different voices.
The Lynne Reid Banks interview is on BBC Bookclub, if podcasts are your thing.
Point taken about Huda & Me, noted and appreciated. That was lazy remembering on my part (I didn't recall the father being heroic, for example) and lazy phrasing in "none of the prejudice" - finding balance in all things while pushing characterisation into comedic levels must certainly be challenging.
I recall my son stopping me while I was reading a David Walliams book to him (Awful Auntie) to say "I don't think he likes women very much". We didn't finish it!
Oh I loved this and so true about letting books grow old disgracefully. I was so bemused about the decision to “edit the nastiness” out of Roald Dahl - the nastiness runs bone deep in those books (which of course is a huge part of the appeal!) It’s been interesting to watch some writers lean on Dahls lazier strategies when they try and write stories in this mode rather than trying to create an actually funny/nasty story that works for 2024 (surely not an impossible feat!! And yet!)
It should come as no surprise that following last year's backlash against the Roald Dahl edits, Penguin decided to: (1) continue with the revised editions, and (2) also release a "Roald Dahl Classic" set without the revisions! Thereby putting even more energy and money into it! All the while insisting that they're only thinking of the children...
I groaned when I saw they were making 'new' RD books. Why?? Why not invest in NEW authors instead? Then i saw the list of well-respected contemporary children's authors who are involved in the project and I wondered if i was just being mean-spirited. If they get to have fun and make some money then maybe it's ok. But still, I'd rather publishers were promoting those authors' OWN BOOKS. There, I said it.
I had the same series of thoughts but landed on being unapologetically bored with this kind of "milking it" exercise. My first job in publishing was "milking" Peter Rabbit - yes, you can milk a rabbit, I did it for nearly three years at Penguin! - and since 2014 the rules about manufacturing new versions of Peter Rabbit et al have blown apart, which although legal I find ironic and awful considering how much Beatrix Potter's work was exploited in her own lifetime because she didn't have the proper legal protections. Love old books / make new books to love, is my philosophy.
Yes!!!
I remember being amazed by all the racism and homophobia in L-Shaped Room when I read it as an adult, but also thinking it was probably an accurate depiction of 1960s England. That interview with Lynne Reid Banks sounds great - she seems like a thoughtful person who evolved as society did.
Huda and Me was a fun read, but did it really have "none of the prejudice of Dahl"? It seemed to me to be very strongly in favour of conservative patriarchal beliefs, just as Dahl was. All the male characters were strong and compassionate and morally right, while all the post-puberty female characters baked cupcakes and did beauty treatments and had babies. Akeal and his dad were heroes, but Akeal's mum was completely passive, even when her children were in danger, and the villains (a crazy baby kidnapper and an ice-hearted, child-hating flight attendant) were all single, childless women. I guess as readers we tend to notice the 'prejudices' that affect us. Having said that, I do support true diversity in publishing, which includes authors who have different belief systems to me! No book could ever be inclusive of every possible reader, so we need lots of books by lots of different voices.
The Lynne Reid Banks interview is on BBC Bookclub, if podcasts are your thing.
Point taken about Huda & Me, noted and appreciated. That was lazy remembering on my part (I didn't recall the father being heroic, for example) and lazy phrasing in "none of the prejudice" - finding balance in all things while pushing characterisation into comedic levels must certainly be challenging.
I recall my son stopping me while I was reading a David Walliams book to him (Awful Auntie) to say "I don't think he likes women very much". We didn't finish it!
Thanks, I'll check out BBC Bookclub.
I am baffled by the popularity of David Walliams books!
Oh I loved this and so true about letting books grow old disgracefully. I was so bemused about the decision to “edit the nastiness” out of Roald Dahl - the nastiness runs bone deep in those books (which of course is a huge part of the appeal!) It’s been interesting to watch some writers lean on Dahls lazier strategies when they try and write stories in this mode rather than trying to create an actually funny/nasty story that works for 2024 (surely not an impossible feat!! And yet!)
It should come as no surprise that following last year's backlash against the Roald Dahl edits, Penguin decided to: (1) continue with the revised editions, and (2) also release a "Roald Dahl Classic" set without the revisions! Thereby putting even more energy and money into it! All the while insisting that they're only thinking of the children...