If you have any interest in books at all you probably won’t have escaped the news and debate about the editing of books written years ago and making them more attuned for a “modern” audience. The works of Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming have both come up for the treatment of taking what we would now view as outdated terms and changing them so that they better fit with modern language and attitudes.

This caused quite a bit of furore, particularly with respect to the works of Roald Dahl and ultimately led to the publisher saying that they would produce two versions of the books, one keeping the original text and another with the revised version.

The comments ranging from seeing this as being the right thing to do through to it being an abomination have been quite polarising and I can’t help wondering whether the author, if they were still alive, have made the changes anyway or if they wouldn’t have bothered. Ultimately this now rests with whoever owns the copyright to the works but does owning the copyright give them the moral right to make the changes?

Another parallel is with television programmes or films made during a much earlier time. When these are shown now they often come with a health warning that some of the views and concepts reflect an earlier time. Obviously it is much harder to edit these and so they come with a health warning and the option not to watch if we are likely to be offended. Do we also not therefore have the option not to read if we are likely to be offended?

It is more nuanced than that of course as in Roald Dahl’s case we are talking about books for children who might not necessarily have reached an age where they can interpret and understand a similar health warning or make an informed choice on what is potentially an impressionable mind. But is that perhaps also a teaching opportunity too?

Personally I have mixed feelings about this. I think if the authors were still alive they probably would do some updating of new editions as they came along – honestly they probably did do this with new editions when they were alive. However I would much rather read the book as it was originally published, I’m sensible enough to be able to realise that perhaps what is written doesn’t necessarily fit with modern standards or opinions and if it does offend me I can’t put the book down.

It also makes me think about the value of secondhand books rather than new editions or ebooks. With the latter remember in most cases you don’t actually own the book, just a licence to it, and the owner can change, modify or remove it from your device as is their whim. So updating any Roald Dahl’s or Ian Fleming’s that you might have on your ereader can happen without you even noticing.

I don’t think you need to spoon-feed readers, particularly not adults. Let people make up their own minds.

Thanks for reading.