Agatha Christie novels reworked to remove potentially offensive language

The Guardian:

Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have passages edited by sensitivity readers for latest HarperCollins editions.

Several Agatha Christie novels have been edited to remove potentially offensive language, including insults and references to ethnicity.

Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries written between 1920 and 1976 have had passages reworked or removed in new editions published by HarperCollins to strip them of language and descriptions that modern audiences find offensive, especially those involving the characters Christie’s protagonists encounter outside the UK.

Sensitivity readers had made the edits, which were evident in digital versions of the new editions, including the entire Miss Marple run and selected Poirot novels set to be released or that have been released since 2020, the Telegraph reported.

The updates follow edits made to books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming to remove offensive references to gender and race in a bid to preserve their relevance to modern readers.

Read more here @ The Guardian

If a reader is so immature and close-minded that they cannot appreciate a work for what it is and when it was written, then they don't deserve to have any voice in publishing.  As far as I am concerned, this is something akin to censorship and sensitivity readers should be consigned to Dante's Sixth Circle of Hell - Heresy! I am so glad that my collection is still in its glorious, politically incorrect, original format. 

Publishers stand firm on Roald Dahl rewrite row

Article from The Telegraph:

European publishers have joined a backlash against changing Roald Dahl’s books, saying his stories “lose all their power” if his language is watered down

The author’s Dutch publisher Joris van de Leur criticised the decision by Puffin and the Roald Dahl Story Company to make hundreds of changes after consulting sensitivity readers and said he may stick with the original text.

The word “fat” has been removed from the books, including its use in reference to Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But Mr van de Leur said of Dahl’s writing: “Exaggerations are a figure of speech with him: if a person is fat, it represents gluttony and excess. Children understand what such literary hyperbole is. They really don’t think all fat kids are greedy.”

He said that De Fontein, the publishing company of which he is director, could continue to publish the old versions.

Old copies of Roald Dahl’s books have become sought-after following the news that new editions replace the original text.

World of Books, the online seller, said sales of Dahl’s books have risen by 600 per cent in the past week.

Nick Poole, the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, said that libraries should try to stock the original editions along with the new to allow readers to “judge for themselves which they prefer”.

Mr Poole said that to give readers a choice, it was essential that publishers who edit classic works clearly label new editions, saying: “We are dependent on publishers to identify that this has been done, for example by marking it as a ‘revised’ edition.”

He added: “We are committed to opposing censorship unless there is a specific risk that providing access to a particular book will break the law or incite hatred or violence. We recognise that publishers do regularly revisit the text of new editions to reflect changing values. It is important for them to let the reader know that the text has been altered from the original.”

Read article in its entirety here at The Telegraph

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