Censorship examples from the James Bond books that are the latest victim of ‘sensitivity readers’

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Thanks to Nick See article from telegraph.co.uk

All of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels are to be reissued in April 2023 to mark 70 years since Casino Royale , the first book in the series. Unfortunately this will be a gobblefucked release that has been cut by sensitivity censors.Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the company that owns the literary rights to the author’s work, commissioned a review by sensitivity censors of the classic texts under its control. The Telegraph understands that a disclaimer accompanying the reissued texts will read: This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set. The changes to Fleming’s books result in some depictions of black people being reworked or removed. Dated references to other ethnicities remain, such as Bond’s racial terms for east Asian people and the spy’s disparaging views of Oddjob, Goldfinger’s Korean henchman.In the sensitivity censor-approved version of Live and Let Die , Bond’s assessment that would-be African criminals in the gold and diamond trades are pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much becomes pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought. Another altered scene features Bond visiting Harlem in New York, where a salacious strip tease at a nightclub makes the male crowd, including 007, increasingly agitated. The original passage read: Bond could hear the audience panting and grunting like pigs at the trough. He felt his own hands gripping the tablecloth. His mouth was dry. The revised section replaces the pigs reference with: Bond could sense the electric tension in the room. A further lengthy passage describing Bond’s night out in Harlem, including an argument between a man and his girlfriend conducted largely in accented dialogue Fleming describes as straight Harlem-Deep South with a lot of New York thrown in, has been entirely removed. The word ‘nigger’, which Fleming used to refer to black people when he was writing during the Fifties and Sixties, has been almost entirely expunged from the censored texts. In most cases, this is replaced by black person or black man, but racial descriptors are entirely dropped in some instances. In one example, some criminals escaping from Bond in Dr No become simply gangsters. The ethnicity of a barman in Thunderball is similarly omitted in new editions. In Quantum of Solace , a butler’s race now also goes unmentioned.

Puffin Gobblefucks with words…Roald Dahl books suffer woke censorship by their publisher

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Thanks to Nick See article from news.sky.com

Content deemed offensive to woke sensitivities, such as references to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race have been removed or rewritten in Dahl’s library of children’s classics.Rishi Sunak has condemned the rewriting of Roald Dahl’s books, quoting the Big Friendly Giant’s warning not to gobblefunk with words. Sunak’s spokesperson said: When it comes to our rich and varied literary heritage, the PM agrees with the BFG that you shouldn’t ‘gobblefunk’ around with words. I think it’s important that works of literature and works of fiction are preserved and not airbrushed. We have always defended the right to free speech and expression. Booker Prize winner Sir Salman said the publishers, Puffin Books and the Roald Dahl Story Company, should be ashamed. He tweeted: Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, tweeted to say she was alarmed by the reported changes and warned the power to rewrite books could be abused. She added: Amidst fierce battles against book bans and strictures on what can be taught and read, selective editing to make works of literature conform to particular sensibilities could represent a dangerous new weapon. Those who might cheer specific edits to Dahl’s work should consider how the power to rewrite books might be used in the hands of those who do not share their values and sensibilities. Edits to Roald Dahl’s classics Some of the edits reportedly include removing the word ‘fat’ from every book, with Augustus Gloop in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory instead being described as enormous.  Hundreds of edits have reportedly been made to the latest editions of Roald Dahl’s classics. A report in the Daily Telegraph compared the latest editions with earlier versions of the texts. It found language concerning weight, mental health, violence, gender and race had been either cut or rewritten. The Cloud-Men in James and the Giant Peach are now the Cloud-People, while references to Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad in Matilda had been changed to Jane Austen and John Steinbeck. In The Witches, a reference to women working as a cashier in a supermarket or typing letters for a businessman has been changed to working as a top scientist or running a business. In James and the Giant Peach, Miss Sponge is no longer described as the fat one, Miss Spider’s head is no longer black and the Earthworm no longer has lovely pink skin but lovely smooth skin. In The Twits, Mrs Twit is no longer described as ugly and beastly but just beastly. The Roald Dahl Story Company claim their censorship process has been ongoing since 2020 and any edits are small and carefully considered. They worked with Puffin and Inclusive Minds, a group saying that they are working for inclusion and accessibility in children’s literature.

US Parents recommend…Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and many other gay themed books for kids

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Thanks to Nick See article from nbcnews.com

Mary Ellen Cuzela is a mother of three from Katy, a suburb of Houston, Texas. She has hit the headlines over her campaign to complain about gay themed books available in local school libraries.She started after reading Lawn Boy , by Jonathan Evison, which was available at her children’s high school. She said. The book, which traces the story of a Mexican American character’s journey to understanding his own sexuality and ethnic identity, was filled with vulgarity, Cuzela said, including dozens of four-letter words, explicit sexual references and a description of oral sex between fourth-grade boys during a church youth group meeting. Cuzela shared her views with some like-minded parents, and together they set out to get such books banned, and so the campaign was launched.Another book that caught her attention was Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) , by L.C. Rosen. This was noted for references to anal and oral sex and a detailed description of male genitalia and advice on how to give oral sex. The campaign received world attention including a report from the BBC. Books complained about for “pervasive vulgarity” include: Lawn Boy , by Jonathan Evison Losing the Girl by MariNaomi Me Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez The Nerdy and the Dirty by B.T. Gottfred Forever for a Year by B.T. Gottfred Jack of Hearts (and other parts) by L.C. Rosen All Boys Aren’t Blue by George Johnson The Handsome Girl and Her Beautiful Boy by B.T. Gottfred A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas Beauty Queens by Libba Bray Drama: A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeier Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen Vol 2, Official Movie Adaptation by Simon Furman The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson

Opaque rules…The Hungarian Government orders book shops to sell gay and sexy books in opaque covers

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See article from politico.eu

The Hungarian Government has ordered shops to wrap children’s books that depict homosexuality in a positive light in closed packaging as the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban fights against gay rights.Under a government decree, stores will also be banned from selling books seen as containing explicit depictions of sexuality or narratives around gender change within a 200 meter radius of schools or churches. The rules similarly outlaw displays of products that depict gender roles that are different from an individual’s gender at birth. The latest steps come a month after Hungary introduced a law banning the dissemination of LGBTQ+ content in schools.The European Commission has filed legal proceedings against Hungary claiming the rules violate the right to freedom of expression and information.

Bid to ban man hating book in France inevitably leads to increased sales

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See article from uk.news.yahoo.com

Sales of a French feminist book entitled I Hate Men have gone through the roof after a government official tried to have the work banned for inciting gender hatred.Pauline Harmange’s essay Moi les hommes, je les déteste explores whether women have good reason to hate men, arguing that this type of anger could actually be a joyful and liberating path, if it is allowed to be expressed. While the work was expected to generate modest sales of a few hundred copies, its first three print runs were quickly snapped up after an adviser to France’s gender equality ministry threatened the small publishing house Monstrograph with legal action if it didn’t remove the offending material from shelves. Presumably in response to the publicity, the ministry has now distanced itself from the matter, saying that the adviser was speaking in a personal capacity. The book’s publisher responded: This book is not at all an incitement to hatred … The title is provocative, but the subject matter is measured. It’s an invitation not to force oneself to date or deal with men. At no time does the author incite violence.

Unfree Speech…

Books vanish from Hong Kong book libraries in fear of new security law imposed by China.

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See article from theguardian.com

Books written by prominent Hong Kong democracy activists have started to disappear from the city’s libraries after Beijing imposed a repressive new national security law.Among the authors whose titles are no longer available are Joshua Wong, one of the city’s most prominent young activists, and Tanya Chan, a well known pro-democracy lawmaker. Wong said he believed the removal of the books was sparked by the security law. He wrote on Facebook: White terror continues to spread, the national security law is fundamentally a tool to incriminate speech, using a phrase that refers to political persecution. Searches on the public library website showed at least three titles by Wong, Chan and local scholar Chin Wan are no longer available for lending at any of dozens of outlets across the city.

Barbara Taylor Bradford forced to change the name of upcoming novel, Blackie and Emma, over political correctness fears

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Thanks to Nick See article from irishpost.com

The literary character Shane ‘Blackie’ O’Neill, from Co. Kerry, is a popular one, created by novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. But his name has meant that the proposed title of her latest book Blackie and Emma has now had to be changed.The prequel to the highly successful A Woman of Substance was due for imminent release. But at the last minute her publishers feared that the title Blackie and Emma might offend political correctness and asked her to come up with an alternative. A quote used in the promotional material rather demonstrates how key the nickname is: I am that, to be sure. Shane O’Neill’s the name, but the whole world calls me Blackie. The author spoke about the last minute change in the title saying that the book will now be called Shane O’Neill and Emma Harte .

Book publisher’s Diverse Editions inevitably prove divisive

Barnes and Noble’s brainless straw man falls apart…

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See article from amny.com

Barnes & Noble has shelved their plans to release a collection of classic books with new culturally diverse covers following an internet backlash.Penguin Random House and Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue had given twelve classic young adult novels new covers, known as Diverse Editions. The books were meant hit the shelves on Feb. 5, and the books were to be on display in their massive storefront throughout the month of February. Each title had five culturally diverse custom covers designed to ensure the recognition, representation, and inclusion of various multiethnic backgrounds reflected across the country. Following the news of the new covers, many Twitter users expressed their anger and disappointment over the situation. Example tweets were: Jesus. Slapping cartoon POC on books by white folks when the words within those books don’t promote anything but the white narrative isn’t diversity. Diversity is giving POC equal opportunity to be published in a predominately white marketplace. Do better. slapping Brown faces onto white stories is insulting. if #barnesandnoble wants to promote diversity, why not just promote classics written by diverse authors? they exist! Barnes & Noble released a statement on Twitter acknowledging the concerns of the public and ultimately cancelling the release event at the store. We acknowledge the voices who have expressed concerns about the Diverse Editions project at our Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue store and have decided to suspend the initiative. Diverse Editions presented new covers of classic hooks through a series of limited-edition jackets, designed by artists hailing from different ethnicities and backgrounds. The covers are not a substitute for black voices or writers of color, whose work and voices deserve to be heard. The booksellers who championed this initiative did so convinced it would help drive engagement with these classic titles. It was a project inspired by our work with schools and was created in part to raise awareness and discussion during Black History Month, in which Barnes & Noble stores nationally will continue to highlight a wide selection of books to celebrate black history and great literature from writers of color.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls…Turkish censors give adults only rating for a children’s book

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See article from telegraph.co.uk

Turkey has ruled that the million-selling book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls will be age restricted and treated like pornography because it could have a detrimental influence on young people.The book, which has been published in 47 languages, offers a series of inspiring stories about women from history for young children, from British nurse Florence Nightingale to French designer Coco Chanel to singer Beyonce. But the Turkish government’s censorship board for the protection of minors from obscene publications claimed: Some of the writings in the book will have a detrimental influence on the minds of those under the age of 18. That means it can only be sold to over-18s and must be concealed from view in shops. Speaking to AFP, one of the authors, Francesca Cavallo, said she was saddened by the decision. She sad: Girls deserve to grow up surrounded by more female role models. They deserve to grow up thinking that they can be anything they want When a government is scared by a children’s book promoting equality, that means that promoting these messages through children’s literature can have and is having an impact, and it makes me even more motivated to keep fighting every day.

Die Kasseler Liste…Canadian professor compiles an international database of banned books

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See article from citynews1130.com See kasselerliste.com

A list of banned books is over 118,000 titles long and it’s constantly growing, according to a professor from the University of British Collumbia.Professor Florian Gassner is the co-leader of a project to compile a digital list of censored books that is publicly available and searchable. The project is called Die Kasseler Liste and it was inspired by an art installation in Germany that recreated the Parthenon using banned books. Gassner says the first hurdle he and his team of students team had to overcome was deciding what constitutes censorship. They decided to include titles banned by governments as well as books that were taken off the shelves of public institutions — like schools and libraries — after public pressure. Gassner says government censorship is still a reality in countries like China, Russia, and Nigeria. He doesn’t mention the current trend for banning books in the west on grounds of political correctness. Gassner also wants people to understand that censorship goes beyond book-banning; it limits what can be written in the first place.