# All but one of Roald Dahl's works of fiction to be removed from history. Which one? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782 "2012-06-20T20:42:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/21 "2012-06-21T03:30:59Z")
I’ve never read any Roald Dahl, and the only work of his with which I have more than a passing familiarity is _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_. So if that’s the only thing that survives, it won’t really change my world much at all… ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/22 "2012-06-21T03:31:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Boy. Dahl’s memoir of his childhood is more fantastic than all his fiction put together. I preferred the grittier sequel Flying Solo ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/23 "2012-06-21T04:12:05Z")
Can I be the first person to mention, let alone want to save, _The Witches_?? Clearly his best book, the one with the most danger and imagination, the one I re-read the most often… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/24 "2012-06-21T07:30:37Z")
_James and the Giant Peach_, as it’s the first one I read with (rather than to) my daughter and one of the things that’s got her into reading for pleasure. But I’ll miss _The BFG_ most of all. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/25 "2012-06-21T07:54:23Z")
This hypothetical is bad and you should feel bad. I love Roald Dahl too much to remove even one of his books from my bookshelf! You book burner! Matilda. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/26 "2012-06-21T08:18:56Z")
Yes, Matilda please. For all the clever kids who are made to feel like freaks because they’re bright and like to read. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/27 "2012-06-21T08:34:54Z")
Yes, Matilda please. For all the clever kids who are made to feel like freaks because they’re bright and like to read. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/28 "2012-06-21T08:36:23Z")
Apparently I like it so much I requested it twice. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/29 "2012-06-21T08:50:26Z")
Reading them with my daughter now, leave them alone please until we’ve got through them, we have done Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Danny the Champion of the world The BFG Matilda James & the Giant Peach Esio Trot Of those I’d keep BFG as thats the one I remember most from my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/30 "2012-06-21T10:01:31Z")
I’m honestly surprised _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ hasn’t won hands down, if for only the reason that it’s the only one most people know he’s written, so it wouldn’t be that big a change. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/31 "2012-06-21T10:14:37Z")
Danny, the Champion of the World because that’s the only one I didn’t like. Maybe I won’t miss the others so much if I don’t have any that remind me of how brilliant he could be. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/32 "2012-06-21T10:14:44Z")
I’d like to see Chocolate Factory eliminated just to get rid of the arguments about whether Gene Wilder’s grooming pedophile version of Wonka was better than Johnny Depp’s autistic version. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/33 "2012-06-21T12:51:07Z")
**[Collected Stories](http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Stories-Everymans-Library-Roald/dp/0307264904)** is the obvious choice, though it was published after his death. There is **The Best of Roald Dahl** from 1978, which collected all of his best except for “Bitch.” Dahl’s short fiction for adults is far superior to his fiction for children and anyone who thinks he’s a children’s author needs to read something like “Bitch.” Dahl was the absolute master of subtle horror and is the only author who can pull off a satisfying anticlimax. He’s got a sly sense of humor that you can detect from time to time in his children’s books, but is out in full force in his short stories. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/34 "2012-06-21T13:06:17Z")
The BFG, please. Pretty please, with snozzcumbers on top. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/35 "2012-06-21T13:56:51Z")
I reallly really liked Danny, the Champion of the World, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/36 "2012-06-21T13:58:33Z")
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, please. It seems to have made the most impression on the most children. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/37 "2012-06-21T17:14:58Z")
I’ll vote for saving “You Only Live Twice”. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/38 "2012-06-21T17:22:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m honestly surprised _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ hasn’t won hands down, if for only the reason that it’s the only one most people know he’s written, so it wouldn’t be that big a change. [silly hat off] I thought Matilda or Giant Peach would be the runaway winner myself. But votes for the others make sense when you think about it. This thread was destined to appeal most to persons who really like Roald Dahl, and such persons will have read many of his works. I’d vote for Matilda, by the way. My two eldest nieces love both book and movie, and the younger of them wore out two videotapes of the movie when she was young and lonely. [silly hat on] Okay, so by my count four members of the Short List have chimed in. Mika’s vote counts for twenty, so right now Chocolate Factory is far in advance of everything else; Chronos has a similar unfair advantage but didn’t bother specifying a title, so it doesn’t count. Matilda & BFG are both doing well with the Short-Listers support, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/39 "2012-06-21T17:27:26Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > This hypothetical is bad and you should feel bad. I love Roald Dahl too much to remove even one of his books from my bookshelf! You book burner! > > Matilda. :eek: At no point did I suggest burning any books. I am not a Nazi. And I’ll keep a copy of destroyed wonderwork for myself so as to make things worse for everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/40 "2012-06-21T17:32:45Z")
What kind of an evil bastard would want to eliminate such great books? Couldn’t we just get rid of the bad Twilight fan fiction and call it a day? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782.md?page=3)