# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**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, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/41 "2012-06-21T17:37:03Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > 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? How would removing Twilight or its fan fiction reduce the level of joy and beauty in the world? ETA: Also, why do you use the adjective “bad” to modify the nounal phrase “Twilight fan fiction”? It’s as redundant as “female lesbian” or “murderous killing spree.” ---
**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, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/42 "2012-06-21T17:45:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > ETA: Also, why do you use the adjective “bad” to modify the nounal phrase “Twilight fan fiction”? It’s as redundant as “female lesbian” or “murderous killing spree.” I guess that was superflouiusly redundant. Still losing Dahl books would leave me with a melancholy sadness. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/43 "2012-06-21T17:55:56Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s as redundant as … “murderous killing spree.” Not so. Murder is specifically _unlawful_ killing. So if you go on a spree of folks who needed killin’, it’s not murderous. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/44 "2012-06-21T18:05:17Z")
Umm, ISTM that if it’s done IAW lawful procedures, it’s difficult to characterize it as a “spree,” _per se._ ---
**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, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/45 "2012-06-21T18:09:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not so. Murder is specifically _unlawful_ killing. So if you go on a spree of folks who needed killin’, it’s not murderous. :: returns from Universal Archives with bound manuscript :: I have just checked & rechecked the records, and as it turns out, every single killing spree in history has been murderous. Thus, while you may have _logic_ on your side, **I** have _statistics_. Now if you will excuse me, I happened to find the last copy anywhere of the unpublished Philip Marlowe novel Raymond Chandler work after he rediscovered his muse. It’s just as wonderful as you think it is, so naturally I’m not sharing it with you hosers. :: pulls out cigarette lighter, snickers :: ---
**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, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/46 "2012-06-21T18:09:54Z")
> [@](#): > > For all the clever kids who are made to feel like freaks because they’re bright and like to read. I guess I have to read Matilda! I just had something like happen, actually. One of my coworkers was talking to another coworker about some TV show\* or other, and she mentioned in passing that it was based on a series of books - and the other coworker cut her off firmly but loudly. “I DON’T READ.” 😕 At all? Ever? Not even a magazine article? \*True Blood ---
**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, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/47 "2012-06-21T18:11:37Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I guess I have to read Matilda! > > I just had something like happen, actually. One of my coworkers was talking to another coworker about some TV show\* or other, and she mentioned in passing that it was based on a series of books - > > and the other coworker cut her off firmly but loudly. “I DON’T READ.” > > 😕 > > At all? Ever? Not even a magazine article? > \*True Blood Um…I love you and all, dearest, but surely you don’t think that’s uncommon. I mean, I don’t have the patience for most movies and thus prefer books, but I’m the reverse of most. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/48 "2012-06-21T18:15:29Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The BFG, please. Pretty please, with snozzcumbers on top. …and whizpoppers on bottom? But yeah, that’s my favorite. I’ve only read all the children’s books and Boy. I think I’ll have to find these short stories everyone is mentioning. I love short stories. ---
**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, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/49 "2012-06-21T18:20:40Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > …and whizpoppers on bottom? > But yeah, that’s my favorite. I’ve only read all the children’s books and Boy. I think I’ll have to find these short stories everyone is mentioning. I love short stories. Here are two you should read: [Lamb to the Slaughter](http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html) [Man From the South](http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/south.html) That’ll be a dollar. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/50 "2012-06-21T18:26:43Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. > > Because it would confuse people. I seriously came in to say the exact same thing. ---
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/51 "2012-06-22T01:40:37Z")
I am sad to lose the poems, but I want to keep The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. I have loved this collection since I first read it when I was ten. They are amazing stories. Keep them. Toss the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-but-one-of-roald-dahls-works-of-fiction-to-be-removed-from-history-which-one/625782/52 "2012-06-24T10:45:50Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > 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… _The Witches_. I love love love this book. It is so original and twisted and warped, but in a still kid-appropriate way. It was also one of the first books I read that has a “happy” ending, but everything isn’t re-set back to perfectly happy and normal at the end. Shit happens, and bad guys get their comeuppance, but there are permanent consequences even for the good guys - kind of blew my little mind. My runner-up would _The Twits_. Kids always love a book with gross-out humor. [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=2)