
Roald Dahl – the storyteller as benevolent sadist (2010) - samclemens
http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/67962/
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danielnixon
The first paragraph mentions Salman Rushdie, which reminded me of this[0]. For
anyone interested in free speech, victim blaming and such, these Dahl quotes
are interesting:

'In a letter to The Times of London, Dahl called Rushdie "a dangerous
opportunist," saying he "must have been totally aware of the deep and violent
feelings his book would stir up among devout Muslims. In other words, he knew
exactly what he was doing and cannot plead otherwise. This kind of
sensationalism does indeed get an indifferent book on to the top of the best-
seller list, — but to my mind it is a cheap way of doing it." The author of
dark children's books and stories for adults (who himself once had police
protection after getting death threats) also advocated self-censorship. It
"puts a severe strain on the very power principle that the writer has an
absolute right to say what he likes," he wrote. "In a civilized world we all
have a moral obligation to apply a modicum of censorship to our own work in
order to reinforce this principle of free speech."'

[0]
[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/arts/04iht-15donadio.64826...](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/arts/04iht-15donadio.6482640.html)

~~~
Jun8
Sadly, Dahl was not the only one attacking Rushdie:
[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/12/salman-
rushdie...](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/12/salman-rushdie-john-
le-carre).

Christopher Hitchens was a staunch defender of him during the _Satanic Verses_
debacle and was disgusted by the lack of reaction (or, when there is a
reaction, the lack of bravery to make it public) in the religious and literary
communities:

"One might have thought that such arrogant state-sponsored homicide, directed
at a lonely and peaceful individual who pursued a life devoted to language,
would have called forth a general condemnation. But such was not the case. In
considered statements, the Vatican, the archbishop of Canterbury, the chief
sephardic rabbi of Israel all took a stand in sympathy with–the ayatollah. So
did the cardinal archbishop of New York and many other lesser religious
figures. While they usually managed a few words in which to deplore the resort
to violence, all these men stated that the main problem raised by the
publication of The Satanic Verses was not murder by mercenaries, but
blasphemy. Some public figures not in holy orders, such as the Marxist writer
John Berger, the Tory historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, and the doyen of espionage
authors John Le Carré, also pronounced that Rushdie was the author of his own
troubles, and had brought them on himself by “offending” a great monotheistic
religion. There seemed nothing fantastic, to these people, in the British
police having to defend an Indian-born ex-Muslim citizen from a concerted
campaign to take his life in the name of god."

~~~
danielnixon
Speaking of le Carré, you might enjoy this exchange between Rushdie, Hitchens
and le Carré in The Guardian: [http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/burning/le-
carre-vs-rushdie.h...](http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/burning/le-carre-vs-
rushdie.html)

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SocksCanClose
Those interested in Dahl might also be keen to note his career as a World War
I flying ace, and then (again as a Military officer), World War II espionage
agent sent by the British to nudge the Americans into war. As a member of the
British Diplomatic Legation in Washington, DC he gained access to the
Georgetown cocktail party circuit, and from there, helped build social
consensus among many (including Mrs. Roosevelt) about the importance of an
American entry into the War. No need to trust my word for it, check out Jennet
Conant's fantastic book on the matter, "The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the
British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington" [https://www.amazon.com/Irregulars-
Roald-British-Wartime-Wash...](https://www.amazon.com/Irregulars-Roald-
British-Wartime-Washington/dp/0743294599)

~~~
Bartweiss
Also worth a look are _Boy_ and _Going Solo_ , Dahl's autobiographies of some
of those events. Both excellent, aimed at adults, and a surprising little
window into the forces that shaped Dahl-the-author.

~~~
chris_wot
I loved those books, but I'm not sure how much was exaggerated. Dahl was a
shockingly compulsive liar all his life, which somewhat unsurprisingly also
made him an excellent author.

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retrogradeorbit
I can't recommend enough for kids who grew up reading Dahl like I did, who are
now adults, to read his adult short story collections. "The Wonderful Story of
Henry Sugar", "Switch Bitch" and "Kiss Kiss" are all excellent.

~~~
junto
Henry Sugar is a wonderful story. I spent ages staring into candles as a kid
hoping that would work!

~~~
jbeales
Candles are still magical. Henry Sugar is part of the reason.

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sundvor
I'm fairly sure I have been criticized by one of my 5 year old son's teachers
for reading him Roald Dahl books. However they are such magic stories; he
loves listening to them just as much as I love reading them for him.

~~~
sundvor
To whomever downvoted me: Would love to know the reason for the downvote; am I
a bad father for reading Roald Dahl, one of my own childhood favourites?

There are obviously a few (many?) who think less of Roal Dahl's books.. I
guess he's not PC enough

~~~
fractallyte
There seems to be more of this happening lately, and it's really annoying. If
someone's incensed enough to downvote a perfectly reasonable, sane comment, at
least have the decency to write a reason. That's what the system of downvoting
_and_ comments is for, after all: expanding and/or elucidating a discussion.

Your original comment is echoed in various mentions of Dahl I've heard over
the years: that he's overly cruel, and therefore unsuitable for kids. But
these adults often miss the fact that he's _delightfully_ cruel (with justice
coming to the people who deserve it!), and ironic in way that a younger
audience enthusiastically responds to.

~~~
sundvor
Thanks; appreciated, and that's a great explanation which I'll remember next
time someone is questioning my choice!

There is clearly a common thread of morality through his books which is rare
these days. My son responds well to it, and wants to be one of the good guys!
(I should be so lucky.. but still :))

My other, non-hereto-mentioned reason is that Dahl is of direct Norwegian
ancestry, and so is my son (well, with an Australian mum) - so I take that as
a bonus.

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jestinjoy1
Now reading his book "The Great Automatic Grammatizator" which is a short
story collection. It has got the short story by the book title name. Written
in 1954, the story revolves around a machine which automatically writes
articles. Reading in 2016 this story gives an interesting read. BTW this is
the first Roald Dahl book I am reading

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justinator
I found a copy of, "Over To You" in a backpackers in New Zealand. I read, and
had read to me, most of Dahl's children's books, but I never knew him as a
writer of adult books, let alone non fiction books on war. But there his
writing was, narrating about fining prostitutes in Cairo during WWII.

It's a great book, by the way.

~~~
ageofwant
You aught to read "Boy" then, I think "Over to you" follows up on Boy. I envy
you, your in for a good time.

~~~
koolba
And after that "Going Solo".

Coming from the magic of the rest of his books both are quite a shift but they
give you clue into the events that shaped his mind for the rest of his
stories.

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saucymew
Though he is probably more well known for his fiction, his memoirs (Boy, Going
Solo) were my first reads of Dahl as a child.

That man could tell a fantastic story within a chapter.

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silentsea90
Dahl was what I grew up reading. He was amazing, and I remember spending days
just being captured in the delight of his books and the illustrations on the
side.

~~~
erickhill
The illustrations were done by Sir Quentin Blake, who was knighted in 2013 for
his work in children's lit. Pretty powerful one-two punch, Dahl and Blake.

~~~
silentsea90
Indeed! That combination was pure magic as a kid.

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SocksCanClose
Those uninterested can also consult his wikipedia entry, posted here for ease
of access. Though I highly recommend the book. It is quite good. And available
on tape for those with long commutes, and Audible accounts.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl)

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dekhn
It's worth reading My Uncle Oswald, which is a mildly amusing story about sex
and Nobel prizewinner sperm banks.

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ssttoo
I remember reading some of the kid's books and I think it was BFG with so many
made-up words that I was thinking "here's a start up name, and another one,
and for sure no one has bought _this_ domain. Good times :)

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libeclipse
The storyteller as God.

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nsxwolf
As a child I read "George's Marvellous Medicine" and its lighthearted
condoning of murder left an impression on me.

~~~
ptha
I'll have to re-read "George's Marvellous Medicine", that was my first Roald
Dahl book. My dad bought it for me on a journey across the Irish Sea on a
holiday trip. He bought my sister "The Magic Finger", which she finished quite
quickly and was impatiently waiting for me to finish mine so she could read
it. She was 2 years younger than me but reading at a level quite a bit older
than me. I was reading at a age younger than I was (this is based on our
school reports). "George's Marvellous Medicine" actually kickstarted my
reading and love of books, so I'll always be very grateful for that.

