A while ago one of the luminaries at the Guardian suggested that maintaining a large personal library was a mark of the "smug middle class."
Those of us who keep large book collections at home are indeed often asked why we do it. Well, here's a great example:
Roald Dahl's children's books are being rewritten to remove language deemed offensive by the publisher Puffin.
Puffin has hired sensitivity readers to rewrite chunks of the author's text to make sure the books "can continue to be enjoyed by all today", resulting in extensive changes across Dahl's work.
Edits have been made to descriptions of characters' physical appearances. The word "fat" has been cut from every new edition of relevant books, while the word "ugly" has also been culled, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Pretty disgraceful stuff here. Roald Dahl wrote these books. He chose those words. The idea that they should be censored because some audiences are too sensitive to read them is just absurd.
If you don't like the book, don't read the book. Problem solved.
In eras of mass censorship and overzealous ideology, books are often the first thing to go. Books are perfect mass mediums for the transmission of knowledge, which is why they're so often targets of censors and busybodies and dictators.
