Do you think Raold Dahl could be published today? What are your thoughts?

Question

I asked this because I had a very interesting discussion with a diverse crowd of mothers who objected to "The Witches".
These were all professionals, one was French, one was Jewish, one was African American, one was Pakistani and they raised some really good questions. They weren't offended but they brought up the issue of profiling.

Answer 1

Dahl has long been noted for his general misanthropy, his love of punishing his characters, and his obsession with finding the physically ugly morally ugly. All of these characteristics are found two-fold when he is dealing with women. There is much to object to in Dahl.

But the objectionable stuff is also what gives his work its personal flavor and idiosyncratic strength, along with more sympathetic obsessions and themes, about cruelty in boyhood, etc. I think he absolutely would be published these days, were he starting out again as he did before.

There is an interesting, long review of his collected stories by Joyce Carol Oates in the current issue of the NY Review of Books, that you might be interested in taking a look at:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20135

Answer 2

The road to a published novel may a little rockier in today's competition, but I believe that Roald Dahl would have made it eventually. Publisher's seem to have a little more freedom when it comes to publishing certain material, as a closed book says nothing until it's opened. However, Roald Dahl is an amazing writer. I can still remember so many of his stories vividly because he was such a great writer. However, subtle nuances toward profiling would have been unremarkable at the time I read the novels because I was so young. I will have to re-read them all. What sort of questions were raised?

Answer 3

There was an interesting article in the New York Times recently about how things become popular. It seems to be very serendipidous--a certain popularity early on and at a critical time grows out of proportion to other things as a certain bandwagon effect takes shape. Therefore, any band, singer, book that becomes popular could easily not have been had the timing or circumstances been even slightly different. There is nothing inevitable or any striking difference in quality between many of the bands, singers, books that are well-known and those that are not.

Some years ago, somebody did an experiment submitting a manuscript copy of The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings to various agents and publishers under a different name. The book is widely regarded as a classic. But the book had zero offers when resubmitted.

Just a few weeks ago, the famous violinist Joshua Bell played anonymously in the Washington DC subway as part of an experiment. Would middle-clas commuters recognize the playing of one of the most admired classical musicians? Experts predicted he would attract a crowd. But outside the trappings that defined him as important, he was almost completely ignored.

So could or would Roald Dahl be published today? I think that in today's very competitive publishing environment, especially for children and young adults, his chances would be quite slim, just as they are for anyone who is not a celebrity.

Answer 4

Hard to say...

On the one hand, Dahl first became a published author solely because of his Royal Air Force service during World War II. His first published work, "Shot Down Over Libya" (aka "A Piece of Cake"), contained an account of his wartime misadventures; his first children's book, "The Gremlins", was based on RAF folklore. Further, in 1942, Dahl was transferred to Washington as Assistant Air Attaché, so both of the works named above were first published in the U.S. So you could argue that Roald Dahl could only happen during World War II because the war, on the one hand, provided content for his first works and on the other, put him in touch with his American publishers.

On the other hand, Dahl was a critically acclaimed author of adult short stories, which earned him three Edgar awards; the bulk of his children's writing came much later. His second children's book, "James and the Giant Peach", was published in 1961, when Dahl already received two Edgars (in 1954, for "Someone Like You" and in 1959, for "The Landlady"). So you could say that Dahl is a timeless phenomenon, but you still have to wonder if his career could develop in Britain as well as it did in the U.S. (many of his stories were originally published by American magazines, including Harper's, Ladies Home Journal, The New Yorker, and Playboy)...

Answer 5

I really liked "My Uncle Oswald" as well as his many short stories.

My kids got a kick out of the movie version of "The Witches"
And have read some of his other children books.

Dahl should be celebrated. Fun stories from a more tolerant time.

Would he be published today ? I think Yes.

Answer 6

I think he would be. His books would (and do) fit in well with currently popular books like the Lemony Snicket and Eoin Colfour books.