The rights holders of the Roald Dahl Library changed some of the language in the books to reflect the changing times. James Bond is making a similar move. Representatives from Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. decided to remove racist content from the books on which the hit film series is based. The label is preparing to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Several books have already been edited – including Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Thunderball, Quantum of Solance, and Goldfinger .
In addition to editing, each reprinted book will contain a disclaimer: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes that might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. A number of updates have been made in this edition, staying as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.” Racist language has been removed from all sites , according to a new report by The Telegraph . In addition, several other fragments have been changed , e.g. in Live and Let Die , in which the nightclub audience was described as “pigs at the trough”.
We reviewed the text of the original Bond books and decided the best course of action was to follow in Ian’s footsteps. We made changes to Live and Let Die that he himself authorized. Following Ian’s approach, we looked at cases of several racial terms in the books, and removed a few individual words or replaced them with terms that are more acceptable today, but consistent with the period in which the books were written. We encourage people to read the books for themselves as new paperback editions will be published in April.
Ian Fleming Publications said in a statement to The Telegraph.
Fleming died in 1964, and the film series based on the books became one of the highest-grossing spy thriller franchises ever to hit theaters. 25 films have been made that have grossed over $7.8 billion worldwide.