The absurd and asinine cleansing of Roald Dahl’s work

Like the rest of the sane universe, we couldn’t believe the gall of Puffin U.K. when word came out that the publishing house and the Roald Dahl Story Co., the entity that manages his work, had conspired to make hundreds of changes to the writers’ iconic books. After sensitivity readers flagged language as objectionable, the Oompa Loompas in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory aren’t “small men” anymore; they’re now “small people.” The chickens in “Fantastic Mr. Fox” are no longer “stupid.” Augustus Gloop isn’t “fat”; now he’s “enormous” (that’s better?). In “The Twits,” a language referred to as a...