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This seems less like a book review and more of a hatchet job on Dahl himself.

teddyh 4y ago
There’s no surer sign of a hatchet job than when someone is criticized for once uttering a sentence in which Hitler is mentioned unfavorably, but the criticism is for them not being unfavorable enough. There’s no defense from that accusation, since there’s always a stronger word they could have applied to Hitler. It’s a lazy hatchet job smear. It’s especially lazy in this instance given that the quoted sentence (and other instances in the article) seems to imply some actual verified antisemitism by Dahl, but this is hardly mentioned. The article seems instead to want to concentrate on finding misogyny, but it can only find some very thin suggestions. Racism is also mentioned, but only briefly.
- PhasmaFelis 4y ago
  The sentence in question is "Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on [the Jews] for no reason." The problem with that sentence isn't that he's insufficiently critical of Hitler. It's the naked racism. If you think perhaps I'm taking things out of context, here's the full quote: “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason. I mean, if you and I were in a line moving towards what we knew were gas chambers, I’d rather have a go at taking one of the guards with me; but they [the Jews] were always submissive.”
  - teddyh 4y ago
    Please note: I’m not defending Dahl, I’m criticizing the article. You may or may not be right, but the article doesn’t do a very good job of showing it.
    - PhasmaFelis 4y ago
      The article certainly has its problems. (Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was great, and criticizing a beloved children's book for being too wacky is just absurd.) But you're saying that "Hitler didn’t just pick on the Jews for no reason" is not sufficient, on its own, to accuse someone of racism. And I don't believe that's true, even without the context of the full quote. Now, the article might reasonably make one suspect that the quote was taken out of context. This would lead to a few minutes of research, ending in the same context I found, and the conclusion that, no, he really was quite unashamedly racist.

There’s no surer sign of a hatchet job than when someone is criticized for once uttering a sentence in which Hitler is mentioned unfavorably, but the criticism is for them not being unfavorable enough. There’s no defense from that accusation, since there’s always a stronger word they could have applied to Hitler. It’s a lazy hatchet job smear. It’s especially lazy in this instance given that the quoted sentence (and other instances in the article) seems to imply some actual verified antisemitism by Dahl, but this is hardly mentioned. The article seems instead to want to concentrate on finding misogyny, but it can only find some very thin suggestions. Racism is also mentioned, but only briefly.

PhasmaFelis 4y ago
The sentence in question is "Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on [the Jews] for no reason." The problem with that sentence isn't that he's insufficiently critical of Hitler. It's the naked racism. If you think perhaps I'm taking things out of context, here's the full quote: “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason. I mean, if you and I were in a line moving towards what we knew were gas chambers, I’d rather have a go at taking one of the guards with me; but they [the Jews] were always submissive.”
- teddyh 4y ago
  Please note: I’m not defending Dahl, I’m criticizing the article. You may or may not be right, but the article doesn’t do a very good job of showing it.
  - PhasmaFelis 4y ago
    The article certainly has its problems. (Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was great, and criticizing a beloved children's book for being too wacky is just absurd.) But you're saying that "Hitler didn’t just pick on the Jews for no reason" is not sufficient, on its own, to accuse someone of racism. And I don't believe that's true, even without the context of the full quote. Now, the article might reasonably make one suspect that the quote was taken out of context. This would lead to a few minutes of research, ending in the same context I found, and the conclusion that, no, he really was quite unashamedly racist.