James Bond books are being edited to remove content seen as offensive
James Bond may be feeling a little more shaken, as the original novels by Ian Fleming have been rewritten to remove some highly offensive phrases.
Rereleased to mark the 70th anniversary of Casino Royale’s publication, the books will now also have a content warning.
It’s after the owners, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, had the works reviewed for sensitive content.
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Shockingly, many passages still used language which was highly offensive to ethnic minorities, especially black people.
Most of these have been rewritten and in some cases, racial descriptions removed entirely as editors rework the texts which first released in the 1940s and 1950s for modern audiences.
As per Variety, the novels will also have a new content warning, which reads: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace.
"A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set”.
Live and Let Die, which is set in Jamaica, has already had it's racial references toned down by US publishers.
They worked with author Ian Fleming to do this and many of the changes will now feature in the newly-released novel.
The publishers have also released a statement about the multiple changes to the text and other novels, which said: “We at Ian Fleming Publications reviewed the text of the original Bond books and decided our best course of action was to follow Ian’s lead. We have made changes to Live and Let Die that he himself authorised.
“Following Ian’s approach, we looked at the instances of several racial terms across the books and removed a number of individual words or else swapped them for terms that are more accepted today but in keeping with the period in which the books were written.
"We encourage people to read the books for themselves when the new paperbacks are published in April."
However, many sexist and homophobic phrases still remain in the James Bond books – much to the confusion of readers.
Sharing their frustration on social media, one wrote on Twitter: “There's been far too many derogatory terms and stereotyping in books, movies, etc. Long overdue for the creators to do better."
It comes not long after publisher Puffin revealed that the works of Roald Dahl had been rewritten since the author’s death.
Whilst this was done to be more inclusive, the move proved so controversial that within days the publisher released an unedited collection of Dahl’s stories.
Topics: UK News, James Bond, Books
Katherine Sidnell