[A href="vny!://home.rotfl.org/me/r_dahl/r_dahl.html"][FONT color=#0000ff]Great Author Roald Dahl on [/FONT][FONT color=#0000ff]What is the Best Attribute a Person Can Have[/FONT][/A]
ROALD DAHL: I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I'll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.
BRIAN SIBLEY: Or brains even?
ROALD DAHL: Oh gosh, yes, brains is one of the least. You can be a lovely person without brains, absolutely lovely. Kindness -- that simple word. To be kind -- it covers everything, to my mind. If you're kind that's it.
Another quote from Roald Dahl:
"There's a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity . . . I mean there is always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason."
Yeah. Great author alright. (//forums/richedit/smileys/Other/8.gif)
Another quote from Roald Dahl:
"There's a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity . . . I mean there is always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere;
[/b]Yeah, and the reason is that a lot of people are f*cked-up, bigotted nutjobs. I notice he doesn't say that the reason black people got lynched was because of some "trait in the negro character". That's ridiculous- it's like saying that motorcycle helmets cause accidents.
even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason."
A "stinker"? Wow, Ronald Dahl really let Hitler have it with both barrels there. Wow, what extrordinary villification- he calls a dictator and mass murderer a "stinker".
I was going to say something, but you just said it for me.
BTW, Stalin was a real horse's ass.
tenkani wrote:
I was going to say something, but you just said it for me.
BTW, Stalin was a real horse's ass.[/DIV]
That bitch Stalin gave my grandmother black lung disease because she was in the Stalingrad concentration camp after the war.
- 'A "stinker"? Wow, Ronald Dahl really let Hitler have it with both barrels there. Wow, what extrordinary villification- he calls a dictator and mass murderer a "stinker". '
...praising him with faint damns.
"praising him with faint damns." (//vny!://www.motleycrow.com/ImageHost/HPL_roflmao-thumb.jpg)
(//vny!://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Travel/Pix/gallery/2001/02/05/stalin.gif)
Sportsdude wrote:
(//vny!://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Travel/Pix/gallery/2001/02/05/stalin.gif)
[span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 127);"]Arguably the most genuine use that man has ever been to the Russian people.[/span]
Roald Dahl flew fighter planes for the Royal Air Force on missions against the Nazis, shooting down Nazi planes, got hit once, landing for six months in the hospital, then flew more missions against the Nazis. If action speaks louder than words...
Adam_Fulford wrote:
Roald Dahl flew fighter planes for the Royal Air Force on missions against the Nazis, shooting down Nazi planes, got hit once, landing for six months in the hospital, then flew more missions against the Nazis. If action speaks louder than words...
Frankly, his words speak pretty loudly all on their own.
Lots of people fought Nazis and still found the time to hate jews or blacks or whatever. I'm all for his shooting down Nazis, but his own words show another side of him that doesn't go down well with me. Blaming victims for what happens to them doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Basically what he's saying is that "it's the jews fault" that the Nazis forced 6 million of them into gas chanbers. Do you really agree with that?
In the context of the great works he's produced and the messages he's conveyed, those words are a stinking extract, but not typical Roald Dahl, a writer of many literary masterpieces with loving messages. Sadly, such attitudes are a reflection of his time more than of him. You can find equally disturbing quotes from almost every great writers of past generations, be it William Shakespeare, Hellen Keller, Joseph Conrad, or O. Henry. That's just the ugly truth.
I am grateful that great writer of loving literary masterpieces, Roald Dahl, risked his life and bravely fought against the vile and evil Nazis who brutally wiped out entire branches of my Jewish relatives in Germany, whatever words he may have carelessly uttered in an off moment. Action makes a difference. A vast difference. Action, not carefully enunciated politically-correct words (worthy as such words may be), action defeated Hitler and the Nazis. With his action, as a fighter pilot, Roald Dahl contibuted greatly to defeating the Nazis, shooting down Nazi planes at great risk to his life. That means more to me than a few carelessly uttered words.
Good Lord, man, it was more than a few words. He nearly made a vocation out of his anti-Semitism. Do a bit of research. It's certainly no secret.
So he flew with the RAF. That was far more about the defence of Britain than concern over what the Nazis were doing to the Jews.
Wagner wrote some fine pieces of music. Ezra Pound was one of the most innovative poets of the 20th century.
They would both have you killed or otherwise persecuted in a heartbeat given the opportunity. That's the tragedy of it all.
I remember the day I found out about Dahl. I literally felt sick.
Roald Dahl was not anti-Semitic. He disagreed with Israeli policies. Calling him anti-Semitic because he disagreed with Israeli policy is like calling someone who disagrees with Bush's policies anti-American. In fact, more disagreement of Israeli policy is tolerated within Israel than in the United States. Making that one extreme characterization about Dahl based on one sloppy comment, is like making an extreme assumption about someone if they make a half-baked comment about "Americans." Dahl's one comment was stupid, as he later admitted himself. Most people say silly things sometimes.
For the record, my personal position is that Israel has to defend itself. I believe that countries surrounding Israel benefit from the Palestinian issue, and deliberately exacerbate the situation and fan the fires of hatred so they can exploit it to garner domestic support and divert attention their own corruption and brutality.
What can I say? I disagree with you. I'm not someone who goes looking for anti-semitism around every corner. I am someone who has a great appreciation for many of Dahl's works, but ultimately had to realize -- along with some of his greatest admirers -- that this was not a matter of just one comment.
The comment I quoted was his response, in 1983, to being accused of anti-semitism in other ways over the years. You say he is "anti-Israel" instead; that has become a convenient costume for too many these days. I'm well aware of the much greater divergence of political opinion in Israel on Israel than in the North American disapora. But people who really want to solve that situation speak and behave differently than Dahl.
Do you think it really would have mattered to your relatives how he saw himself?
I won't defend Roald Dahl's more stupid comments. He was an impulsive artist who, in the flipside to his masterful creativity, had a way of recklessly saying stupid things, and then having to backtrack on it. I really don't believe he was a hater.
So... what kind of books did Dahl write?
Great writer Roald Dahl is best known for his children's work -- some, such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, adapted into Hollywood movies -- but his writing for adults is also masterful. His stories are very fun and innovative, often with unusual twists and dark humor: His work was highly regarded by such peers as Ernest Hemingway. Roald Dahl first started his career as a writer penning magazine articles recounting his experiences as a fighter pilot, bravely risking his life to shoot down Nazi planes. Even after being seriously wounded and hospitalized for six months after Nazis shot his plane down, Dahl resumed flying as a fighter pilot, combatting the Nazis. Roald Dahl was one of the war heros who helped defeat Hitler and the Nazis, and free the world of Nazism, so that we can enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today. Though Roald Dahl is no longer with us, helping free the world of Nazism, and his wonderful array of masterful stories and other written works -- translated into dozens of languages -- are legacies for which adults and children alike around the world are grateful.
[P class=bigger] [A name=short]Short Story Collections[/A]
[UL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/five.php"]5 Bestsellers[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/ahsw.php"]Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/best.php"]The Best of Roald Dahl[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/coll.php"]The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/comp.php"]Completely Unexpected Tales[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/furt.php"]Further Tales of the Unexpected[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/grea.php"]The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/kiss.php"]Kiss Kiss[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/lamb.php"]Lamb to the Slaughter and Other Stories[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/mild.php"]The Mildenhall Treasure[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/more.php"]More Tales of the Unexpected[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/omni.php"]The Roald Dahl Omnibus[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/over.php"]Over to You[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/sele.php"]Selected Stories of Roald Dahl[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/nine.php"]A Roald Dahl Selection: Nine Short Stories[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/eigh.php"]A Second Roald Dahl Selection: Eight Short Stories[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/skin.php"]Skin and Other Stories[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/sone.php"]Someone Like You[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/swit.php"]Switch B***h[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/tale.php"]Tales of the Unexpected[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/tale2.php"]Tales of the Unexpected (Volume 1)[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/tale3.php"]Tales of the Unexpected (Volume 2)[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/tast.php"]Taste and Other Tales[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/twen.php"]Twenty Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/twof.php"]Two Fables[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/umbr.php"]The Umbrella Man and Other Stories[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/wond.php"]The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More[/A] [/LI][/UL] [A name=novel]Novels[/A]
[UL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/myun.php"]My Uncle Oswald[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/stim.php"]Sometime Never[/A] [/LI][/UL] [A name=autobiographies]Autobiographies[/A]
[UL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/boy.php"]Boy – Tales of Childhood[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/boygoin.php"]Boy and Going Solo[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/goin.php"]Going Solo[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/grmouse.php"]The Great Mouse Plot[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/myye.php"]My Year[/A] [/LI][/UL] [A name=kids]Children's Books[/A]
[UL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/bfg.php"]The BFG[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/3in1.php"]The BFG, Matilda, and George's Marvelous Medicine[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/char.php"]Charlie and the Chocolate Factory[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/charglas.php"]Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/charwonka.php"]The Compete Adventures of Charlie and Mr Willy Wonka[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/dann.php"]Danny, the Champion of the World[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/enor.php"]The Enormous Crocodile[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/esio.php"]Esio Trot[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/fant.php"]Fantastic Mr. Fox[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/geor.php"]George's Marvelous Medicine[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/gira.php"]The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/grem.php"]The Gremlins[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/jame.php"]James and the Giant Peach[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/magi.php"]The Magic Finger[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/mati.php"]Matilda[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/minp.php"]The Minpins[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/twit.php"]The Twits[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/vica.php"]The Vicar of Nibbleswicke[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/witc.php"]The Witches[/A] [/LI][/UL] [A name=poetry]Poetry[/A]
[UL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/dirt.php"]Dirty Beasts[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/revo.php"]Revolting Rhymes[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/rhym.php"]Rhyme Stew[/A] [/LI][/UL] [A name=misc]Miscellaneous[/A] [UL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/ghos.php"]Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories[/A] (editor) [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/diar92.php"]The Roald Dahl Diary 1992[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/diar00.php"]The Roald Dahl Diary 2000[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/memo.php"]Memories with Food at Gipsy House[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/morerec.php"]Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/guid.php"]Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/quiz.php"]The Roald Dahl Quiz Book[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/revorec.php"]Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes[/A] [LI][A href="vny!://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/trea.php"]The Roald Dahl Treasury[/A] [/LI][/UL] Movies and Screenplays
[OL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432283/" name=writerinp]The Fantastic Mr. Fox[/A] (2006) ([A href="vny!://pro.imdb.com/r/legacy-inprod-name/inproduction/"][FONT color=#ff0000]pre-production[/FONT][/A]) (novel)
[LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367594/" name=writer2000]Charlie and the Chocolate Factory[/A] (2005) (book)
... aka Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259323/"]Genesis and Catastrophe[/A] (2000) (story)
[LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282607/" name=writer1990]Inaudito[/A] (1999) (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117008/"]Matilda[/A] (1996) (book)
... aka Roald Dahl's Matilda [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116683/"]James and the Giant Peach[/A] (1996) (book) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114138/"]Pisvingers![/A] (1995) (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177448/"]"Jackanory"[/A]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765655/"]The Twits[/A] (1995) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (novel)
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0613862/"]George's Marvellous Medicine[/A] (1986) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (novel)
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765645/"]James and the Giant Peach[/A] (1986) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (novel)
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765643/"]Charlie and the Chocolate Factory[/A] (1979) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (novel)
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0777423/"]James and the Giant Peach: Down to Earth[/A] (1968) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (book)
([A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001094/filmoseries#tt0177448"]9 more[/A]) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151024/"]Idealnaya para[/A] (1992) (stories)
... aka Идеальная пара (Russia)
... aka The Ideal Couple [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100944/"]The Witches[/A] (1990) (book)
[LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096866/" name=writer1980]The BFG[/A] (1989) (novel)
... aka The Big Friendly Giant (UK: complete title) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096977/"]Breaking Point[/A] (1989) (TV) (novel Beware of the Dog) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097152/"]Danny the Champion of the World[/A] (1989) (TV) (novel) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088692/"]Alfred Hitchcock Presents[/A] (1985) (TV) (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088461/"]¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!![/A] (1984) (story Lamb to the Slaughter) (uncredited source)
... aka What Have I Done to Deserve This? (USA)
[LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075592/" name=writer1970]"Tales of the Unexpected"[/A] (1979) [SMALL]TV Series[/SMALL] (short stories)
... aka Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067992/"]Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory[/A] (1971) (book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067486/"]The Night Digger[/A] (1971)
... aka The Road Builder
[LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803/" name=writer1960]Chitty Chitty Bang Bang[/A] (1968)
... aka Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (USA: complete title) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396335/"]"Late Night Horror"[/A] (1968) [SMALL]TV Series[/SMALL] (writer) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062512/"]You Only Live Twice[/A] (1967) (screenplay)
... aka Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice (USA: complete title) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212699/"]"Thirty-Minute Theatre"[/A] (writer)
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062344/"]Taste[/A] (1967) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059566/"]Parson's Pleasure[/A] (1965) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437420/"]Pfarrers Freude, Des[/A] (1966) (TV) (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057809/"]36 Hours[/A] (1965) (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131188/"]"That Was the Week That Was"[/A] (1962) [SMALL]TV Series[/SMALL] (writer)
... aka TW3 [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054574/"]"'Way Out"[/A]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0500767/"]William and Mary[/A] (1961) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047708/"]"Alfred Hitchcock Presents"[/A] (episode "Dip in the Pool") (story) (6 episodes) (writer) (episode writer)
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508312/"]The Landlady[/A] (1961) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508207/"]Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat[/A] (1960) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508196/"]Man from the South[/A] (1960) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508229/"]Poison[/A] (1958) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508189/"]Lamb to the Slaughter[/A] (1958) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (story) (teleplay)
[LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050064/" name=writer1950]"Suspicion"[/A]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0714220/"]The Way Up to Heaven[/A] (1958) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267223/"]"Star Tonight"[/A]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708373/"]Taste[/A] (1955) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042098/"]"Danger"[/A]
- [A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0553888/"]A Dip in the Pool[/A] (1954) [SMALL]TV Episode[/SMALL] (story) [LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365990/"]"Cameo Theatre"[/A] (1950) [SMALL]TV Series[/SMALL] (writer)
[LI][A href="vny!://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041061/" name=writer1940]"Suspense"[/A] (1949) [SMALL]TV Series[/SMALL] (writer)
[/LI][/OL]
Ohh.. I recognize some of those children books, but that's it.
There you go. That's actually a lot. Most people wouldn't be able to list "some" Hemingway or James Joyce books (maybe one or two).