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James Bond Novels To Be Reissued With Removal Of “Offensive” Racial References 

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Ian Fleming Publishing, which owns the rights to Ian Fleming’s works including the James Bond novels, has announced that they will be reissuing the famous spy novels with a handful of racial references removed and a disclaimer that the books “might use terms of attitudes considered offensive by modern readers.”

This April marks the 70 year anniversary of the publishing of Casino Royale, Fleming’s first book that features the famous James Bond character. The set of thrillers has been set to be reissued as a celebration of the anniversary. 

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The changes made to the novels include the removal of all mentions of the N-word, as well as references to the ethnicities of minor characters. 

According to the Telegraph, the disclaimers given to the reissued books will state: “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 it as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.”

Ian Fleming Publications also told the Telegraph that they had “reviewed the text of the original Bond books and decided our best course of action was to follow Ian’s lead.” 

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“We have made changes to Live and Let Die that he himself authorized. 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,” the statement read. 

“We encourage people to read the books for themselves when they are reissued.”

In a similar fashion, a multitude of books by Roald Dahl were also changed after a review by sensitive readers. 

In Dahl’s case, words and phrases such as “enormously fat” to describe a character were simply changed to “enormous.” The goal of these changes is to maintain the original feelings the books gave many generations growing up, with a layer of protection added for new modern readers.

Halloween Book

Underrated Stephen King Novels To Scare You This Halloween 

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Stephen King is known as one of the kings of the horror genre. His countless novels and movie adaptations have become iconic for thriller/scary movie/book lovers everywhere. This spooky season, as the weather begins to cool and the coronavirus pandemic continues to force us to remain indoors, curl up next to the fire with one of these iconic novels by King, and make sure to keep a light on so you don’t get too scared. 

Christine: This 1983 novel follows a haunted candy apple red 1958 Plymouth Fury that has a mind of its own. Not only can this car heal itself from damage, but it also has a deep love of doo-wop music and revenge. Christine discusses themes of toxic masculinity and obsession during a time where high school hierarchies ruled the world and is one of King’s most popular novels. 

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11.23.63: This time travel narrative follows school teacher Jake Epping as he attempts to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. However, the portal he uses to time travel only will drop him at the same spot in history in 1958; five years before Kennedy was shot. Jake begins to learn about all the intricacies of the time-travel process as he makes his way to the watershed moment in American history. 

Needful Things: This is one of King’s worst reviewed novels, however, his fans view it as a story that was ahead of its time. The 1991 novel takes place in the community of Castle Rock as it slowly and violently begins to turn against itself. As the citizens begin to turn into creatures that exploit their low-grade rivalries and resentments towards one another, residents begin to realize that they really don’t know anything about their neighbors. 

The Long Walk: This 1979 novel takes place in a dystopian future in which society’s Super Bowl has turned into a sadistic race in which 100 men compete in a nonstop walking contest. The first prize winner will never want anything again, and the second prize winner gets killed. Walkers are given three warnings for slowing down and then are executed by the military. The entire walk is a last man standing type competition. 

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Lisey’s Story: This novel is cited to be King’s favorite, which is a little ironic considering it’s one of his lesser known works. This is likely because the type of thrills in this novel are more delicate and subtle as opposed to the in your face horrors he’s more known for. The title character of this story is the widow of a Pulitzer Prize winning author who continues to think of his wife Tabitha in his everyday life. She follows him as he deals with a crazed stalker and the confusing elements of alternate dimensions.

The Dead Zone: Johnny Smith is a young man who wakes up from a coma one day with the ability to read people’s past, present and futures through touch. He deals with a serial killer, devastating accident and the heartbreak of a lost love who moved on without him easily. Eventually, Smith finds that his powers are necessary for saving the world after he shakes a powerful politician’s hand and sees a devastating nuclear war in the future. 

The Stand: This novel is not for the faint of heart especially in 2020. Originally published in 1978, this story explores what rises within the survivors of a world-killing pandemic. After all of society vanishes, a select few are left surviving in a world with no laws, order, or authority.