Matilda was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. There's something in it that hits me right in the soul, even as an adult. I hear you when you say his antisemitism is an issue for you - but - I just can't see how that has any bearing on my relationship with his books. As a child I didn't understand, and now as an adult I can't bring myself to care. Its not like the royalties go to him - he's dead.
I struggle more with Scott Orson Card. Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead are fantastic books. Both different, and both absolutely excellent. I'd rather not support him financially given he's used his platform to attack gay people. But I also suspect it would have taken someone with a conservative outlook on life to write Speaker for the dead. There's ideas in that book I never hear anyone talk about. Hearing those perspectives has broadened my outlook a little. My life would be dimmer for not having read his books.
I also think a lot of the delight in Dahl's books comes from his unbridled wildness, and his unabashed delight in being a monster to his characters - in ways modern sensibilities don't approve of. I don't think he would have been on board with the modern insistence on political correctness in children's books. I understand the edits, especially if there's netflix deals in the works. But I suspect history won't look kindly on the edits made to his books. Its ok for Wonka to have slaves (so long as they're not african) and straight up murder annoying children, but he can't call someone fat? This all feels very of-the-moment.
Dahl "justified the Holocaust"? He killed Nazis, for crying out loud.
Pointing out that Jewish people are heavily involved in the media isn't inherently anti-semitic. Creating a fictional conspiracy where a group controls the media isn't inherently anti-semitic either.
Witches and goblins have had long noses for ever. Describing them isn't antisemitic.
Jews aren't all women. Jews don't all wear wigs. Jews aren't known for turning English children into mice. The list of differences is long.
Am I really having to point all this out to a grown adult?
'Jews are controlling the media' isn't antisemitic? 'der Stuermer' was depicting caricature Jews with long noses just for the fun of it? And yes, fictional conspiracies were a big deal in antisemitic propaganda - 'the protocols of the elders of zion' is just an example.
And regarding The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The whole point of that book is that it was passed off as not being fictional. It was fraudulently presented as a real text.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/06/roald-dahl-fam...
“It’s the same old thing: we all know about Jews and the rest of it. There aren’t any non-Jewish publishers anywhere, they control the media – jolly clever thing to do – that’s why the president of the United States has to sell all this stuff to Israel.”