Ian Fleming’s novels about the adventures of probably the most famous fictional spy in the world, 007 James Bond, have been rewritten to take modern sensitivities into account, a British newspaper has reported.
This revelation comes as the Bond novels are expected to be reissued in April on the anniversary of the release of Casino Royale, the first book of the series.
According to the newspaper, Fleming’s classic works were reviewed by “sensitivity readers” contracted by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the company that owns the rights to Ian Fleming’s books.
A reissued book will be featuring a disclaimer saying that said book “was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace,” and that “a number of updates” have been made to it while keeping the book as close to the original as, the newspaper noted.
The examples of this rewriting reportedly include the removal of the depictions of black people and terms such as “ni**er,” which is currently regarded as a racial slur.
At the same time, certain aspects of the books, such as Bond’s remarks about the “sweet tang of rape” and his description of homosexuality as a “stubborn disability,” will apparently remain unchanged.
News of this development left quite a few social media users visibly unamused, with some of them, perhaps jokingly, urging others to “keep hold” of the original works they own.
“The Bible will be next - I recall many texts referring to bad people and criminals being stoned. You heard it here first,” one netizen mused.
“We don’t need to change Bond, We need to learn from the past and move on,” suggested another.