Hacker Remix

Roald Dahl on the death of his daughter (2015)

142 points by areoform 4 days ago | 38 comments

vr46 5 hours ago

We could do with wider knowledge of a complicated man. My friend's husband wrote a fabulous play about a short period in Dahl's life centred around antisemitism, which was directed by Nicholas Hytner at the Royal Court. I suspect that it was done to improve public relations after various overblown controversies there, but that is not to take away from the writing and performance.

The other context around Israel invading Lebanon in 1982 was given to me (I was too young at the time to have a clue about anything) by another (Jewish) friend, a biographer of Primo Levi, who said, "I believe Israel had the sympathy of the world until they invaded Lebanon," in a conversation about how those who claim to be virtuous by invoking victimhood.

Dahl never invoked that himself, but with wider knowledge of his life and a more critical view of Israeli history, we can see what a complex polarized mess this is with little chance of redemption for either, although it is interesting that one man has generated disproportionate column inches compared to a country.

williamsmj 13 minutes ago

Were the "various overblown controversies" when he said "There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it's a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. 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"?

Or when he said the United States is "utterly dominated by the great Jewish financial institutions over there"?

Or when he said "I am certainly anti-Israel, and I have become anti-Semitic"?

Or are there others?

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/07/opinion/l-roald-dahl-also...

lolinder 35 minutes ago

Whether or not Dahl was influenced by the behavior of the state of Israel, he extrapolated his hatred towards a group of people. It's not really more complicated than that: it's wrong to be anti-Russian because of the actions of Putin, it's wrong to be anti-semitic because of the actions of Israel.

Whether or not you agree with the state of Israel's actions in recent years, it's very concerning to me to see comments like this that seem to justify or explain away racial hatred. You have to disentangle the two.

croissants 12 hours ago

I'm not sure what word to apply to facing three familial tragedies, any one of which might seem like more than a life's fair share of misfortune, with that kind of perseverance. Inspiring is too glib, inhuman is too alienating. Whatever kind of mettle that is, I hope to never have to prove it.

rakejake 5 hours ago

People are products of their environment. There are people with mettle/grit and then people who are more sensitive to perturbations of fate. The society they live in sets the base level of grittiness that you can expect any average person to be equipped with.

Dahl here is a very hardy man who approaches these issues in a very practical and logical way. But this was also in the post WW2 era where millions died, people lost their families and possessions, and had to start their life anew. It was a period of rebuilding after the devastation of war and hard times build hard people.

Today, all this feels like too much because we were all mostly born and brought up in wealth and prosperity. We have not seen any real hard times and there is no need for mettle.

nxobject 9 hours ago

In these times the saddest tragedy here is that Dahl was so preoccupied with medical care and expertise for his family – and the one time he let up, his daughter died because his brother-in-law thought "let the girls get measles[...] it will be good for them".

jessekv 6 hours ago

Lots of people still think this way about chickenpox, and I have no idea why.

In the US, vaccination for it is prevalent for years now (in a rare win for preventative health there).

Many other countries: "Chickenpox (and risk of shingles) will be good for you..."

JetSetWilly 4 hours ago

You have it the opposite way round. The UK (for example) never gave a chickenpox vaccine because it reasoned to do so increases the risk of shingles, and shingles is more serious than chickenpox. Also chickenpox is so mild that administering a national vaccination programme is of dubious benefit, the money can be more effectively spent elsewhere.

The JCVI might have recently changed recommendation but whether it is worth the cost/benefit is another matter.

lol768 36 minutes ago

The latest JCVI recommendations are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childhood-varicel...

The shingles vaccination programme (for older adults) has existed since 2013.

The JCVI recommendation from 2023 took into account new evidence that had emerged since the original decision in 2009, using a new model to evaluate cost-effectiveness and better evaluate the impact on QALY from infection.

The original 2009 reasoning's decision is available here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130107105...

croes 5 hours ago

Are you sure?

It seems quite the other way around.

Some other countries just lack the possibilities to vaccinate while the US could but people refuse in favor of „natural“ immunity.

Hence two dead children because of measles.

Smithalicious 5 hours ago

Here in Europe, or at least in the Netherlands where I grew up, chickenpox isnnot vaccinated for, and of course the reason is not "lacking the possibilities".

I don't have a stance on the matter, other than "I and everyone I know caught chickenpox as a kid and we turned out alright".

em500 4 hours ago

The Dutch health council advised against including chickenpox vaccination in the standard vaccination programme in 2020 for the European Netherlands (but pro vaccination for Dutch overseas territories in the Caribbean). The advise (in Dutch) can be found under "advies Vaccinatie tegen waterpokken" [1].

I don't have an opinion on whether the council properly weighted all the costs and benefits. I just want to include this reference make the point that the Dutch policy stance is not based on lack of means or on ignorance of our politicians or health authorities. The advice includes plenty of references to many international studies and experiences with chickenpox vaccination.

[1] https://www.gezondheidsraad.nl/documenten/adviezen/2020/10/0...

croes 5 hours ago

In Germany it’s recommended by the Vaccination Commission

jessekv 4 hours ago

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6605725/figure/F000...

Germany is one of the blue ones.

mortar 13 hours ago

2015 - https://archive.is/MsYOu