Roald Dahl

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Philip Mannering
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Roald Dahl

Post by Philip Mannering »

Given his popularity, I'm surprised that he hasn't a thread of his own here. Well, I am making it. I've read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and loved it. It was amazing. Then I bought other books of Dahl (the sequel of Chocolate Factory - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Matilda, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach and Danny the Champion of the World). I loved nearly all of them. Now I'm in search of the first part of his autobiography - Boy: Tales of Childhood.

Dahl certainly uses formula for his writing. His books comprises of some extremely bad people and some extremely good people. Here's his own words:
All good books have to have a mixture of extremely nasty people - which are always fun - and some nice people. In every book or story there has to be somebody you can loathe. The fouler and more filthy a person is, the more fun it is to watch him getting scrunched.
I have to disagree with him here. Is it absolutely necessary to have the old classic good people v/s nice people scenario every time? No, I think.

It has been mentioned that he rewrote his books many times - until he was sure that every word was just right. The original draft of Chocolate Factory is titled Charlie's Chocolate Boy, and has a far different plot from the existing version it seems!

Also, his books were of their period. Featuring horrid teachers and such, eg., Miss Trunchbull in Matilda and Captain Lancester in Danny the Champion of the World.

Last but not the least: his school reports. The below is taken from a page in his books, entitled "Roald Dahl's School Reports". I had some laughter reading this:
SUMMER TERM, 1930 (aged 14). English Composition.
"I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper."

EASTER TERM, 1931 (aged 15). English Composition.
"A persistent muddler. Vocabulary negligible, sentences malconstructed. He reminds me of a camel."

SUMMER TERM, 1932 (aged 16). English Composition.
"This boy is an indolent and illiterate member of the class."

AUTUMN TERM, 1932 (aged 17). English Composition.
"Consistently idle. Ideas limited."
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

EASTER TERM, 1931 (aged 15). English Composition.
"A persistent muddler. Vocabulary negligible, sentences malconstructed. He reminds me of a camel."
SUMMER TERM, 1932 (aged 16). English Composition.
"This boy is an indolent and illiterate member of the class."
Several of those comments are just plain rude! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favourite books as a child - very clever and imaginative - and my son loves Danny, the Champion of the World, which is a lovely portrayal of the relationship between a father and son.

Some of Dahl's books are better than others (I actually prefer the film version of Matilda to the book) - I find stories like The Twits and George's Marvellous Medicine over the top.

I'm going to commit a heresy here and say that I really don't like the scribbly pictures by Quentin Blake in modern editions. My childhood copies of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach contained more finely-drawn, detailed illustrations which captured the dark, bizarre, somewhat chilling nature of the stories much better in my opinion.

Anita
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Philip Mannering »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
EASTER TERM, 1931 (aged 15). English Composition.
"A persistent muddler. Vocabulary negligible, sentences malconstructed. He reminds me of a camel."
SUMMER TERM, 1932 (aged 16). English Composition.
"This boy is an indolent and illiterate member of the class."
Several of those comments are just plain rude!
Yes, they are quite rude. Don't know if they are true or not, though.
Anita Bensoussane wrote:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favourite books as a child - very clever and imaginative - and my son loves Danny, the Champion of the World, which is a lovely portrayal of the relationship between a father and son.

Some of Dahl's books are better than others (I actually prefer the film version of Matilda to the book) - I find stories like The Twits and George's Marvellous Medicine over the top.
I agree with you - Danny is a lovely potrayal of relationship between father and son.

I haven't seen the film version of Matilda, and have not read The Twits and George's Marvellous Medicine. But I have to say, that the book version of Matilda contains some serious flaws (which I will mention in another post.)
Anita Bensoussane wrote:I'm going to commit a heresy here and say that I really don't like the scribbly pictures by Quentin Blake in modern editions. My childhood copies of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach contained more finely-drawn, detailed illustrations which captured the dark, bizarre, somewhat chilling nature of the stories much better in my opinion.

Anita
Another usage of the word 'heresy'! This time I pronounced it correctly! Again, I agree with you - I don't like Quentin Blake's illustrations, though I have them in my editions. Very cartoonish. Of course, some of these books are funny, but surely, there is no need to depict them as that! No need indeed! In my editions the last few pages contain a "Roald Dahl" section, describing his family life, etc. They (some books) also contain a page about Quentin Blake. There, Dahl is reported to have said that Quentin is the best children's book illustrator of all time! Hmm, says I.
"A holiday — a mystery — an adventure — and a happy ending for dear old Barney!" said Roger. "What more could anyone want?"
"An ice cream," said Snubby promptly. "Who's coming to buy one?" The Rubadub Mystery
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Stephen »

Danny, Champion of the World is one of the finest books I have ever had the pleasure to read. The love of his father, the cosiness of their caravan home, the terror of missing his father that night, the excitement of driving a car down a country lane at night, the joy of finding and rescuing his father, the thrill of the plan to get all the pheasants, the fear of Captain Lancaster and the excitement of carrying out the plan are still crystal clear in my mind after all these years. I believe the film was quite popular and well-received, but I've had no intention to see it in case it spoilt my memories for me!

Of Dahl's more "grotesque" books, I've never actually read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or James and the Giant Peach, although they were read to us at school. But I did read The Twits which is so amazingly Dadaist! As for George's Marvellous Medicine, it's astonishing to think something so wildly extreme ever got onto the children's shelves in bookshops in the first place, especially in the safety-conscious 80s! You can imagine some censor sitting in an office, reading a basic synopsis of the story, shrugging and saying "Why bother?"!!
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anna Moss »

Yes, Anita, I agree with you about The Illistrations. I have a little collection of Rahl Dahl books but my favourite is the BFG as it is absolutely extraordinairy. As for the school reports, are you really sure a teacher actually wrote them? But, I have come to the conclusion that sometimes later on in life you come out opposite of what you are when you were younger. Not always, but sometimes. I think that reading the school reports, The teacher (obviously) did not see him as literate, but you can write a good book if you have imagination. But, description and vocabulary do help to make a book fantastic. Rahl Dahl, I think had his own style of vocabulary, using peculiar mixtures of words blended together (such as in the BFG).

Best Wishes,
Anna
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Yes, I agree that Roald Dahl could be very creative in his use of language, Anna, and I enjoy his playfulness and inventiveness.

Has anyone read The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar? An unusual, quirky story that intrigued me as a child.

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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Philip Mannering »

Reading this thread, I am shocked to find out that my opinions have changed since September. I didn't enjoy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as much this time around -- the story had a lot of things and references I didn't like in the least. I've always thought Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was a very poor sequel -- and I was not surprised to see that my opinion hadn't changed about it. I nearly hated Matilda, and was not pleased with The BFG. It seems to me now as Danny, the Champion of the World is now his best.

I would give anything to see Roald Dahl's secretary's face when she typed The BFG on a word processor and enabled the spell and grammar checker -- nearly the whole book would have been under green and red lines! :lol:
"A holiday — a mystery — an adventure — and a happy ending for dear old Barney!" said Roger. "What more could anyone want?"
"An ice cream," said Snubby promptly. "Who's coming to buy one?" The Rubadub Mystery
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Lucky Star »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Has anyone read The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar? An unusual, quirky story that intrigued me as a child.

Anita
I read that for the first time about four years ago. I simply could not put it down. A very intrigueing story indeed with a very heartwarming outcome. Superb and a must for all Dahl fans.
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Stephen »

Philip Mannering wrote:Another usage of the word 'heresy'! This time I pronounced it correctly! Again, I agree with you - I don't like Quentin Blake's illustrations, though I have them in my editions. Very cartoonish. Of course, some of these books are funny, but surely, there is no need to depict them as that! No need indeed! In my editions the last few pages contain a "Roald Dahl" section, describing his family life, etc. They (some books) also contain a page about Quentin Blake. There, Dahl is reported to have said that Quentin is the best children's book illustrator of all time! Hmm, says I.
While Quentin Blake had his own unmistakable style and is something of a childhood icon for me, there's a time and place for everything! My first edition of Danny, the Champion of the World is subtly illustrated by Jill Bennett. But I was skimming through a later edition in a bookshop last week - and lo and behold, Quentin Blake has had a go!

Hasn't the editor/publisher actually read the story to see what it's about?
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Viv of Ginger Pop »

I didn't read RD as a child, but my English Teacher read us a short story from an adult book of his called Kiss Kiss about someone who stole pheasants by hiding them in the bottom of a pram (I knew the idea - straight out of Vanished Prince!)

So when later I did read Danny Champion of the World it seemed like a poor version of the short story!
Anna Moss wrote: But, I have come to the conclusion that sometimes later on in life you come out opposite of what you are when you were younger.
Look out folks. At the moment Anna is a lovely, sweet natured, hard working (little) girl! :shock: :wink:

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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Can't remember which book(s) they're from, but the short stories that stick in my mind are "Lamb to the Slaughter," "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat," "Genesis and Catastrophe" and "The Landlady." It's hard to say anything about them without spoiling the plots but I enjoy the black humour and the sinister atmosphere.

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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Aurélien »

Can remember *reminiscent grin* reading Dahl's "THE TWITS" aloud (as a serial) to some enthralled kids.

Dahl's writings are often so darkly outrageous (eg Miss Trunchbull's :shock: 'traditional' disciplinary techniques in "MATILDA") that one wonders :?: why they aren't censored by the pc mafia in the way this happens to some modern [alleged] 'reprints' of EB's texts, with far less justification.

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Post by Chloe »

I ADORE Roald Dahl altho I am a bit biased as my family is involved in The Roald Dahl foundation.

My favourite book is Matilda and I hated the film. Danny Devito has the film rights to most of his work and it makes me very angry that they have been sold to Hollywood. After The Witches, Dahl did not want any of his books to see the big screen and I agree with him. His words are far better left on the page to stir young imaginations than played out for them on screen with dumb laughs.
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Ming »

How is your family involved with Roald Dahl, Chloe?

I saw Matilda before I read the book - I guess that's why I tend to like the movie better. :)
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Chloe »

Ming wrote:How is your family involved with Roald Dahl, Chloe?

I saw Matilda before I read the book - I guess that's why I tend to like the movie better. :)
We lived very near him (Great Missendon) and somehow they became friends with his wife and involved with fundraising for the foundation she set up after his death. I met him several times as a child and have a few signed books. He was great fun as you can imagine.

I think the book must seem quite simple if you had seen the film first. It was just too garish for me. Matilda should be sweet and shy and I felt she was quite brattish. But to be honest it was hard for me to even give it a chance. Im a bit over outspoken about books being made into films - much prefer the written word. :D
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