Roald Dahl would have been 90 years old yesterday.
I think everyone in the English-speaking world has read at least one book by Roald Dahl. I owned so many of his children’s books when I was young. I identified with Matilda, of course - which girl who likes to read doesn’t? I was sure I’d be able to move things with my mind if I concentrated enough. I loved the ceiling trick in The Twits, and The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me made me want to try all the glorious sweets that Billy has in his shop. The wonderful feast in Fantastic Mr Fox never failed to make me feel peckish, and the peach in James and the Giant Peach also sounded enormously tempting .
The Magic Finger includes a wonderful revenge scenario (although I thought it would be quite fun to have wings.) Oh, and The BFG. I loved the Big Friendly Giant, and the dreams he caught with little nets and released into childrens’ windows while they slept. And when the Queen gives the BFG his first wonderful meal - Roald Dahl’s books always include such fabulously visceral descriptions of food.
I read The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More when I was too young, I think. “The Swan”, a story about a child being horribly bullied, made me feel physically sick. I couldn’t get the images it had evoked out of my head and I actually hid the book behind the bookcase for some years - I couldn’t bear looking at the cover and remembering that horrible story.
When I was older, I moved onto Dahl’s books for adults (although that didn’t stop me re-reading his children’s books, of course. In fact, I have an urge to re-read many of them now, as I remember how much I enjoyed them. Perhaps not “The Swan”, though.) I really enjoyed his short story collections, like Kiss Kiss, Switch Bitch and Someone Like You. Such dark, macabre and hilariously funny stories. The wife-swapping story in Switch Bitch made my stomach ache with laughing.
Dahl’s novel aimed at adults, My Uncle Oscar, was one of my favourite books for many years. The story of an attempt to set up a secret sperm bank with forced donations from famous men such as Freud, Picasso and Proust is hysterical. I just love Dahl’s sense of humour. It’s such a pity he didn’t write more, although I think that about all the authors I love. His books for younger readers are truly wonderful - I can’t wait to read them to my own children. I think I’ll hide “The Swan” from them though, at least until they’re 18.
5 Comments
14 September, 2006 at 5:08 pm
Oh my Lord. I think I remember “The Swan.” I believe I had repressed it until now. Ohhhhh. Horror!
I NEED to read Roald Dahl’s adult books. I absolutely loved everything of his when I was a kid (except, of course, “The Swan”).
I’m going to go hide under my desk now, thinking about that story!
14 September, 2006 at 6:07 pm
My son miraculously went from being a non-reader in the first grade to being able to read everything. One of his first projects was to read everything Roald Dahl had ever written. He even wrote Dahl a letter to ask questions about one of those books. Unfortunately the letter arrived just after the author died. What an imagination that man had! You can find lots of references to Dahl in Norwegian RennyBA’s Terella.
15 September, 2006 at 11:43 am
I was born in the same part of Wales as Roald Dahl, and my grandmother posted me every newspaper clipping up until the day he died. Have you ever read the story of how he became a writer, i.e. the journalist who asked him to jot down his experiences of the air force in his own words because he didn’t have time to interview him properly? That has always just killed me - God, to have that kind of natural talent!
16 September, 2006 at 10:21 pm
I’m here from’ Looking2live’ - Barbara - who told me you had a post on Roald Dahl. He is one of my favorite writer from childhoed and no wonder, since he origionaly is from Norway. Have a lovely end to your week:-)
22 September, 2006 at 10:14 am
Oh, wasn’t it horrible, Lawyerish? I have absolutely no desire to read it again.
They are such wonderful books, Barbara - thanks for the blog rec!
GBE - yes, it did seem to come completely naturally to him. Funny how some people find it so easy to spin stories.
Thanks Renny - he’s one of my favourite authors
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