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Post by MRHloco on Nov 13, 2008 18:08:17 GMT
It's always been said that Shakespeare continues to linger in our every day speech. Give it another few hundred years and I should say the same both for him and for another.
I've been fascinated and entertained by Roald Dahl's work for many years and there's much to recommend it. Here we have a man who, in sharp contrast to quite a few children's authors before him, decides to examine life from the children's perspective in great detail. Needless to say, it paid off for me when I was a good deal younger and even now, when Dahl himself has been deceased for 18 years (having passed on only 5 months after my birth), it still impresses me that he can manage to identify how children think and feel.
It certainly makes a contrast to the beastly adults he mixes in with them - Agatha Trunchbull particularly makes one think of the overbearing, cane-wealding masters that Dahl himself would have endured as a youngster.
Anyone know these books?
Warm Regards, MRHloco
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Post by Aidan on Nov 13, 2008 19:23:06 GMT
I've read some of Roald Dahl's books, my favorites being "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James and the Giant Peach". Matilda was great, too, even though I've only seen the movie. Interesting thing that this thread came up, I've been watching "James and the Giant Peach" on YouTube!
It's pretty interesting how Roald Dahl can come up with these nasty adult characters, ie Trunchbull, to serve as adversaries for the main characters.
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Post by edwardblue on Nov 13, 2008 19:55:17 GMT
^ You've got to read the book version of Matilda, Aidan! It's really good! I myself have read some of Roald Dahl's books when I was in grade school, and even now it's fun to go back and read them. He created some of the most ideal fantasies that most kids dream about. And I've always liked how many of these nasty characters met their comeuppance in very creative ways. Also something interesting to note: Roald Dahl wrote the Screenplay to the 1967 Bond film, "You Only Live Twice". After seeing that film though, I think he should've stuck to writing kids books.
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Post by MRHloco on Nov 13, 2008 20:32:39 GMT
Typical children's idealisms? Villains defeated in inventive manners? I'll second that!!
I would definately agree that Matilda is one of the best from Roald Dahl's collection. Through this book, we, as young audiences and eventually adults with fond memories, have the chance to see just how wonderful reading can be. Here, we are shown the values of trust, friendship, courage, education and care all in the same book without a hint of patronising attitude.
We also have a fantastic bully of a villainess to play around with here - Agatha Trunchbull. Dahl himself was caned goodness knows how many times and, while I'm not really a good judge of what his attitude was to corporal punishment in general, he particularly loathed the way boys as young as 8-years-old were forced to suffer it, especially for trivial issues like stuffing a dead mouse into a jar of gobstoppers for a joke!
In fact, Aidan, it's those nasty adult figures that I find particularly amusing. There's still plenty of cross-references with them left over in today's society, much as we like to not think of that. But, even with that problem still existant, it's comforting to think that most, if not all, bullies usually get their comeuppance for their stagnant life attitudes in one way or another. Roald Dahl must have believed this too: he simply took it a level or two further by being creative.
That isn't to say however that adults don't get anything out of Roald Dahl's work of course - that would be a generalisation. There are after all characters of the likes of Jennifer Honey and HM Queen Elizabeth II to enjoy as well. And Dahl has appealed to adults as well through: You Only Live Twice is a good example.
Speaking of James & The Giant Peach, though, I must admit I love that one too! Is there anything in particular we enjoy about that one?
Warm Regards, MRHloco
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Post by Aidan on Nov 13, 2008 22:02:55 GMT
What I like about James and the Giant Peach is that the story is very similar to Harry Potter. Both have had to deal with horrible relatives, and someone comes along and introduces them to a magical world (for Harry, it's the wizarding world, for James it's the peach after the crocodile tongues run loose on it) where they both have great friends.
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Post by OJ on Nov 14, 2008 11:31:42 GMT
Matilda was similler to Harry Potter as well with cruel parents and good friends plus you get the pleasant and unpleasant teachers as well.
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Post by MRHloco on Nov 14, 2008 17:00:14 GMT
Your point about James & The Giant Peach is absolutely stop-on here, Aidan. Could hardly have put it better myself!
There is indeed something very satisfying about nasty pieces of work that get put in their place in those inventive ways but the idea of magic-infested crocodile tongues being set loose on a peach tree, resulting in a fruit breaking free of its own accord, was definately what made Roald Dahl a success so soon. In a way, I can almost cross-reference it with such events as the exploding violet pudding in "The Chamber Of Secrets."
In fact, I'm sure J.K.Rowling must have been inspired by the works of Roald Dahl while she was producing such a classic.
The same can easily be said for Matilda as well: here we have children being persecuted only to eventually win their way, as almost always happens in life.
In a way, through Roald Dahl, and indeed through Rowan Atkinson playing Mr Bean in particular, we're opened up to how children's minds work. They're definately vulnerable and naieve and are usually most considerate and caring but at the same time they're very keen, in quotation, "to do what they want to do."
And, like Mr Bean, whose dress sense indicates a regimented past in that, as a result, he thinks he knows how one is supposed to dress and behave, children are very conforming. Once they've had values explained to them (mostly through experience, I should think, rather than patronising moral lectures, which Lemony Snicket has a lot of fuin with in his characters), they'll persue the traditions of good behavior and obey all rules as long as they suit them.
And usually as soon as they don't suit them, they'll simply persue their ambition, if you know what I mean. There is plenty of justification for this with Roald Dahl however, considering the cruelty he was forced to endure at his many boarding schools. What's more, especially in the case of Agatha Trunchbull, the adult behaviour has usually gone on for far enough.
Anyone ever read Charlie & The Chocolate Factory? That's a really interesting one.
Especially with reference to Roald Dahl's past and showing that violence, corporal punishment etc is never (and I'll admit that I passionately believe this) the way to get things done.
Warm Regards To All Roald Dahl Fans Worldwide, MRHloco
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Post by Christopher on Nov 14, 2008 17:33:27 GMT
I've a few personal faves by Mr Dahl himself. It's fun chatting about Charlie, Willie Wonka, Matilda and James' Giant Peach, but there are a few other works that don't seem to get enough praise: - The Enormous Crocodile - my first introduction to Roald Dahl's work and I still love it 16 years later. A wonderfully terrific story of an overconfident croc who totally gets it in the end! ;D - The Twits - a purely gruesome story from beginning to end, but not in a "Ren and Stimpy" manner. Two horribly horrible people who are taught a witty lesson by the animals they have tormented. - Fantastic Mr Fox - another personal favourite with so many characters to love (or hate) in a purely fantastic story which ties together so well, although several parents might object about children drinking bottles of whisky...I say, poo to them! - Esio Trot - again, another clever story which adds an inventive twist to the classic love story. I simply marvel Quentin Blake's illustrations of the numerous tortoises included in this book.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2008 17:46:57 GMT
It so happens, Christopher, that Mr. Fox and The Twins are my favourite Roald Dahl books. ;D Other books he'd written, which aren't in this thread (Up until now, that is! ;D), were " Danny: Boy Champion Of The World" (Did I get the title right? ) and " Boy". Do anyone else know about these two?
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Post by Kate669 on Nov 14, 2008 21:26:25 GMT
You're in luck, Percy...those are two of my favourites!!!
I first read Danny: The Champion Of The World when I was in the fourth grade, and I remember being fascinated. Perhaps it's because Danny and I were both raised by a single parent (although unlike Danny's father, my mother was divorced rather than widowed) who would tell us stories and take us walking everywhere, since we didn't have a car. Also, like many of Dahl's other books, Danny has little bits of information that seem too wild to be true, but are nonetheless fascinating.
As for Boy - I didn't read that one until I was in the seventh grade, but I loved it every bit as much as Dahl's fictional stories. I'm a sucker for history, especially when it involves children of the past. I've yet to read Going Solo (the sequel to Boy), but one of these days when I'm building my library, I'll have to add it.
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Post by Mark Iron on Nov 14, 2008 23:21:52 GMT
Read several of Dahl's books. One of my favorite authors of all time.
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Post by MRHloco on Nov 14, 2008 23:50:02 GMT
I must admit, Kate, I'm also fascinated in history so Boy is actually an excellent volume to have in one's collection. In this way, we discover exactly why Roald Dahl has such a prejudice lined up for most of his adult characters, with obvious exceptions. As for Dahl's love of chocolate, as shown by the succulent mouth-watering piece Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, who would have thought it all started as a result of Cadbury's sending chocolates out to Roald Dahl & Co at Repton for tasting. So, in a way, deviating briefly from the subject, the locomotive No: 30926 Repton at Grosmont carries a bit of literary history with it. If only we knew what the Awdrys had planned - a discussion of what opinion engines have of chocolate would be a direct cross-reference to Thomas' adventures with fish! As for Danny: The Champion Of The World, it does seem rather quaint to sit back in the Home Counties and picture how much of a pain pheasant-poaching can be. All that fuss over Victor Hazel, as played to perfection by Robbie Coltrane in 1989! As for the cross-reference between that and your own life, I'm very impressed. It just goes to show how much of a revealing person Dahl could be, with plenty of ex-military cane-wielders to get us suitably wound up. For Christopher, who's to say the others aren't getting enough praise? I'm simply waiting for others to come up with them as well as me - even I can't have complete charge of the subject! About The Twits, though... I absolutely loved that book when I was younger! Simon Callow's audiobook narrative is also just about to perfection - Cockney accents for the Twits and as for the moneys...well, is that the real African accent? It was always gruesomely inventive in a dark way to see all those grim tricks being played: a glass eye dropped in a beer mug, a frog hiding in a bed, worms blended with the best spaghetti in Venice and a very eccentric frumpy balloon experiment! ;D Most importantly, the book highlighted a problem that, as with neglected youngsters (mentioned on Children In Need recently), is still very much a problem in today's society. So, all you need to "Get Your Own Back," which Dave Benson Philips would have liked to host for sure, is a squadron of birds, various pieces of furniture, some complicated electricity manipulation and 20000 gallons of that famous glue Hugtight! Who can't remember that? The same has to be said for The Enormous Crocodile: I remember that appeared on VHS at some time in the 90s. And guess what: who should be in the narrator's chair that time but our old friend Dave Benson Philips! That really brought the story to life - including the lunar travel toward the end. Fanciful or what?! Fantastic Mr Fox is indeed as fantastic as the title suggests: a fox under persecution from three thuggish, unhygenic farmers with less country manners than a swarm of wasps. So, getting fed up of being chased and hunted and starved out, the woodland animals conduct a Great Escape-style raid on the farms, in the most unlikely way you can expect. I must admit though, adults shouldn't get all paranoid about the idea of children contracting alcohol, just because they've seen a gang of foxes getting tipsy! The slightest things cause such controversy! As for Esio Trot, I agree wholeheartedly: that was a masterpiece in itself, as Dahl's final major work before his death. In one way or another, it was also Quentin Blake's most challenging - all those tortoises in one go! And of course the text has all Dahl's wit and sophistication. But the storyline is equally fantastic: who says you need to be a certain age in order to get romantic. Here a shy, reclusive, unlucky in love sort of Yorkshire pensioner (as portrayed by Michael Palin in the audiobook) who finds himself helplessly attracted to an attractive, animal-loving woman with concerns for her tortoise. How does he manage to help her and the tortoise without actually separating them or losing the chance of her hand in marriage? By swapping several tortoises round, of course! And whichever tortoise finishes up as the winner in the end scarcely matters: they all get a little home of their own eventually. In fact, remembering Quentin Blake's illustrations of Mrs Silver reminds me of Dahl's remarks in The Twits as quoted: "A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick out teeth but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you'll always look lovely." So it is with Mrs Silver, not that she has any of these idiosyncratic facial features! Mr Hoppy's characterisation too is one that I think many a grandfather (and Dahl was not alone in this) can recognise in themselves. A man who late in life has found his ideal person, having seem her personality from the start, but cannot think of any way of winning her that doesn't seem outlandish. Until his expertise with tortoises gives him an idea... And, as they say, the rest is history! Moreover, I have fond memories of Michael Palin narrating the audiobook for this one. Whoever produced it, they must have known from the start that they'd found the perfect narrator. And he didn't fail to impress either: using his full talent for each character in turn, as well as revealing that he's born a Yorkshireman but a BBC journalist at heart. It's not hard to see why he became an actor in his early years, although he always seemed quieter and more polite than John Cleese especially... * But of all the books Roald Dahl ever wrote, there is one in particular that is a bit of a favourite of mine. In fact, it's probably Dahl's best piece of work of all time and it's best described by that famous, Westminster-resounding title: THE BFG If that isn't a cross-reference with Roald Dahl himself, keeping himself in check over social values, or a fantastic way in which to produce a child's ultimate villain with a vile genocide plan and a way in which to prove that the monarchy are actually far better than some tabloid papers might have us believe, I don't know what is! Anyone else remember that? Warm Regards To All Roald Dahl Fans Worldwide, MRHloco
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Post by 3panda94 on Mar 27, 2009 23:03:25 GMT
My favorite book would be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because I like how the was and it was really entertaining.My favorite part was when Charlie and all the other kids went inside the factory. I read the ever since 6th grade.
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thomasfansince1983
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Hi there,I've been a big fan of Thomas since I was born in 1983,it's great to find such a nice site.
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Post by thomasfansince1983 on Sept 17, 2015 20:00:12 GMT
I recently re read The BFG again, great book, I also bought the Blu Ray of the 1989 animated film, if anyone has not seen this, then please do give it a go, especially as next year in July, Steven Spielberg's LIVE ACTION BFG film is coming it in cinemas, I am very excited to see how it looks.
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pugsy
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Post by pugsy on Apr 13, 2017 17:21:20 GMT
I like Danny the champion of the world, an underrated story
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thomasfansince1983
Goods Engine
Hi there,I've been a big fan of Thomas since I was born in 1983,it's great to find such a nice site.
Posts: 266
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Post by thomasfansince1983 on Apr 13, 2017 17:47:26 GMT
I must read Danny The Champion Of The World sometime & maybe see the film, but I absolutely love The BFG, the book, the audio book read by David Walliams, the 1989 animated film with David Jason voicing The BFG & of course the recent LIVE action film directed by Steven Spielberg, I love everything about that story, the characters, the plot, the humour, it's all so well put together indeed, very clever writing & ideas.
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Post by WhitehouseFilms on Apr 13, 2017 17:57:04 GMT
Just remembered this thread is on here. Roald Dahl is an inspiration to many writers in children's literature. The many imaginative tales and stories he tells are those of how a child would imagine them and in each chapter the story gets better and better. But it's not only Children stories he writes, there are some which he wrote for adults too which are also very good and funny. Here is an example. The wife of a business man finds out that he is having an affair behind her back and she murders him with a frozen leg of lamb that she was going to cook for their dinner. Rather than hiding it from the police, she cooks it and serves it to the detectives who are busy looking for the murder weapon. Even when typing this for you to read makes me laugh but that just shows how creative he is with his work. I use Roald Dahl as an inspiration when writing scripts and stories and like him I would often go to a quiet little place where I can work and spend the next hour or 2 writing drafts for stories and then take some time to think of the next bit and so on. If I was to choose a favourite of his books I would say the two Charlie books, Danny the champion of the world, Revolting Rhymes & Boy: Tales of childhood. And also thanks to Knuckles for informing me of this one, I'd have to also add The Twits as another favourite. Even this short television adapted clip of the book still makes me laugh.
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pugsy
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Post by pugsy on Apr 13, 2017 18:24:27 GMT
I must read Danny The Champion Of The World sometime & maybe see the film, but I absolutely love The BFG, the book, the audio book read by David Walliams, the 1989 animated film with David Jason voicing The BFG & of course the recent LIVE action film directed by Steven Spielberg, I love everything about that story, the characters, the plot, the humour, it's all so well put together indeed, very clever writing & ideas. Oh god yes! He was voiced by Del boy wasn't he! What a 42 karat plonker Rodney!
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