The Waterhole

As a child I gobbled down books like it was going out of style, and Matilda was a story that I came back to over and over again. What can I say? I secretly WAS Matilda, staking out by a window and sitting to read on an uncomfortable cushioned seat (thinking the idea was romantic).

Roald Dahl has created a number of well-known children’s books (James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, The Witches to name a few) and what makes them so intriguing to me, even at this age, is the humor and aspects of horror that lie beneath the plot.

Following the idea of an individual who doesn’t comes from the best circumstances and challenging them to prevail, Dahl often employs some rather morbid punishments to antagonists or any other by-standing characters that get in the way of the protagonist’s goal.

If you missed the experience of reading Dahl books growing up, it’s never too late to pick one up now and try them on for size!

Here’s a review from Amazon:

Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she’s knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she’s a super-nerd and the teacher’s pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda’s world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there’s the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Mrs. (“The”) Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.

 

Post submitted by Kelly