I don't think I've spent nearly enough time waxing poetic about one of my all-time favorite authors so that's what today's post is all about. Roald Dahl was introduced to me by my best friend roughly 15 years ago. You might know him best as the author of Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, and James and the Giant Peach. I mention these because the film adaptations are fairly popular (as they should be because they're excellent). Today I'm going to discuss 5 more that you may or may not have heard of and which I binge read quite recently.

 

The Twits is the story of two horrible, nasty individuals by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Twit. Their favorite occupation (besides being absolutely horrendous in increasingly vile ways to one another) is to torment their 4 trained monkeys and the birds which roost in their tree. As with most of Dahl's writing, there is a most satisfying conclusion at the end of this book which I just can't in good conscience spoil. Just know that Mr. Dahl certainly doesn't shrink from ghastly topics. ;-)

  

The story of The Magic Finger begins with a little girl playing with her two friends, the Gregg brothers. These two little boys share a singular passion with their father: hunting. Despite the little girls repeated pleas for them to stop this beastly sport, they decide to go ahead with their plan to go duck hunting. The little girl is made so angry by this that she unleashes the power of her Magic Finger and the results are truly horrifying. Let's just say that they shouldn't have dismissed her advice as being for the birds.

  

Perhaps my favorite of the lot was The Minpins which is a large sized picture book with beautiful color illustrations. The artwork alone makes this a fantastic piece of children's literature. This was posthumously published and is very different from the other books which I've read by him (and illustrated by Patrick Benson instead of Quentin Blake). It is the story of Little Billy (a human child) who escapes from his family home into the woods where he has been expressly forbidden to enter. There he comes into contact with a ferocious beast...and tiny little people called the Minpins who live high up in the trees. A marvelous adventure unfolds among these disparate characters which is both beautifully told and fantastically illustrated. It's a must read.

 

Now The Great Mouse Plot is a true story from Dahl's childhood which had me equal parts chuckling and shocked. It is the story of a singular event which occurred when he was a little boy. He and a few of his friends from school decide to exact revenge against a nasty old lady that runs a sweets shop...and that's all you should know going into this one. Prepare yourself.

 

And finally The Vicar of Nibbleswicke which was written for the Dyslexia Institute in London. (Dahl and Blake donated their rights to the Institute and it was actually published after Dahl's death.) This is a quick little book about a vicar who just happens to be dyslexic. However, he has conquered the normal form of dyslexia and contracted a new (and fictional) type called Back-to-Front Dyslexia which causes much of what he says to come out backwards. Conversations with his new parishioners, sermons, etc all are said as almost complete gibberish. Much hilarity ensues.

 

And there's my rundown of 5 Roald Dahl books which you may or may have heard of but which you most definitely should read.

bookshelves: shortstory-shortstories-novellas, fraudio, autumn-2013, published-1991, amusing

 

Originally posted on my blog, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall for Foreign Language First Fridays. This is a review of the Italian translation:

"The Vicar of Nibbleswicke" is a short story by Roald Dahl, written to benefit the Dyslexia Institute in London, and published posthumously.

The first things I wondered when I purchased Il vicario, cari voi were, how did they even do a translation when the story is based on wordplay, and also, would it go completely over my head? But I shouldn't have worried, it was all just fine. Some words and names were changed to make the wordplay work. The switched up words were italicized, which made them very easy to spot. That was immensely helpful, because I was reading slowly and pausing to look up words I didn't know. I didn't need to be second-guessing myself along the way, worried I'd miss a joke. And just in case, there's a wordplay guide in the back that explains some of the more subtle humor.

I would say the reading level for this one is around "early intermediate" Italian. I was looking up far fewer words per page than I did when reading Susanna Tamaro's Il grande albero. Also, it is downright exciting when you find yourself picking up on humor in a non-native language; this clever and funny short story is a great boost to a language learner's ego!

I loved the vicar's personality and admired his perseverance. From learning to read and write to being in charge of his very own parish, the vicar kept pressing forward with determination. Such a great message for both children and adults, wrapped up in the quirky (and sometimes a bit crass) wit of Roald Dahl.

Fantastic book for kids! So imaginative and creative. Easy read that children will find delightful!

Roald Dahl is always brilliant! His stories and rhymes are fun and entertaining! Some of my all time favorites!! Such a great way to entertain children and get them interested in reading!

Borrowed this from a friend, and read it and laughed out loud. Read it again, and laughed out loud. A very short little book, written by Roald Dahl, who also wrote "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "James and the Giant Peach", among others. He wrote it for the benefit of the Dyslexia Institute. Hence the premise of the story, a young vicar who is in charge of his own parish for the first time and the stress drives him into having Back-to-Front Dyslexia! Without realizing what he is doing, he begins to speak words in complete reverse letter order. "Spirit" becomes "Tirips", "drab" becomes "bard",etc. Imagine the problems the vicar has in overseeing the many tasks in his parish, preaching, praying, introducing himself (I'm Eel, Robert Eel. I am the new rotsap of Nibbleswicke.), speaking with parishioners (Miss Prewt becomes Miss Twerp)..... so you see where this goes.The solution is ingenious, and equally humorous. I would recommend the book for adults who enjoy a good laugh.The wonderfully fun illustrations by Quentin Blake are also great.