Peachy-Keen: Unadulterated Reading Pleasure
Written: May 31 '00 (Updated Jun 02 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A wonderful mix of prose, dialect, verse , and song
Cons: Dahl can't write any more
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| DoubleCoog's Full Review: Roald Dahl - James and the Giant Peach: The Book a... |
Don’t let the title fool you, the book about which I am beginning to gush is a wonderful read for kids and adults of nearly any age over 5 (and some even before that).
Year after year, Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving, I sat, along with my brothers & with whatever other kids we happened to be celebrating Thanksgiving, eyes glued to the magic of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In about third or fourth grade, somehow I came to the realization that this movie was based on a book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
Being the voracious (over a book a day) and systematic reader that I was back then, after ripping through the familiar story, I jumped to Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, the continuation of the “Chocolate Factory” tale. The next stop in my Roald Dahl World Tour, and unfortunately the last stop, though undoubtedly my favorite, was James and the Giant Peach.
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In celebration of forkids’ 400th fabulous Epinion, I am throwing my hat in the ring with many of Epinions’ finest writers & personalities, including:
leah, gracef, caconti, cornelia, conradd, stonehousellc, grouch, auntnono, halfsweet, taurusmoon, doublecoog, caravan70, kcfoxy, mshawpyle, sleestakk, kchowell, emlin, curtisedmonds, fdknight, workingmomof2, expono, kimmiko, bonies7, pogomom, redlass, poseidon, jrk, sweetpaulie, ergopropterhoc, and, of course, forkids herself.
The topic: a knock down, drag-it-out, no-holds-barred, fifteen-man tag team match, fight-to-the-death…. Oops! That was last week. No this is a friendly celebration and toast to forkids’ milestone (and to her next 600 reviews); therefore, in her honor, each of us is writing on one of our all-time favorite childhood books.
A special indexing of all of our picks can be found right here: http://www.epinions.com/book-Write_off-forkids
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My Favorite….?
Is “James….” the favorite book of my childhood? No I can’t say that I could name any book as my favorite of my entire childhood. The one I would pick as all-time favorite was a few years later, The Mouse That Roared, a political satire. That was the most memorable, because I lived in a little republic that declared war on the US in order to “force negotiations and get reparations”, a case of life imitating art. Very early in my life, Richard Scary’s Best Storybook in the World would have been my pick.
But “James….” is my “last favorite” children’s story that I still read like a child, not looking (back then) for political messages or morals or ties to fairy tales, and no analysis of the book, its plot, or its themes, just pure unadulterated reading pleasure.
The Plot of “James…”
“James…” is a wild and wonderful adventure, all of it seeped in a rich dreamlike quality. The beginning starts out like a mixture between Cinderella & Jack and the Beanstalk. After an unfortunate (and violent) accident leaves James orphaned, he is sent to live with two wicked aunts, isolated at the top of the hill. The aunts squeeze every drop of sweat from James as they assign him arduous and thankless tasks, day after day after day. James just waits for the day when he can be a normal kid and have lots of friends.
During one particularly awful day, a strange little man gives James some magic crystals that he says will make “fabulous, …marvelous, and wonderful” things happen. James “will never be miserable again”. Well much like “Jack” the crystals are not used as hoped, but the result is equally tremendous, in this case the formation of giant peach and giant critters within. The rest of the story (the majority of the book) is their tale of wild adventure, friendship, and a fabulous journey.
What was it I loved about ”James…”, Both Now and Then?
Here is some insight into why I feel all kids should eventually be exposed to this classic and/or why I loved it, both now and then:
• The Dark Side •
Dahl is infamous for streams of darkness and evil running through what some may see as lighthearted childs fare. I have always been similar – a joy to most, except when I wasn’t … (I’m sure juliewh can vouch for that!) The violent, but amusing deaths of James Parents and later his Aunts, the cloudmen during the trip, sharks eating the peach, and the dark language occasionally used (including foul language, two incidents of the “a$$” word – horrors!) probably amused me as a child even more than it does now. Dahl could be wonderfully wicked.
• Dahl’s Style •
Ok besides "the dark side" stuff, I loved everything else about Dahl's writing style. From the 2-3 page chapters (which marked rapid progress), to the frequent conversational style, to his verse and song built into the story, Dahl always keeps me entranced in his books. Now as an adult I appreciate some of his creative wordsmithing even more.
Following are some examples:
Conversation - Dahl’s use of frequent dialogue brought the characters to life, back then and even now.
“’What happened?’
‘Where are we?’
‘But this is impossible’
‘Unbelievable!’
‘Terrible!’
‘I told you we were bobbing up and down,’ the Ladybug said.
‘We’re in the middle of the sea!’ cried James.
And indeed they were.”
Verse - Dahl’s verse was entertaining then, and filled with deeper funnier meaning now. And in the classic Dahl style, the verse runs the spectrum from enchanting to dark.
“… ‘A Gnu and a Gnocerous surely you’ll see
And that gnormous and gnorrible Gnat
Whose sting when it stings you goes in at the knee
And comes out at the top of your hat.
‘We may even get lost and be frozen by frost.
We may die in an earthquake or tremor.
Or nastier still, we may even be tossed
On the horns of a furious Dilemma. …”
-and-
“… ‘Such lovliness as I posses can only truly shine
In Hollywood!’ Aunt Sponge declared. ‘Oh, wouldn’t that be fine!
I’d capture all the nations’ hearts!
They’d give me all the leading parts!
They stars would all resign!’
‘I’d think you’d make,’ Aunt Spiker said, ‘a lovely Frankenstein.’ ”
Song- Dahl’s characters in "James…" are even more likely to break out into song than verse. You can practically hear the tune in your head.
“…’For dinner on my birthday shall I tell you what I chose:
Hot noodles made from poodles on a slice of garden hose –
And a rather smelly jelly
Made of armadillo’s toes.
(The jelly is delicious, but you have to hold your nose) …”
-and-
“… ‘Look at ME! I am freed! I am freed!
Not a scratch nor a bruise nor a bleed!
To his grave this fine gent
They all thought they had sent
And I very near went!
Oh, I VERY near went!
But they cent the wrong Sentipede!”
• Dahl’s Subtle Self Promotion AKA Forced Familiarity •
I nearly laughed myself to death when the giant peach crashed presumably through the Wonka Factory:
“…at the end of the street it went crashing through the wall of an enormous building and out the other side, leaving two gaping, round holes in the brickwork.
This building happened to be a famous factory where they made chocolate, and almost at once great river of warm melted chocolate came pouring out of the whole in the factory wall…”
• Other •
The list could go on and on…:
Dahl’s wonderful descriptiveness (whether writing prose, dialogue, verse, or lyrics)
Charming characters, even when gruesome
Magic
Adventure
A moral (no I didn’t search for it back then)
The battle between good & evil
etc….
The Moral
And, I believe this is an appropriate closing as well. In my mind, the primary moral here is:
Never give up on your dreams -- no matter how unlikely they seem, no matter how dismal your situation, through hard work, a little luck, and a little help from your friends, you may just see them all come true.
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For those interested in Roald Dahl, or those whose kids are discovering him and enjoying his work, check out this website: http://www.roalddahlclub.com/ , created and maintained with the full support and participation of Roald’s spouse, Ms. Liccy Dahl.
Reading Level: Grades 2 to 5
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
DoubleCoog
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Location: South Padre Island,TX
Reviews written: 123
Trusted by: 217 members
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