It's the story of a little boy who is in a fucking awful situation, but he is still good and kind and polite and then something really nice happens to him. It's not sanitized pablum written by committee to be inoffensive. One of the chapters is titled: The Family Begins to Starve.īut you know what? I like this book better because of that. In the winter they are cold, and they're starving to death.Īnd if you think I'm exaggerating on that last point, I'm not. Charlie sleeps on a mattress on the floor. Dahl takes pains to really detail the fact that Charlie and his family aren't just hungry and poor. It's silly, and it's fun.įor those of you who haven't read the book, let me underline this fact for you. That said, the book is really, really good. Which is something that doesn't happen very often with me. (I'm talking about the Gene Wilder version, of course.)I'll even admit to liking the movie better than the book. And it was a ton of fun.įirst off, I'll admit that I love the movie. This is the first chapter book I've read all the way through with him. Tonight I just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate factory with my son. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You in 1959, for the story 'The Landlady' and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on 'Skin'. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer.

Today the story is published as A Piece of Cake. Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors.ĭahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C.

Roald dahl chocolate factory