Monday, July 29, 2013

Boy by Roald Dahl

Boy: Tales of ChildhoodThis book is on the new BOB list, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. It is an autobiography about the author's life, although it's full of anecdotes, shorter stories, rather than a bunch of factual information. The book opens with a story about how his father had his broken arm amputated after a drunk doctor thought he'd dislocated his shoulder. Other chapters talk about his life growing up in Wales and England and summer vacations in his parents' homeland of Norway. One time, he had his adenoids removed without pain killers, while still awake! He recalls his walks to elementary school with his buddies and how they often bought candy from a small store. Roald got the idea to put a dead mouse in one of the mean store owner's candy jars, but the plan went bad when they thought they killed her from fright! Then the principal found out what they'd done. Another time, the author had his nose almost cut off in a car accident.

The book is written in the style of Roald Dahl, with a humorous tone. The events are often unusual, much like his novels, The BFG, The Witches, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If you need to read a biography for school, you'll reading this book for your assignment.

1 comment:

  1. This is one of which I am quite fond, and we have a copy in the library. Hooray!

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