Gawd bless yer, Sir! I remember watching that and loving it.
I remember him being interviewed in the broom cupboard on CBBC and saying, "Remember kids...don't feed your grandmother medicine like this...
...save it for your teachers instead."
Roald Dahl
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I remember him being interviewed in the broom cupboard on CBBC and saying, "Remember kids...don't feed your grandmother medicine like this...
...save it for your teachers instead."
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The Witches
This is another story by Roald Dahl that I read. It's about a boy and his grandmother who spend a holiday in a hotel where all the witches in England have gathered for an anual conference on how to kill children. He is turned into a mouse by them and he spends the rest of the book in that form. With help from his grandmother, a former witch hunter, he turns the tables on the England witches, even the Grand High Witch herself, by literally giving them a taste of their own medicine (a potion that turns people into mice).
British feminists have called the book sexist due to its portrayal of witches as women, but aren't all witches women? The narrator says so himself.
The narrator and his grandmother never have their names revealed, neither do any of the witches. In fact, the only characters with names aren't even important to the story, such as Bruno Jenkins, a boy who also gets turned into a mouse.
Also, the conference itself takes up - get this - a quarter of the book!
The book seems to have a bit of a bittersweet ending because the narrator spends the rest of his life as a mouse and his lifespan will be greatly reduced because of it. In the movie that this book was based on, he gets restored to his human form. (another movie based on his works that Mr. Dahl didn't like)
But other than these issues, it was a very good read.
This is another story by Roald Dahl that I read. It's about a boy and his grandmother who spend a holiday in a hotel where all the witches in England have gathered for an anual conference on how to kill children. He is turned into a mouse by them and he spends the rest of the book in that form. With help from his grandmother, a former witch hunter, he turns the tables on the England witches, even the Grand High Witch herself, by literally giving them a taste of their own medicine (a potion that turns people into mice).
British feminists have called the book sexist due to its portrayal of witches as women, but aren't all witches women? The narrator says so himself.
The narrator and his grandmother never have their names revealed, neither do any of the witches. In fact, the only characters with names aren't even important to the story, such as Bruno Jenkins, a boy who also gets turned into a mouse.
Also, the conference itself takes up - get this - a quarter of the book!
The book seems to have a bit of a bittersweet ending because the narrator spends the rest of his life as a mouse and his lifespan will be greatly reduced because of it. In the movie that this book was based on, he gets restored to his human form. (another movie based on his works that Mr. Dahl didn't like)
But other than these issues, it was a very good read.
I loved this book when I was a kid. And yes, all witches are women but you could argue that Dahl could have included warlocks or something so that the evil people weren't only female. But the most kick-ass person in the book (as I remember it) is the grandmother, also a woman.
Now you've made me want to go back and read it again
Now you've made me want to go back and read it again
I loved this book when I was a kid. And yes, all witches are women but you could argue that Dahl could have included warlocks or something so that the evil people weren't only female. But the most kick-ass person in the book (as I remember it) is the grandmother, also a woman.
Now you've made me want to go back and read it again
Loved it as a kid too. I'd totally re-read it if it wasn't at my parents' house, still, hundreds of miles away.
I didnt have a problem with the witches being women, especially with his grandma being such a hero. Sure, all the bad people were women, but all the women were not bad. It's a bit like saying old westerns are bad when all the outlaws are men, while ignoring the fact that the hero is a man also.
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I love this book. Roald Dahl is my straight up hero. I bought the movie for my little ones and we quote it often. Feminists need to get over themselves. The book is called "The Witches", not "The Warlocks".
I love The Witches. The thing I love about Dahl's writing is that he isn't afraid to go a bit dark, a bit scary. He doesn't treat his readers like dummies.
I loved this book as a kid, I had forgotten about it until this thread. I think I should pick it up for my daughter, she might like it (though I will probably read it myself first, I don't remember how dark it is).
As for all witches being women, I am a little confused. Do you mean in the book, or in real life? In the book, yes, they are only women. In most books and movies they are. If you are talking about real life practioners of Wicca and Witchcraft, then men are called witches too. Warlocks are something in fiction only.
As for all witches being women, I am a little confused. Do you mean in the book, or in real life? In the book, yes, they are only women. In most books and movies they are. If you are talking about real life practioners of Wicca and Witchcraft, then men are called witches too. Warlocks are something in fiction only.
BjornAbust
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When I was in third or fourth grade one of my teachers read it to my class. It's a pretty good story, all things considered. I know I've got a copy of it sitting around here somewhere...
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My teacher read this to us in the fourth grade, and I specifically remember this one line that was like, "Anyone can be a witch...even your sweet teacher reading this to you right now," or something like that. Also I wouldn't eat hotel food for a year. It terrified me. But I loved it. The BFG too.
I looooved this book. Roald Dahl is amazing. So is Quentin Blake, who did the illustrations in my copy. There was one page where the witch takes off her mask and I was so terrified I had to skip it...
Don't you just love books that scar children for life?
Don't you just love books that scar children for life?
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Not 100% true. There is a movement being made by quite a few male practitioners to reclaim the word warlock just as the word witch has been reclaimed. Storm FaeryWolf's Article on Witchvox.
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It's one of my favourite Roald Dahl books. I remember it being read aloud in class as well. The witches with their inky blue tongues, wigs and square hands and feet!
Was it ever made into a movie? James and the Giant Peach got made into CGI animation, BFG got animated, and so did the Minpins... and the other book that involved a giraffe and a lolly shop, I can't remember the title of anymore...
Was it ever made into a movie? James and the Giant Peach got made into CGI animation, BFG got animated, and so did the Minpins... and the other book that involved a giraffe and a lolly shop, I can't remember the title of anymore...
OMGosh! Same here! I was just as picky about reading then as I am now, but man were those books awesome! I forget the title, but it was the one where the furniture was glued to the ceiling, lol. It's silly, but that memory has stayed with me since I read it
Maybe I'll consider picking one up and reading it, he, he.
I still have my copy of Matilda that my parents got for me when I was ten. It's very rare - at least in my limited experience - to find a story about a little girl who is an actual genius.
A lot of children's stories portray girls as being "smart," sure, but it's only because they study all the time. It's like being "the smart one" is a consolation prize for not having been born a boy or something.
Matilda, though, was a real-live genius who was smart because she just WAS. She taught herself to read at age two, she can do complex math without a calculator... she was - IS - my hero.
That book also introduced me to the poetry of Dylan Thomas - at age nine. I had no idea what Miss Honey was talking about when she quoted those lines from "In Country Sleep," but I sensed magic. She also said about that poem, "It is music." Right on, Miss Honey. Right on.
The movie version of Matilda, though, was an abomination. Eff Danny de Vito.
Final thought: I also really liked Danny Champion of the World, though I only remember it dimly.
A lot of children's stories portray girls as being "smart," sure, but it's only because they study all the time. It's like being "the smart one" is a consolation prize for not having been born a boy or something.
Matilda, though, was a real-live genius who was smart because she just WAS. She taught herself to read at age two, she can do complex math without a calculator... she was - IS - my hero.
That book also introduced me to the poetry of Dylan Thomas - at age nine. I had no idea what Miss Honey was talking about when she quoted those lines from "In Country Sleep," but I sensed magic. She also said about that poem, "It is music." Right on, Miss Honey. Right on.
The movie version of Matilda, though, was an abomination. Eff Danny de Vito.
Final thought: I also really liked Danny Champion of the World, though I only remember it dimly.