Rating: 4/5
This book was all about Roald Dahl’s adventures as a boy; from his primary school and his school holidays to his private academy and his Norwegian tales. I thought it was beautifully written – extraordinarily funny, too! – and I had many funny, terrifying and generally favourite parts such as the following.
1. When Roald’s father, Harald Dahl, was fourteen, he fell off a ladder and broke his arm. When the doctor was called for by the neighbours, he turned up in his horse-drawn carriage rather drunk, and mistook Harald’s arm for dislocated. So he told the three neighbours to grab hold of the boy’s wrist and pull and pull and pull; the pain must have been excruciating. When Harald’s mother looked out of the window to see what all the noise was about and saw her little boy’s arm being pulled off and the writhing, screaming lump that WAS her little boy she immediately started screaming, “Stop! Stop! What are you doing to him!” But by the time they realised that it was a break and not a dislocation, so much damage had been done that Harald’s arm had to be amputated and he lived the rest of his life with only one of these extremely helpful limbs.
2. While Roald was at private school (aged around 10), he encountered a teacher called Captain Hardcastle. Captain Hardcastle was a mean man with not ginger but bright carrot-coloured hair, a large moustache, and a horrible temper and attitude towards young boys. Once, while writing an essay titled “Life of a Penny”, Roald Dahl’s nib broke on his pen. Usually pupils would carry a box of spare nibs, but Roald had recently run out, and did not have any to replace the broken one. He dreaded the idea that he might have to put up his hand and stutter, “C-Captain Hardcastle, I-I’ve broken my nib,” and so he decided it might be better if he leaned ever so slightly towards Dobson sitting next to him and murmur that he might borrow one of his spares. But as soon as he had began, “Dobson! Dobson, could you lend me a…” Captain Hardcastle stamped his fist on the desk and roared, “CHE-E-E-ATING! You were cheating, Dahl! You were asking Dobson for help! You get a STRIPE.” Before Roald could even begin to explain, he was sent to the Headmaster and beaten with a long bamboo cane.
I loved this book and am looking forward greatly to reading the sequel, “Going Solo”!