Boy: Tales of Childhood

Boy: Tales of Childhood

by Roald Dahl

When I first picked up this book, which I remember reading in 3rd or 4th grade, it was so interesting how very different it is than The BFG, which our book club read for the fantasy discussion. Even though Roald Dahl lived in a completely different time than today's children, without common vaccines and treatments for diseases like pneumonia and measles, and with names foreign for American children, like Astri, Else, and Roald, he does such a wonderful job of making his life seem just like any of his readers'.

He begins the book with a dedication to his siblings and this great lead-in sentence: "An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life and it is usually full of all sorts of boring details. This is not an autobiography." Dahl just sets us up for an adventure in the beginning, and has an amazing way of telling his life story while being completely modest and entertaining. The end of his introduction is powerful also: "Some are funny. Some are painful. Some are unpleasant. I suppose that is why I have always remembered them so vividly. All are true."

I soon learned that this statement is completely ratified throughout his book. I laughed out loud at some moments, yet was very saddened by others. One of the memories that impacted me the most and made me admire Dahl even more was his description of a terrible event that happened to his family when he was very young. The eldest daughter Astri, died suddenly of appendicitis in 1920 at seven years old. Dahl's father loved Astri best of all his children and was so depressed by her death that he too fell ill, with pneumonia. As his fever worsened and his pulse increased, he didn't put up a fight due to his grief over Astri, so he too passed away at age 57. Dahl's mother, having lost a husband and a daughter, was forced to be incredibly strong in the face of tragedy, and raise the five other children alone. What stung even more about this situation was that 42 years after, Roald's daughter Olivia died of measles, the same age that Astri was at her death, and today, all of this would be completely prevented by penicillin and vaccinations. Very depressing indeed.

I liked finding out how Dahl's imagination would run wild and some of the irrational thoughts he had as a child. I know that I certainly had some, and when I look back on them I wonder, wow, HOW could I think that something like that would happen? Or why would I ever worry about that? It's certainly nice to know that other people, including famous authors, had a similar experience as me in that regard.

Probably my favorite memory that made me laugh was "The Great Mouse Plot," in which Roald and his gang of 9 year-old friends from Llandaff Cathedral School find a dead mouse that they put in the jar of Gobstoppers at the sweet-shop so that the horrible Mrs. Pratchett, who runs the place, would touch it with her dirty hands next time she reached for one. However, it was extremely difficult to get through the scene afterward, "Mrs. Pratchett's Revenge," when the headmaster beats with a cane the boys involved in the prank: "At first I heard only the crack and felt absolutely nothing at all, but a fraction of a second later the burning sting that flooded across my buttocks was so terrific that all I could do was gasp."

It amazes me that Dahl can recall such vivid memories, fifty and sixty years later! I wonder if the dialogue that he includes truly happened word-for-word, or if he is improvising dialogue to fit with the events? I also love that he includes pictures from his childhood, most with captions in his handwriting, such as "the house at Radyr," "a picnic with Mama." There are some illustrations included as well, such as a (joking) "WANTED FOR MURDER!" poster with Roald's picture on it, the cane-beating scene, and the candy from the sweet-shop.

I think that if children (or adults) have hesitations about non-fiction, this book could definitely be used to break those down. It's practically written like a fiction story, complete with humor and sad parts, just in a string of memories rather than a beginning, build-up, climax, and resolution.

Roald Dahl's site:

http://www.roalddahl.com/

Very sad account of tragedy in Dahl's life:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/biographyandmemoirreviews/7930233/Roald-Dahls-darkest-hour.html