Roald Dahl

Recently, the topic of ‘Roald Dahl‘ came up in conversation in my house, in reference to a children’s book of his titled ‘The Twits’, with which I am unfamiliar. And that surprised me, because I considered myself a fan who grew up loving Dahl’s books; James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the epic sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. And a particular favorite, Danny the Champion of the World (published in 1975 when I was 10, I still have the copy I received for Christmas that year).

My daughter Colleen, also a huge Dahl fan, ran up to her room and returned with an armful of his books that I have never read including George’s Marvelous Medicine, The BFG, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Matilda, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.

I tweeted my surprise, and started reading. In the Wikipedia article on Roald Dahl, I found my explanation as to how I had missed these books. Each of them had been published after 1980, by which point I was in high school and I had seemingly turned to more age appropriate reading. Just once since then had I read a Dahl book, this one written for adults, My Uncle Oswald, a bawdy tale that predicts Viagara and sperm banks. It was a fun read, but I didn’t explore his adult books any further.

Yesterday I finished the third of these new (to me) books on the bus home, The BFG (which is of course short for Big Friendly Giant). And then in my evening web surfing I stumbled onto a coincidence, September 13th (Dahl’s Birthday) is recognized as Roald Dahl Day in the U.K. and around the World. And a day’s not really enough, so Dahl’s own web site claims September as Roald Dahl Month!

I’m happy for the fortuitous timing of my rediscovery, and a new pile of books of his I get to explore more than 35 years after my original introduction and enjoyment of his writing. Happy Roald Dahl Month to all!

Update – With a week left to go in Roahl Dahl month, today’s Washington Post reviewed a new biography about him. It looks like a great read.

‘Storyteller,’ Donald Sturrock’s authorized biography of Roald Dahl
The Washington Posts, 9/23/10