Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A often very funny, interesting, and shocking novel..., April 25, 2000
By A Customer
This piece of work by the classic children's author, Roald Dahl, is wonderful. It tells stories of young Dahl's life in boarding schools, summers on islands in Norway, and other adventures. Often, these stories are very humorous, and very interesting. But, sometimes, it's just plain shocking and unbelievable. Especially, when he gets to talking about his Headmasters and "Masters" (teachers) at his schools. I recommend this book to any real Roald Dahl fan. You'll not regret reading it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Boy, this was good!, March 23, 2000
By A Customer
We absolutely adored the book because of all the extremely funny stories and the wonderful way Mr Dahl wrote about them. He must have had excellent memory. But the thing we enjoyed the most was the fact that he wrote about his childhood in a way that was amusing not only for him, but also for us who have not experienced those kinds of things. We really felt like we were a part of the story.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
PRANKSTER AGAINST THE WORLD, June 19, 1999
What a cute read--about the youth and misadventures of a Norwegian boy raised in Wales and England during the 20's and 30's! The creator of that delicious childhood fantasy, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY--tells all! Woe to cruel Headmasters and callous boy bullies who perpetuate (with Society's connivance) the curious system of excessive corporal punishment. Creative and imaginative, Dahl was familiar with the business end of several canes brandished with (dis)passionate self-righteousness. He describes his childhood and teenage experiences up through his first job, just hinting of his war activity. This is a very enjoyable book; it reads easily, with plenty of lively dialgue, excerpts from his letters, family photos and wry kid humor. One suspects that Dahl--who signs his weekly, yet subtly-censored leters home as BOY-- was not a favorite with his masters, except on the playing field. His fertile brain concocts many schemes to bring pompous or nasty adults down a few pegs. Undeterred by harsh canings, he continues to defy authority, and to comment privately on human brutality. One wonders why the British permitted such barbarism in private schools--a self-perpetuating system which rewards or encourages sadism. One hopes that boarding school conditions have been tempered in modern times. Will the real British graduate please stand up, so we may check for ancient cane lines! Did such treatment produce generations of tender-hearted Old Boys, as Dahl would have been if he had been granted Boazer status, which he had earned for athletics; or successive waves of beasts, eager to give as good as they got? There is much humor packed into these otherwise light pages, so don't miss this entertaining autobiography of an international boyhood. You'll chuckle and be outraged here and there, but you will not be bored. For kids of all ages, especially those who have spent the better (or worse) part of their lives in boarding school.
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by Rebecca Elliott Ph.D.
