Roald Dahl 15 Book Box Set [Paperback]

Roald Dahl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2010

Roald Dahl 15 Book Box Set (Slipcase)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Penguin USA (Juv) (March 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140926526
• ISBN-13: 978-0140926521
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 46 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great books, so-so quality January 28, 2011

By Auroralotus

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love that so many of Roald Dahl's books are included in this collection, which I purchased as a gift for my niece and nephew. Visiting them recently, however, I saw that the quality of these paperbacks is kind of flimsy. I was hoping for a little thicker binding I guess, as a set like this should be meant to last a few years. They're the type of book that get tons of creases after one reading.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collected edition of Dahl's children's books November 10, 2012

By Yi-Peng

Format:Paperback

This review of Roald Dahl books is a departure from my reviews of classical recordings. The Roald Dahl children's books have been one of my great loves even as a grown-up and so I would like to do a review of his works.

This slipcased edition is a wonderful collection of his children's novels. Although each book is unique, this collected edition allows us to traverse through Dahl's writing over his 27 years of writing children's books to see how his style developed. We can also know more about the various connecting threads between the disparate stories. Interestingly this box doesn't include the poetry collections, The Minpins or The Vicar of Nibbleswicke.

Taking his children's works as a set you can get a better idea of how Dahl mixes the naughty and nice elements of his stories through constant running themes. The naughty elements of despicable characters and disgusting appearances are counterbalanced with the nice elements of fantasy, weird and wonderful characters, and meaningful relationships between children and grown-ups. I also find it interesting that Dahl touches on adult themes such as loneliness.

I like to think how the baddies are mostly cut from the same cloth. They are enormous and they look disgusting. The aunts from James and the Giant Peach, the farmers from Fantastic Mr. Fox, Miss Trunchbull, the witches and the nine child-eating giants are all drawn in a similar repulsive way, even with their unique characteristics in each book.

Beneath the facade of baddies and the fantastic settings of the stories, there are some interesting themes that run throughout the Dahl novels.

I am struck by the many positive relationships between child characters and grown-ups. We see it almost immediately in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie and Grandpa Joe dote on each other, as do Mr. Fox and his family, Danny and his father, the boy-hero and his grandmother, Sophie and the BFG, and even Matilda and Miss Honey. Interestingly enough Dahl infuses his stories with the theme of meaningful personal relationships to make up for the loss of his father at an early age, and so he is using his stories to make up for this real-life deprivation. I find this aspect of Dahl's stories very touching, even when you read about George's relationship with his father in George's Marvellous Medicine. You could almost cry when you read about the relationship between Matilda and Miss Honey. The scene where Matilda tells Miss Honey that she used her eyes to spill water on Miss Trunchbull is very moving. Matilda is honest and Miss Honey does not condemn Matilda. She just calmly tries to help Matilda to find out why she acts in this way. The friendship between the BFG is very touching, as he acts like a father-figure to Sophie while still befriending her. Although he kidnapped Sophie from the orphanage, Sophie turns out to lead a better life with the BFG. And I defy you to not cry when reading The Witches because of the doting grandmother who stands by the boy hero even though the witches turn him into a mouse with their delayed action mouse maker.

I like to think how many Dahl stories have Cinderella-type elements in them. In James and the Giant Peach the two nasty aunts are like the ugly stepsisters. James's life would have been more miserable had he not been given the crocodile tongues, and the man who gives them to James is like a fairy godmother. I also like to think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a Cinderella story too. Mr. Willy Wonka is like the Fairy Godmother and the Prince. The Golden Ticket takes Charlie into the factory like the pumpkin coach that takes Cinderella to the palace. And the four nasty children are like the ugly sisters even though they don't bother Charlie. Matilda is like Cinderella too because Miss Honey manages to save Matilda from the nasty parents while Matilda saves Miss Honey from Miss Trunchbull's bullying.

It is wonderful to see these themes in the Dahl stories so that we know that the nice elements counterbalance the naughty elements.

Each book in this box set is a wonderful gem and has its own individual strengths and character. Admittedly, while I enjoyed the stories, I did sense that Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was weak compared to the rest of the stories. It didn't have the same panache as the stand-alone stories and the disparate episodes seemed to hang together loosely.

It is wonderful to have Quentin Blake's drawings in this box set too. Interestingly, it would be good if we Dahl fans had the chance to view the earlier editions of the stories that originally had pictures by other artists. I'm not saying that we should replace the Blake drawings in this box because they are always excellent and capture the spirit of Dahl's stories. I am only saying that it would be good if people in this day and age could see the earlier illustrations that were done for the earlier Dahl stories, such as those done by Nancy Burkert, William Pene du Bois and Jill Bennett. Obviously these drawings might not fit in to an edition like this but if readers had the chance to view the older illustrations of Dahls earlier stories they can experience the different feel each illustrator brought to the stories. I am also aware that the first edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is so different from the one we know today. Dahl characterised the Oompa-Loompas as black African pygmies rather than hippie-type characters with golden hair. It would be interesting to know the differences between Charlie in its first edition and today's edition of the story.

All-in-all, this box set is a wonderful collection of stories and they might even qualify as modern, enduring classics.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good stories at a pretty good value December 21, 2010

By raneepsachos

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My sister and i loved these stories as kids. they are fantasy not realistic but mr. dhal doesn't candy everything up like a disney story. they are full of realistic dialogue that people might actually say if put in these very unrealistic situations. very entertaining and worth it but the price that i thought was good ended up being 2x as much as at a nationwide warehouse store. oops! still love it and keeping it. reading the stories one at a time one chapter at a time to nephews ages 7, 5, and 3. faVOrites include James and the giant Peach, the bfg, charlie and the chocolate factory,the witches all are great though, and there are some illustrations throughout each book.