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Loading... Matilda (original 1988; edition 1988)by Roald Dahl (Author), Quentin Blake (Illustrator)Tender, brutal, fun and warm. A story about a little girl surviving among toxic people. The headmistress at her school reminded me of a terrible coworker that i struggled with. I guess i'm not a little girl and i should know better how to stand strong against toxicity but it turns out to be quite a challenge even for an adult. Now that i've read Matilda i'm ready. Bring it on! I really hate that this book wasn't yet written when I was a child. I loved everything about it! The character of Matilda is absolutely wonderful; I can't imagine any way in which she could have been improved upon. Her parents and Miss Trunchbull are absolute nightmares (and also perfect). And Miss Honey is that person we all wish we had in our corner. Great humor, a plot that is unexpected at times and a perfect ending ... what more could you ask for? A beloved children's classic, Matilda will resonate with the booklover in all of us who wanted to read all the books the library had and all those who wished to have magic of their own. I never read this as a child and while it's undoubtedly aimed at a younger audience, there's plenty here for older readers to enjoy. There's a pretty extensive list of classic literature to explore Every Book Reference in Matilda Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Gone to Earth by Mary Webb Kim by Rudyard Kipling The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Good Companions by J. B. Priestley Brighton Rock by Graham Greene Animal Farm by George Orwell Easy Cooking The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Great Expectations by Charles Dickens The Red Pony by John Steinbeck The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling In Country Sleep by Poet Dylan Thomas Grimm's Fairy Tales Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales Dahl, Roald. Matilda. Penguin Young Readers Group. Kindle Edition. “Mr Hemingway says a lot of things I don’t understand,” Matilda said to her. “Especially about men and women. But I loved it all the same. The way he tells it I feel I am right there on the spot watching it all happen.” “A fine writer will always make you feel that,” Mrs Phelps said. “And don’t worry about the bits you can’t understand. Sit back and allow the words to wash around you, like music.” Dahl, Roald. Matilda (pp. 18-19). Penguin Young Readers Group. Kindle Edition. Most children in Matilda’s place would have burst into floods of tears. She didn’t do this. She sat there very still and white and thoughtful. She seemed to know that neither crying nor sulking ever got anyone anywhere. The only sensible thing to do when you are attacked is, as Napoleon once said, to counter-attack. Matilda’s wonderfully subtle mind was already at work devising yet another suitable punishment for the poisonous parent. Dahl, Roald. Matilda (p. 41). Penguin Young Readers Group. Kindle Edition. “Say that again,” the son said. “How much did it sell for?” “Nine hundred and ninety-nine pounds and fifty pence,” the father said. “And that, by the way, is another of my nifty little tricks to diddle the customer. Never ask for a big round figure. Always go just below it. Never say one thousand pounds. Always say nine hundred and ninety-nine fifty. It sounds much less but it isn’t. Clever, isn’t it?” Dahl, Roald. Matilda (p. 52). Penguin Young Readers Group. Kindle Edition. “How can she get away with it?” Lavender said to Matilda. “Surely the children go home and tell their mothers and fathers. I know my father would raise a terrific stink if I told him the Headmistress had grabbed me by the hair and slung me over the playground fence.” “No, he wouldn’t,” Matilda said, “and I’ll tell you why. He simply wouldn’t believe you.” “Of course he would.” “He wouldn’t,” Matilda said. “And the reason is obvious. Your story would sound too ridiculous to be believed. And that is the Trunchbull’s great secret.” “What is?” Lavender asked. Matilda said, “Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable. No parent is going to believe this pigtail story, not in a million years. Mine wouldn’t. They’d call me a liar.” Dahl, Roald. Matilda (p. 117). Penguin Young Readers Group. Kindle Edition. The plot moves at a fast clip, pausing just long enough to impart some decent wisdom at various points. I loved the librarian Mrs Phelps who helps Matilda to find her reading material and encourages her to sign up for a library card. I loved Lavender and her fierce desire for action - the lizard was hilarious. I loved Matilda's deep desire to learn and understand and achieve her goals. Although funnily enough I was somewhat indifferent to Matilda herself. I loved what she represented rather than who she was. And I mainly felt sorry for Miss Honey and her inability to break free from her abuser. I didn't love Matilda's family either but here the movie helped because I could only ever picture Danny DeVito while reading and I was left torn between my hate for the book version versus the hilarity of DeVito's acting. I liked Matilda's revenge on Miss Trunchbull although I would've liked to see more of the aftermath, maybe allow Miss Honey or Matilda to gloat a little. As for the ending, the storyline for Matilda's family was way too abrupt and felt choppy and unfinished. But then, that seems to be Dahl's style as many of his books are finished suddenly. Overall a fun and timeless classic and a must read for all bookworms. 4 stars for the target audience, 3 stars for me. I read Matilda for the first time two decades ago. I had not revisited it since, but decided to do so a few days ago after seeing it pleadingly ensconced on a shelf in a local library. Unlike my past self, who, as a child, had little to contest in this simple narrative, I was displeased with how brazenly overdone it felt. It read like a hammy and blatant self-insert meant to vindicate those whose premature intellect was not commended to their satisfaction. I found that, beneath the thin veneer of girl empowerment and principled mischief, there was little thematic impact, owing to Dahl's inability to convey even a hint of nuance in the morality of his tale. With nauseatingly virtuous heroes and restlessly foul villains, any pretense to didacticism is lost in its own hyperbole. Sadly, Dahl's works for children are conveniently installed in a genre that is ever underestimated, and therefore, they are acclaimed as masterpieces. Indeed, this genre is one to which many writers turn to avoid the criticism they would undoubtedly face for their patent inelegance, and in which such inelegance is otherwise welcomed by many adults who tritely excuse it as "immaterial" considering the target audience; truly, a most lamentable complacency. While Dahl's style is of unmistakable aesthetic value, which finds better use elsewhere in his oeuvre, it is simply not enough to elevate the book above its arrant lack of grace. This is another children’s classic that I somehow missed reading in my childhood. Some aspects of the story are rather unsettling this far removed from the era in which it was written. I can’t imagine a 3-year-old child left home alone in our 21st century world, or another adult learning of that circumstance and not reporting it to child protective services. Another thing that puzzles me is how Matilda learned to read and do arithmetic without being read aloud to or coached. I was fascinated by this part of Matilda’s story, since I was reading by age four. I wasn’t aware of learning to read, and I don’t know how I learned, but I imagine that being read to a lot had quite a bit to do with it. Matilda was largely ignored by the rest of the family, and none of them were readers anyway. So how did Matilda learn? Stories that portray children with agency to right wrongs and change their circumstances for the better have a timeless appeal. It’s satisfying to see Matilda Re-read this for the first time since childhood after seeing (and HATING) the stage musical based on the book. I'll expand this and/or a blog post about why I hated the musical and why I love the movie (and to a lesser extent the book) later. Just setting myself a reminder that (a) I finished reading it; and (b) I want to write about all three at some point soon. Everyone who’s read Roald Dahl books knows that this book is the absolute shit. There isn’t much I can say about this book that people don’t already know because it’s been so fixedly ingrained into the public consciousness with an iconic movie and an amazing musical by Tim Minchin that everybody knows some version of the story. What I’d like to tell you guys about is why I think you should read this book. Matilda is the story of a girl who is so intelligent that her intelligences spills out of her brain and gives her telekinetic powers. Contrary to what happens in the movie, it actually only really happens in the last act of the book. Her parents don’t appreciate how intelligent she actually is, putting her down and saying that being smart and loving books will get you nowhere in life. Matilda is so smart that she can do difficult multiplications in her head, stuff that not even adults can do, and she can also read things that I would never dream of picking up. This little girl is more well-read than I will ever be. And at the core of it all is the story of abuse. Miss Honey, Matilda’s teacher, has been abused by her aunt (who is also the headmistress of the school) for years since Mrs Trunchbull prevents her from having access to the money and house she so rightfully deserves, as Miss Honey’s father left it to her in his will after dying mysteriously. Matilda is abused in a different way – she isn’t beaten by her family or anything of the sort, but it is something that can be just as drastic. Matilda’s family undermines her constantly, never believing that she is intelligent and never giving her the space to shine that she deserves. At the core of the story are two women who are held back by their families exerting their power over them, trying to control two women that could become very strong and powerful if given the freedom that their families are denying them. In Miss Honey’s case, she would have the power to live a life independent on Miss Trunchbull; in Matilda’s case, who knows what this little girl could eventually achieve! What I love about this story is that it’s literally about women becoming their own people independent of the abuse that they suffer at the hands of the people that love them the most. As a child, this book made me appreciate the parents that I had who encouraged my love of reading and my want to learn. As an adult, this story makes me appreciate the way that Dahl sends a message to his young readers that just because you don’t have a support system at home doesn’t mean you can’t find one in other people, and that sometimes adults need you just as much as you need them. I love that Matilda’s parents get their comeuppance in the end, being forced to flee because of Matilda’s father’s shady business dealings. And I love that, at the end of the day, Matilda is still a little girl – she’s interested in playing with her friends and isn’t mature beyond her years; she’s just very smart for her age, which is a big distinction to make. Anyway, I love this book and think that every child, teenager, and adult should read it at different stages in their lives. It’s a brilliant little story for all ages and characters. My final rating is a solid 5/5 for one of the best children’s books ever written. Recently I saw the movie musical based on the Broadway musical based on the book. I also have seen the other movie that wasn't a musical. In any case, as usual the book is aways better and I'm glad I finally read it. I think I would have liked this book as a child, but maybe it would have scared me a little. I still love this book. It was one of my favourites as a kid. The best thing about Matilda is that it builds a relationship with the reader in which the book and the reader are “equals”. These are the books that expand young vocabularies and don’t treat children as though they’re younger than they are. Roald Dahl was my childhood hero and reading this makes me want to read all of his collection again! |
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