Kayleigh's Reviews > Matilda

I guess I just don't "get" Roald Dahl. I never liked his books much as a kid--his characters were just too over-the-top ridiculous and one-dimensional for me--but this one in particular is so widely loved, and appears on so many "must-read" lists that I started to wonder if I'd missed out by never picking it up when I was younger. Besides, it's about a lonely little girl who loves to read, and since that was basically me as a kid, I should have every reason to love it, right?

Wrong.

Usually when reading children's books, I try not to be too harsh. Obviously there are different standards when writing for children than those that exist for "adult" books, and my perspective reading something as an adult is not going to be the same as that of a child. I'm not by any means a snob in this regard--I still frequent the YA sections of bookstores and libraries, and I've read plenty of children's or middle grade books that were beautifully complex and thought-provoking despite the straightforwardness of the writing or outward simplicity of the story. In this case, however, I can't think of much to say that's nice. I didn't hate it, and sure, I can see why kids (as well as adults) find Dahl's stories entertaining. But the magic just isn't there for me. I basically have the same complaints about Matilda as I did about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG when I was eight--everything is too exaggerated, too silly to be believable, and I felt no emotional connection whatsoever to any of the characters.