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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
i don't know why i'm so emotional now that i've finished reading this.
Roald Dahl led an interesting early life, and these two books tell the story well. Boy tells the story of Dahl's childhood, until he leaves school, and Going Solo takes it from there until the end of his active service in the second world war. Both worth reading.
This is the second autobiographical book by Dahl and starts from the moment that he got his first job. It also covers his WWII experiences.
This book, again, was interesting, mainly because it discusses many events that I haven’t experienced myself (and will hopefully never experience). The only thing that made me uncomfortable was the scene in which one of Dahl’s servants has killed a German (WWII has broken out and Dahl was tasked with bringing the Germans that lived in East-Africa to prison camps, so that they could not go to Germany/spy for Germany/sabotage the British etc. That was actually a really interesting bit that I hadn’t even heard about.) It wasn’t exactly the fact that this man killed a German, it was more that Dahl immediately went on by saying that this German was a nasty man. Like, are you trying to justify what happened by telling us that he wasn’t a pleasant person? That doesn’t change the fact that your servant murdered him instead of arresting him (which I get, because this servant came from a different culture in which killing wasn’t exactly frowned upon and this German reached for a gun himself, so this man didn’t really have much of a choice then). Yet, it feels weak somehow that Dahl immediately feels the need to point out that the German was an asshole. It’s as if he tries to get us on his side. I don’t know. It rubbed me the wrong way, I guess. For the rest, it was an amusing book, written in a pleasant manner.
This book, again, was interesting, mainly because it discusses many events that I haven’t experienced myself (and will hopefully never experience). The only thing that made me uncomfortable was the scene in which one of Dahl’s servants has killed a German (WWII has broken out and Dahl was tasked with bringing the Germans that lived in East-Africa to prison camps, so that they could not go to Germany/spy for Germany/sabotage the British etc. That was actually a really interesting bit that I hadn’t even heard about.) It wasn’t exactly the fact that this man killed a German, it was more that Dahl immediately went on by saying that this German was a nasty man. Like, are you trying to justify what happened by telling us that he wasn’t a pleasant person? That doesn’t change the fact that your servant murdered him instead of arresting him (which I get, because this servant came from a different culture in which killing wasn’t exactly frowned upon and this German reached for a gun himself, so this man didn’t really have much of a choice then). Yet, it feels weak somehow that Dahl immediately feels the need to point out that the German was an asshole. It’s as if he tries to get us on his side. I don’t know. It rubbed me the wrong way, I guess. For the rest, it was an amusing book, written in a pleasant manner.
A selective autobiography of the author, covering his childhood and his time in the RAF. He really led an amazing life, full of fascinating experiences. It's easy to see he had an adventurous spirit. And he really knows how to tell a tale. Boy most closely reflects his fiction writing: most of the adults are pretty scary. The book as a whole also gives a glimpse into another time, back when the British Empire is still a thing and hotels had to be booked by letter. It's also littered with photos and fragments of his letters to his mother, although many of the photos haven't reproduced well.
I have Roald Dahl to thank for a huge chunk of my love for reading. Because Matilda was the first full-length book I ever read (cover-to-cover and over and over at that); I have often been tempted to buy more of his works way out into adulthood, for their charm is simply unmatchable. It seemed imperative to me one of these days as I passed down Book Street in Mumbai that I have to read Dahl again as a 21 year old, and so I grabbed a copy of Going Solo and got right to it.
Going Solo is part two of the author's autobiography, and deals with his experiences during the second World War, first as an employee of the Shell Oil Company in Dar-es-Salaam, and then as a fighter pilot in the RAF. While narrated with the author's characteristic sense of observation and of humour, this book nevertheless is a much deeper reflection on a harrowing military experience, and of the ravages and wastes of the World Wars in general.
At first, Dahl sets out to Africa to work for Shell, and — after a curious ship journey where he meets a lot of 'dotty' englishmen serving in the British Empire — records his adventurous encounters with deadly Mamba snakes, lions who mysteriously abduct women; and also his friendship with his 'boy', Mdisho.
One can see in the beginning, that as bwana of a small Tanzanian hamlet, 21-year-old Dahl has a certain sense of civilizational authority and affectionate patronizing as a white Englishman, one who has left home for three years in order to see the world and perhaps help govern it.
However, as the war breaks out, Dahl — in an act of patriotism and daring, but also as means of exploring the skies — enlists himself in the Royal Air Force. Here begins the retelling of horrors and harrowing experienced that not only amaze one for having taken place at all, but also reveal the negligence in certain aspects of the war as sheer, mindless power-play which led to the death of many pilots and military men. In the words of the author and his colleague, David Coke, it [the war and particularly the British mission in the Middle East] was a complete 'cock-up'.
Dahl's experiences as a Pilot Officer, in fact, act as a great exposé of military operations of the war, where action, however mindless, was more important than the lives of soldiers and young men. Dahl himself is sent on his very first combat mission after very minimal training on antiquated equipment and no experience whatsoever of manning the kind of 'kite' assigned to him. His own brushes with death; and his accounts of the depersonalized deaths of others on his squadron; make known that a massive number of the deaths in the war were a result of the negligence and lack of training imparted by the British, rather than martyrdom caused by direct enemy action.
The propagandist nature of war is revealed in the story of Dahl's crash landing in no-mans land, which was a result of being provided incorrect co-ordinates by ill-advised leaders, and led to long months immobilised in the hospital. This near-death experience, he says, was modified by an American Magazine to be result of enemy action in the skies, rather than what it was: the absolute unpreparedness of the British forces for this war.
In Greece, Dahl's Squadron 80 is composed of about 15 fighter planes against several hundreds of German bombers, fighters and other deadly aircrafts that spewed fire, and is entrusted with preventing a German takeover of the country as well as supposedly protecting the Navy as it leaves the shores of Greece (except that it is never to be found). Unbelievable, isn't it? Dahl is one of the only 7 pilots left alive at the end of a few weeks, and escapes death by a hair's breadth in several incidents including the Battle of Athens. Without proper ground crew, equipment, and (in Megara, Greece) even food and water, the squadron is ordered to keep functioning and 'following orders' that nobody is sure of. The myopic idea of suffering in war is seen in Dahl recounting his meeting some Jewish Refugees in Palestine with no idea of what was happening to them. In the end, Dahl is repatriated due to splitting headaches that resulted from his grave injuries in Egypt, and goes home to a war-ravaged England.
Dahl wrote Going Solo over forty years after the war ended. However, his striking recollection of events and his own reactions to them makes one remember the kinds of damage done to people by war, in both life and death. Dahl personalises his experiences even more by including in the book his (unanswered) letters home to his mother; excerpts from his official Log Book and telegrams sent by the authorities; and pictures taken by him through these years on his Zeiss camera.
While the book is listed as reading for Young Adults and can introduce them to the nuances of war, it is an incredibly reflective and insightful account of war for all ages. Indeed, the Quentin Blake-illustrated cover is misleading.
Roald Dahl's life and experiences was worth way more than just the fiction he wrote, and Going Solo makes that evident as never before.
Going Solo is part two of the author's autobiography, and deals with his experiences during the second World War, first as an employee of the Shell Oil Company in Dar-es-Salaam, and then as a fighter pilot in the RAF. While narrated with the author's characteristic sense of observation and of humour, this book nevertheless is a much deeper reflection on a harrowing military experience, and of the ravages and wastes of the World Wars in general.
At first, Dahl sets out to Africa to work for Shell, and — after a curious ship journey where he meets a lot of 'dotty' englishmen serving in the British Empire — records his adventurous encounters with deadly Mamba snakes, lions who mysteriously abduct women; and also his friendship with his 'boy', Mdisho.
One can see in the beginning, that as bwana of a small Tanzanian hamlet, 21-year-old Dahl has a certain sense of civilizational authority and affectionate patronizing as a white Englishman, one who has left home for three years in order to see the world and perhaps help govern it.
However, as the war breaks out, Dahl — in an act of patriotism and daring, but also as means of exploring the skies — enlists himself in the Royal Air Force. Here begins the retelling of horrors and harrowing experienced that not only amaze one for having taken place at all, but also reveal the negligence in certain aspects of the war as sheer, mindless power-play which led to the death of many pilots and military men. In the words of the author and his colleague, David Coke, it [the war and particularly the British mission in the Middle East] was a complete 'cock-up'.
Dahl's experiences as a Pilot Officer, in fact, act as a great exposé of military operations of the war, where action, however mindless, was more important than the lives of soldiers and young men. Dahl himself is sent on his very first combat mission after very minimal training on antiquated equipment and no experience whatsoever of manning the kind of 'kite' assigned to him. His own brushes with death; and his accounts of the depersonalized deaths of others on his squadron; make known that a massive number of the deaths in the war were a result of the negligence and lack of training imparted by the British, rather than martyrdom caused by direct enemy action.
The propagandist nature of war is revealed in the story of Dahl's crash landing in no-mans land, which was a result of being provided incorrect co-ordinates by ill-advised leaders, and led to long months immobilised in the hospital. This near-death experience, he says, was modified by an American Magazine to be result of enemy action in the skies, rather than what it was: the absolute unpreparedness of the British forces for this war.
In Greece, Dahl's Squadron 80 is composed of about 15 fighter planes against several hundreds of German bombers, fighters and other deadly aircrafts that spewed fire, and is entrusted with preventing a German takeover of the country as well as supposedly protecting the Navy as it leaves the shores of Greece (except that it is never to be found). Unbelievable, isn't it? Dahl is one of the only 7 pilots left alive at the end of a few weeks, and escapes death by a hair's breadth in several incidents including the Battle of Athens. Without proper ground crew, equipment, and (in Megara, Greece) even food and water, the squadron is ordered to keep functioning and 'following orders' that nobody is sure of. The myopic idea of suffering in war is seen in Dahl recounting his meeting some Jewish Refugees in Palestine with no idea of what was happening to them. In the end, Dahl is repatriated due to splitting headaches that resulted from his grave injuries in Egypt, and goes home to a war-ravaged England.
Dahl wrote Going Solo over forty years after the war ended. However, his striking recollection of events and his own reactions to them makes one remember the kinds of damage done to people by war, in both life and death. Dahl personalises his experiences even more by including in the book his (unanswered) letters home to his mother; excerpts from his official Log Book and telegrams sent by the authorities; and pictures taken by him through these years on his Zeiss camera.
While the book is listed as reading for Young Adults and can introduce them to the nuances of war, it is an incredibly reflective and insightful account of war for all ages. Indeed, the Quentin Blake-illustrated cover is misleading.
Roald Dahl's life and experiences was worth way more than just the fiction he wrote, and Going Solo makes that evident as never before.