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Ah, a case of the elusive "the movie was better."
In the book, Matilda's reading habits are described at length, but ultimately her reading never comes in handy later in the story. Was it just a way to name-drop as many classics as possible? In the movie, much less time is spent on that, it's only a way to show that Matilda is very advanced for her age.
Suddenly springing Matilda's magical powers on me after the 50% mark is a bold move. If you're going to have fantastical elements in your story, you better clue the readers in as soon as possible to set the world rules from the beginning and manage their expectations. Yeah, yeah, I know: "it’s just a children's book, unclench your butt cheeks". But it’s precisely because it’s a children's book that I'm butt-cramping. These books form your child’s story standards so they should be of the finest quality. The people who made the movie knew this and introduced Matilda’s powers earlier.
I also found the beginning (character introductions and Matilda's very early childhood) too long compared to the "action" part of the story. More time could have been spent on Matilda's telekinetic shenanigans. The movie people must have been of the same opinion because they also corrected that and even added an extra action scene at the house.
Apart from those points Matilda was a pleasant, harmless read if you ignore the casual mention of Ms. Trunchbull torturing a young Ms. Honey by dunking her head under water.
In the book, Matilda's reading habits are described at length, but ultimately her reading never comes in handy later in the story. Was it just a way to name-drop as many classics as possible? In the movie, much less time is spent on that, it's only a way to show that Matilda is very advanced for her age.
Suddenly springing Matilda's magical powers on me after the 50% mark is a bold move. If you're going to have fantastical elements in your story, you better clue the readers in as soon as possible to set the world rules from the beginning and manage their expectations. Yeah, yeah, I know: "it’s just a children's book, unclench your butt cheeks". But it’s precisely because it’s a children's book that I'm butt-cramping. These books form your child’s story standards so they should be of the finest quality. The people who made the movie knew this and introduced Matilda’s powers earlier.
I also found the beginning (character introductions and Matilda's very early childhood) too long compared to the "action" part of the story. More time could have been spent on Matilda's telekinetic shenanigans. The movie people must have been of the same opinion because they also corrected that and even added an extra action scene at the house.
Apart from those points Matilda was a pleasant, harmless read if you ignore the casual mention of Ms. Trunchbull torturing a young Ms. Honey by dunking her head under water.