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A review by sidharthvardhan
Matilda by Roald Dahl
5.0
It was a toss among this one, 'Ulysses' and 'The Sound and the Fury'* - Which, by the way, Matilda had read by age of five! and she liked it! Feeling embarrassed already? No? she could also tell you within seconds and without calculator; what is seventeen times nineteen. Can you? Can you?
Not only is she a child prodigy; she also showed ability of telekinesis for sometime. Roald Dahl seems to have a message for both children and grown-ups. And it is quite clear; grown-ups need not always be right. We tend to assume that parents or teachers know what is the best for the children - because it is a very romantic thing to assume but often we see how wrong this assumption is:
Children are thus often forced to pay for their parent/guardians/ teachers' faults.
And I have known parents who wish to avoid spending on their children's education, specially if they are girls. There are, you will agree, many teachers who detest their jobs and many often bully children.
And, here a kid's genius need not necessarily be about books;it can art or sports or anything.
And there is no lack of cases where children find themselves alone; fearing that they might not be understood:
And often children do revolt when they felt injustice is being done to them - they have a very strong sense of injustice, not yet used to it like grown-ups. They tend to do so by turning mischievous.
Another good reason to read Dahl is that he teaches how to insult in civilized language:
*Okay now, I know you are wondering how I tossed between three books. This is how it was - Heads it was Matilda, Tails I would toss again. If the coin had stayed up on its tip, it would have been 'The Sound and the Fury'. If it had stayed up in the air, it would have been 'Ulysses'. In the end it turned out to be Matilda. I mean what are the chances? It was as if something was pulling coin towards ground! Personally I was inclined towards reading Ulysses, but I had to do what coin told me to do.
Looking back, it only seemed fair after my last read 'Lord of the Flies' failed the Bechdel test a big time.
Not only is she a child prodigy; she also showed ability of telekinesis for sometime. Roald Dahl seems to have a message for both children and grown-ups. And it is quite clear; grown-ups need not always be right. We tend to assume that parents or teachers know what is the best for the children - because it is a very romantic thing to assume but often we see how wrong this assumption is:
“I'm right and you're wrong, I'm big and you're small, and there's nothing you can do about it.”
Children are thus often forced to pay for their parent/guardians/ teachers' faults.
And I have known parents who wish to avoid spending on their children's education, specially if they are girls. There are, you will agree, many teachers who detest their jobs and many often bully children.
And, here a kid's genius need not necessarily be about books;it can art or sports or anything.
And there is no lack of cases where children find themselves alone; fearing that they might not be understood:
"“What she needed was just one person, one wise and sympathetic grown-up who could help her.”
And often children do revolt when they felt injustice is being done to them - they have a very strong sense of injustice, not yet used to it like grown-ups. They tend to do so by turning mischievous.
Another good reason to read Dahl is that he teaches how to insult in civilized language:
“You ignorant little slug!" the Trunchbull bellowed. "You witless weed! You empty-headed hamster! You stupid glob of glue!”
*Okay now, I know you are wondering how I tossed between three books. This is how it was - Heads it was Matilda, Tails I would toss again. If the coin had stayed up on its tip, it would have been 'The Sound and the Fury'. If it had stayed up in the air, it would have been 'Ulysses'. In the end it turned out to be Matilda. I mean what are the chances? It was as if something was pulling coin towards ground! Personally I was inclined towards reading Ulysses, but I had to do what coin told me to do.
Looking back, it only seemed fair after my last read 'Lord of the Flies' failed the Bechdel test a big time.