Book to Movie Review

If you have ever read a book written by Roald Dahl, you will know exactly what I mean when I say that this story is classic Dahl. There is a fantastical world that the reader can get lost in, wonderful and vividly described characters and humorous word play. In the audio version narrated by David Williams, we are given a voice to these relatable characters that makes the listener feel like part of the story. The film adaptation of this book has some fun aspects and maintains the theme of friendship from the original story, however, it falls short of Dahl’s original work and just doesn’t seem to measure up.

I have always enjoyed Roald Dahl’s novels and they bring back so many amazing childhood memories of my first reading experiences. Listening to David Williams bring the BFG, Sophie, and the Queen to life is an incredible adventure that makes this story that much more colourful. His vocal characterizations are prefect and they way he pronounces the plethora of made-up words in this book are so amusing. The special effects in the background also add another layer to the listening experience that will help the listener to envision the happenings in the book with greater intensity. While I can see that there may be some terrifying moments for children in this book, somehow the humour and the fact that the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) is so lovable, give the listener a sense of security.

When I found out yet another book by Roald Dahl was being translated to the screen, I was very excited. There have been some wonderful films created in the past based on his works. Unfortunately, this adaptation is not as thrilling or amusing as I had hoped for. The storyline is somewhat the same, but the wonderful details are not depicted nearly as wonderfully as the book and the ending is altered. There is also some bathroom humour that might appeal to some, but I found it distasteful and certainly not the exact feel that Dahl was after. Mind you, there were some touching moments in the movie, but they just don’t compare to the original book.

So, is this a movie that you want to rush out to the theatre to see? In my humble opinion, no. While this is a film that is highly anticipated and has definitely been hyped up and advertised to great extent, it is not one that I feel deserves your hard earned money. I do think that most fans of the book will want to see it and should see it to compare the story to the film. However, waiting to see it on DVD would be an option that I suggest. This is a book that you should definitely not judge by its movie.

Hello fellow “human beans,” grab a snozzcumber and gather round to listen to the BFG. This audiobook was super fun and interactive!!

We’ve all heard about the “witching hour” and what it can bring about, but did you know that you could possibly be kidnapped by a giant during the witching hour?? Well, Sophie didn’t either.

“The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world to themselves.”

So if you are looking for a creative and fun story that uses words like “whizzpopper” and my personal favorite “blood bottler” (lol!) then this is the way to go. Ever sense hearing the term blood bottler I’ve had it stuck in my head (especially how the BFG says it), and I’ve severely wanted to just randomly call a random person that haha!! Anyway, I’m so looking forward to seeing the film adaptation for the first time!

I’ll admit I didn’t even know much about giants until this story (other than Jack and the Beanstalk), so it was quite informative. I absolutely loved how certain giants had specific acquired tastes for particular types of humans. Quite funny! Who are we to get in the way of the giants and their appetites haha? Overall, cute story.

Libro della mia infanzia, uno dei primi che inaugurò il mio amore per la lettura, rileggerlo a distanza di 15 anni é stata pura magia.
"Cetrionzoli, schifetenti cetrionzoli,hanno un gusto esecroso e nauseabonzo!"

Reread because the trailer for the upcoming movie got me all excited! Classic, love this story so much.

Syyskuun 13. päivä tulee kuluneeksi sata vuotta brittiläisen kirjailijan Roald Dahlin syntymästä. 19 lastenkirjaa, 9 novellikokoelmaa ja lukuisia käsikirjoituksia ja sovituksia elokuviin ja tv-sarjoihin. Kuulostaa lahjakkuudelta, sitä hän oli. Moni muistaa Jali ja suklaatehtaan ja siitä tehdyn elokuvan. Dahlin kirjoittamia on jopa muutama Bond-elokuva. Tästä ihanasta Iso Kiltti Jätti teoksesta on myös tehty elokuva.
Roald Dahlin lastenkirja Iso Kiltti Jätti on suurenmoinen ystävyystarina kahden yksinäisen kohtaamisesta ja ystävyyden syntymisestä. Toinen on iso fantasiaolento ja toinen pieni tyttö. Toinen on vanha ja toinen vasta 8-vuotias. Ystävyys ei katso peiliin, se ei katso ikää eikä ulkonäköä. Ystävyys katsoo sydämeen. Pieni Sohvi sai päättäväisyydellään Ison Kiltin Jätin toimimaan oikein ja lopettamaan muiden jättiläisten ikävät rikokset. Joskus tarvitaan sekä pieniä että isoja, että maailmasta tulisi parempi paikka. Roald Dahl on kirjoittanut unohtumattoman lastenkirjan.

Me encantó, una historia muy tierna y entretenida de un gigante de los sueños y una pequeña niña huérfana.
La he disfrutado de principio a fin.

Loved the characters in this story, especially the BFG! A real "twistytongue" but still one of my favourite read-alouds!

Like many others, I remember the Roald Dahl books that I read, or had read to me, during my childhood fondly, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and especially, Matilda. Perhaps because I expected to have the same childhood reading adventure as I had with those books, I liked, but did not love, The BFG. I think that Dahl's idea for the story is a creative one, but little things, such as the puns on the names of countries when the BFG describes the taste of "human beans" in those countries, or what I think were stereotypical remarks at the end of the novel. For instance, when Dahl describes thankful world leaders bestowing gifts upon Sophie and the BFG for saving their people from man-eating giants, he writes that "The Rule of India sent the BFG a magnificent elephant...The King of Arabia sent them a camel each. The Lama of Tibet sent them a llama each" (pp. 204-5). However, to me, the worst line was when the Queen of England called the Sultan, "next best thing" to a Lord Mayor to ask him whether any of his subjects had mysteriously disappeared recently, and he responds, "Every night unpleasant things are happening in Baghdad...We are chopping off people's heads like you are chopping parsley" (p. 174).

To be fair, the novel was copyrighted in 1982, and probably written before such things were widely considered inappropriate, and the book is widely engaging and creative. Some would also say that these things are "just jokes," that they were silliness written for the amusement of children. In spite of the fact that the novel was written over two decades ago, I do not think that children should just absorb these lines, because they are most likely reading this book at the suggestion of an adult who is, in their mind, only supposed to give them "good" books. The children would most likely read these lines and the stereotypes exoticizing non-Western countries would persist.

Another niggling doubt about the book was the resolution with the giants being imprisoned in a giant pit, doomed to eat disgusting snozzcumbers for the rest of their lives. I think that Dahl was well-intentioned in including the conversation between the BFG and Sophie about how humans make their own rules, and giants make their own rules and that the rules don't coincide. When I got to this conversation, which included the the BFG basically telling Sophie that it was somewhat judgmental or short-sighted of her to immediately think of the other giants as bad, because humans, unlike giants, kill their own kind all the time, I thought that the story was incredibly promising. However, the story ended as they typically do, especially in "children's" literature, with the "bad" guys getting captured and the "good" guys living happily ever after without the moral ambiguity that Dahl touched upon in that one particular conversation between Sophie and the BFG. I think that it might have been more interesting if it was ever brought up that perhaps giants just eat humans just as humans eat bacon, sausage, and eggs, just as Sophie, the BFG, and the Queen did at the end of the story, and that perhaps the solution would be to respect all life, just as the BFG always had (before uncharacteristically eating all that bacon and sausage at the end of the novel) because he could hear the world's suffering. Instead, as I mentioned, the story has a more typical ending, and it is emotionally acceptable that the human-eating giants are imprisoned with disgusting food for the rest of their lives (and the Queen is humane for imprisoning them rather than killing them, to boot) only because Dahl portrays the giants as disgusting throughout the entire novel. Although the giants are portrayed as mean in the scene during which they toss around the BFG, emphasis is continuously on how the giants are "half-naked and disgusting" in their appearance and smell. Thus, emphasis is placed on their physical, rather than moral disgustingness, and to me, this is too reminiscent of the way that we vilify those who are different than us to justify our inhuman treatment of them.

In closing, although I enjoyed this book because of Dahl's creativity in coming up with a BFG and a dreamblower, etc, I don't think that it should hold such a coveted place in children's literature because it is somewhat outdated in its attitude, and there are many, many wonderful children's adventure novels out there with which to replace it. I think that it would be a good novel to discuss with kids, but I don't think that parents/teachers should just give it to kids an example of a "good book" because remember loving it during their childhood.

P.S. It's a little frustrating that people just think I'm being "oversensitive" or that I'm just another crazy person who wants everything to be PC. I don't think that my reaction to this book was knee-jerk (for instance those people who refuse to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and/or think it has no merit because of the use of the n-word). I've said many good things about this book. Heck, I even liked it. I just pointed out that I don't think that it's perfect, my reasons for not thinking that it's perfect, and that there are plenty of great books out there for kids to read, so people should at least think a millisecond about what they recommend to kids (about the content, child's maturity, and child's personal preferences) instead of just pushing their own childhood favorites on them.

Fantastic tale overbrimming with Roald Dahl's language invention has the BFG and Sophie saving the kids and humans of the world from maneating giants. Queen E is pulled into the machinations and is up to it. Had me laughing out loud! I enjoyed this in audiobook format and the extras in the performance were a delight!!!

Another book scratched out of my top reading list..
I already read quite a few of the author`s books and this was my last one of his. And was it just as funny as his other books?

I thought it had some funny moments but wasn't as hilarious as  Charlie and the Glass Elevator. This one is more between 3.5 to 4 stars.

I actually listened to the audio read by David Walliams. He did an excellent job, especially with the invented words that the BFG uses and the different characters of the story. It was wonderful done. He actually made the story even more hilarious by his narration.

Overall, it's Roald Dahl's story, I mean he's an icon, right? He always has the most funniest, weirdest and wonderful magical stories.

My daughter adored this book and I still have the book today. One of our favourites.

This is Roald Dahl at his best - such a great story, wonderfully illustrated by Quentin Blake as usual, brilliantly created, well thought out characters and narrative as well as a lovely use of invented language.

Dahl had a wonderful imagination and a remarkable gift for storytelling, as well as a lovely sense of humour and fun - which invariably come across in all of his best books.

A great story for young and old alike.