My daughters and I had just wrapped up the audiobook of The Witches with Miranda Richardson yesterday, having listened to it all week in the car, and we were still blissed out on those wonderful, awful witches. . . .

. . . when this idiot playground dad got in my way.

So, the story goes like this. . . I'm an animated woman. I love stories, both listening to them and telling them, and I love a good joke, too. And I found myself, yesterday, engaged in conversation with a playground dad's mother, here visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday. We were having a good time, talking and laughing, but I could see that Sonny Boy was getting irritated, because this woman (me) was receiving attention from his Mommy, so when I made a joke about how everything in your body seems to hurt more, after you hit 40. . .

wounded Baby Man suddenly spat out, “Well, it's clear you're no spring chicken. I bet menopause is right around the corner for you.”

That, my friends, is called misogyny. He sought to insult me, but he made sure his insults were directed toward my womanhood, rather than my humanity.

Off come the gloves. . . sharp are the nails. . . fire fills my mind.

If only. . . oh, if only I could truly perform spells.

It's interesting, isn't it, that Roald Dahl (one of my most favorite writers) invented witches who loathe children and turn them into mice. . .

Why children? Why mice? They're all perfectly harmless enough. Well, of course, he chose witches and children and mice, because his brilliant story was written to make children laugh at the things they fear most.

But, we grown-up women know that the best story ever told about a witch was Circe from The Odyssey. . . men acting like pigs being turned into pigs. They eat her food, they sleep in her bed and they disrespect her island. They act like pigs, so she feeds them some magical food and summons their true essence.

I do not say this to disrespect men. I am surrounded, generally, by righteous men, and I tend to adore them.

But, to Baby Men. . . men who can't handle a woman's boldness. . . I say. . . with my eyes and my taloned fingers. . . I make you swine.

When we got back into the car after this harried playdate, I said to my daughters, “When a man reduces you to your female form, then pokes fun of you, just remember, he is afraid of you. . .

And you could do a lot worse than to summon your inner witch.”

(Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Witches everywhere, unite!!)

I have never been a fan of Roald Dahl somehow and after reading this book, I confirm that my opinion does not change. The language in the book is fine like there are no grammatical errors; the writing is crisp..the illustrations were also good. But it’s more around the concept that I was not able to come terms to. It’s a fantasy fiction so anything can happen which I understand but my issue is it caters to Children’s fiction genre. Kids do not really know the difference between truth and false and hence books in this genre have some add on responsibility.

‘The Witches’ makes profound statements that witches are only women and that you never know if you are living amongst one of them since they look like ordinary pretty ladies living next door. She could be your neighbour, teacher, or for that matter anyone. The grandmother is promoting smoking habit to her 8 year old grandson and asks him to take a puff…The way to avoid witches is to remain dirty and avoid taking showers so that they can’t smell you. Like really??

My first reaction after reading the book was go to my 9 year old and ask him how did he find the book - like was he scared to read about witches and was he worried about their existence? Thankfully, he told me that he found it silly and I was relieved that it means he is old enough now to know what is make believe. There are loads of children’s book which depict errant child’s behaviour or fairy tales that show witches, ghouls, villains etc which are fine but all such stories do not promote bad habits or behaviour all through the book. And if they do, they end with a moral which explains the ideal behaviour in a person.

The book did have a happy ending but quite a few things as I mentioned above, were not per my liking. So I would not really recommend this book to any child…

For people who don't already know: the hotel used in the movie actually exists. It's The Headlands Hotel, Newquay, England, and I've eaten there several times.

The staff are friendly and well aware of the relevant history. If you ask, they'll show you the room where the witches had their big meeting and the spot where the baby carriage nearly gets pushed off the cliff. The food is good, and you get a fantastic view over the bay, where people surf in summer. Recommended!

https://cherrybookreviews.wordpress.c...


Στα πλαίσια ενός read-along αφιερωμένο στο Halloween που διοργανώνω φέτος αποφάσισα η ομάδα μου να διαβάσει ένα μυθιστόρημα από τον γνωστό συγγραφέα παιδικών, εφηβικών αλλά και ενήλικων βιβλίων· Ροαλντ Νταλ. Έχω ακούσει πως τα βιβλία του είναι αρκετά «σκοτεινά» και πως είναι πολύ αγαπητός από τους αναγνώστες σε όλο τον κόσμο και αποζητώντας την χαλάρωση ξάπλωσα στον καναπέ αγκαλιά με τον e-reader μου και ξεκίνησα την ανάγνωση.

Οι λίστα με τα μυθιστορήματα που έχει γράψει είναι τεράστια και δυσκολεύτηκα στην επιλογή μου αλλά λόγω θέματος σκέφτηκα πως αυτό ταιριάζει στην γιορτή του Halloween. Δεν έκανα λάθος, το βιβλίο του Νταλ είναι πολύ σκοτεινό, αηδιαστικό και πολύ περιγραφικό. Τόσο περιγραφικό που δεν νομίζω πως είναι κατάλληλο για παιδιά κάτω των δέκα ετών. Βεβαίως τα παιδιά έχουν αρκετή φαντασία και ένα θάρρος πολύ αξιοθαύμαστο και ίσως κάνω λάθος στην εκτίμηση μου αλλά πιστεύω πως γίνεται κάπως υπερβολικό στα σημεία και ίσως φοβηθεί ένα παιδί 6 χρονών.

Η γραφή είναι καλή, απλοϊκή αλλά όχι χωρίς λυρική χροιά, μιας και το κοινό του είναι μικρά παιδιά νομίζω ο συγγραφέας προσφέρει ένα ευανάγνωστο και διασκεδαστικό βιβλίο. Αλλά όπως προ είπα θεωρώ ότι είναι πολύ «σκοτεινό» και ειδικά το τέλος του μου φάνηκε πολύ… πεσιμιστικό.

Έχω ακούσει πως οι ιστορίες του για ενήλικες είναι αρκετά αρρωστημένες και ιδιαίτερες· είναι πασιφανές πως ο Νταλ είχε μια σκοτεινή πλευρά που διαφαίνεται και στα παιδικά μυθιστορήματα του. Μου άρεσε αλλά δεν ξέρω αν θα διαβάσω κάτι άλλο δικό του στο κοντινό μέλλον.



Happy Halloween month!

My youngest son and I had so much fun reading this book. While we weren't reading it my son was busy pointing out possible witches in public (did get a little awkward at times).
We both really enjoyed the grand high witch and her annual meeting. Great read I forgot how good it was.

Ci sono quelle storie che parlano d’amore senza averne la pretesa.
“Le streghe” è una di queste.

È curioso, ma questa volta Roald Dahl sceglie di parlarci in maniera totalmente diversa. Prende da parte il piccolo grande lettore e pian piano, gli sussurra una storia all’orecchio, quasi volesse renderlo parte di un segreto, fargli capire qualcosa di fondamentale, qualcosa che poi non dovrà più dimenticare ma tenere gelosamente per se, come un tesoro.

Questa volta Dahl sceglie di avvicinarsi al nostro cuore a piccoli passi, senza quasi far rumore.

E io credo di capire il perché.

In un mondo che ci vuole sempre perfetti, in cui le streghe vogliono ucciderci e tutto diventa continua minaccia... se qualcuno ti ama, be’, cambia tutto.
Non importa che pericoli dovrai affrontare, non importa che aspetto hai, se il mondo non ti comprende... perché avrai sempre quel qualcuno pronto a riabbracciarti e farti sentire a casa. Per coloro che ti amano davvero NON sarai mai sbagliato. Chi ti ama davvero non pretenderà mai che tu cambi. Le apparenze sono apparenze, quel che conta è ben altro.
L’amore non ha condizioni.
E questo tipo di amore, quello vero, sincero, è la cosa più importante.
Chi ti ama incondizionatamente c’è sempre, e non ha bisogno che tu sia in uno specifico modo per farlo; umano, topo, alto, basso, magro, grasso... lo fa perché sei TU, semplicemente, unico e insostituibile.

È meraviglioso, non trovate ?

E allora chissene importa del resto, chissene importa delle streghe

Such a good book! Anyone can read this fun loving tale about witches, real witches! I really enjoy this book because it is entertaining. It follows the path of a boy who sets out to take out all the witches in the world. I like the bond the boy and his Grandmamma have! This is just a fun fantasy tale, it is especially great to read before Halloween. If you are a Roald Dahl fan, this book is for you!

Things that are cool:

-a cigar-smoking grandma who encourages you to take safe action

-investigating

-solving problems

-witches with accents



Things that are creepy:

-Having to stay a mouse the rest of your life

-Feet without toes

-Pet mice that go missing and are never found

-A boy who is never reunited by his family, or even mouse-trapped

-Talking about dying while in bed with your grandmother


Roald Dahl never worked for me as a kid. I distinctly remember picking up James and the Giant Peach and being singularly unimpressed by visuals or story. I gave this one a shot on strength of 1) Halloween spirit, 2) a friend review, and 3) adding to my witch lore. Alas, it was a no-go.

As an adult, there were a couple of parts that made me laugh, but conceptually, there was too much I didn't care for, and I'm pretty certain the 9 year-old self would have felt similarly, although perhaps for different reasons. Both of us were bothered by the indifference to the fate of the greedy boy who was also turned into a mouse.

As far as reading age, I think it'd be a narrow window. The head witch has an accent, so her extensive dialogue looks like this:

"Silence," shouted The Grand High Witch, raising her hands. "You know perrrfectly vell you must do nothing to drrraw attention to yourselves vhile you are living in the hotel! Let us by all means get rrrid of this eveil-smelling little sqvirt, but vee must do it as qvietly as possible, for are vee not all of us the most rrree-spectable ladies?"

Tricky for younger readers, and probably silly for older ones.

I'm the odd one out, judging by friends' fond recollections. That's okay. I never got into Harriet the Spy either.

Una historia de fantasía para chicos y no tan chicos, sobre las aventuras de una abuela muy peculiar y su nieto, para desbaratar a la Sociedad Secreta de las Brujas.

Las brujas, que odian a los niños y quieren librarse de ellos, están por todos lados, y van disfrazadas de mujeres comunes y corrientes, pero tienen ciertas características con las que pueden ser identificadas:

De pequeña vi la película un millón de veces, la tenía en cinta VHS original, ni siquiera grabada de la tele. Me acuerdo bastante de ella y tengo algunos fotogramas grabadísimos a fuego en la memoria y me sorprende mucho no haber leído el libro antes, pero para todo hay un momento.

He disfrutado muchísimo la lectura, creo que tiene un humor muy particular. La abuela y el niño son encantadores, la descripción de las brujas insuperable.

Es un libro fascinante que pueden disfrutar los adultos al 100%. Además es lo primero que leo de Roald Dahl, porque adaptaciones de sus libros he visto muchas, pero nunca había leído los originales, y me ha encantado la forma de expresarse y de narrar.

Muy recomendable.

Un saludo,
Carol Rodríguez

Cute YA novel by Dahl.

I won't say this is my favorite Dahl, however, but there's something to be said about a hotel convention of witches, a small mousy boy, and the ensuing adventure not to get eaten.

I kinda wish I had read this as a kid, however. I might have been more thrilled by the *then* depiction of witches as compared to the full nuance of witches we get these days... Right, Harry P.?

The Witches and I go way back. We had a stack of Dahl's books and I always wondered what it was about. Then one day in art class, the teacher read a passage from the book describing the Grand High Witch which we were then supposed to draw. It was a fun class for the most part. After drawing the Grand High Witch, I became so curious that I had to read the book. The first read was magical. It's probably the only frightening book that I've been able to read and enjoy. I've read nearly all of Dahl's books and this (followed by The Twits) is my favourite.