It doesn't really matter how much I like it. The truth is, it's got some problems because it's so old.

Review to come.

I read all of Dahl's books when my children were young. Great author and interesting books.

اولین کتاب امسالم "پسر" نوشته روالد دال بود و انتخاب این عنوان بنا بر یک سنت کتابخوانی شخصی هستش که برای خودم درست کردم. و اون این هستش که اولین کتاب سال رو با یک عنوان رده‌ی سنی کودک و نوجوان شروع می‌کنم و البته انتخابم از یکی از آثار روالد دال هستش، یکی از بهترین نویسندگان کودک که من بشدت بهش علاقه دارم.
"پسر" یک اتوبیوگرافی هستش که دال در اون خاطراتی از دوران کودکیش رو روایت می کنه و ما رو به اوایل قرن بیستم می بره و با زبان طنزِ تلخ و گزنده‌اش از کیفیت آموزش و تعلیم و تربیت اون موقع‌ها بشدت انتقاد می‌کنه و این خط فکری همیشگی دال تو آثار دیگه‌اش هم کاملا مشهوده. بزرگترهایی غول مانند و خشن و تلخ و بچه‌هایی معصوم و گیج از این نوع رفتار بزرگترها. وقتی دال درباره تنبیه بدنی‌ای که در مدارس مرسوم بوده صحبت می‌کنه چقدر برای من که در نظام قدیم آموزش دیدم، آشنا و دردناک هستش و خیلی دوست دارم بدونم اون آدم‌های احمقی که چنین تاثیرات مخربی رو در روح و روان بچه‌ها به وجود اوردن چطور می‌خوان از خودشون دفاع کنند. هر چند در دوره‌ای که خشونت کاملا توجیه شده است این حرف‌ها محلی از اِعراب نداره.
روال دال شیرین می‌نویسه و هرچند این روکش شیرین درونش یه شکلاتِ تلخِ ۹۰ درصد هستش.

پ.ن. با اینکه امسال رو سال وحشتناکی پیش‌بینی می‌کنم اما خوشحالم حداقل با "پسر" شروعش کردم.

Теплі і зворушливі мемуари, де навіть регулярні побиття палицею описано кумедно і нестрашно. Далю дуже пощастило з родиною, його мама явно належала до тих неймовірних жінок, які гори звертають для своїх дітей.
Мало знала про його персоналію, і книгу до рук взяла (після 7 років на полиці) за рекомендацією коліжанки по книжковому клубу, та ні про що не шкодую. Наче подорожник до душі доклала.

П.С дещо спільне з долею Романа Гарі, стосовно мами теж

(Deciding to re-read this book was inspired by the wonderful ladies at Gathering Books and their fantastic bimonthly meme‘Everything Dahl and Magical’. Which I absolutely adore. )


n  “When writing about oneself, one must strive to be truthful. Truth is more important than modesty. I must tell you, therefore, that it was I and I alone who had the idea for the great and daring Mouse Plot. We all have our moments of brilliance and glory, and this was mine.”n

I first read this glorious memoir aged twelve when I had to do a project in history on a historical person of my choice.
I went to Staples, giddy as a kipper, and bought about five piles of coloured sugar paper and two packets of gel pens (the smelly glitter ones, of course) and set about completing possibly my favourite piece of homework.
I was minding my own business in the classroom, armed with a Pritt Stick and a copy of every one of his book, when this absolute… so and so… in my class said ‘Roald Dahl? Historical? I don’t think so. You should have chosen a monarch or something. You’re going to get a rubbish mark.”
Because I was a shy and retiring wallflower back then, I muttered something under my breath and glared at her from underneath my unfortunate fringe.
BUT, if she had said that to me today I would have found a desk,  stood on it and, with my chest puffed out, I would have declared: “Roald Dahl is a historical figure because if Roald Dahl hadn’t written his books then British children’s fiction… nay, British fiction would have been far too bleak to tolerate. He captured the imagination of so many children and wrote timeless stories that encouraged, and continue to encourage, children who would never normally pick up a book to do just that. And if making generation after generation fall in love with his writing doesn’t qualify him as a historical person then I don’t know what does.”
But… like I said.
Mumble. Glare. Unfortunate fringe.
Anyway, I got my project back (and I still have it!) and my wonderful history teacher wrote: “Fantastic and original work here. You really did justice to a wonderful figure in British culture. 10 credits”
10 credits? Fantastic and original. YEAH.
Anyway... back to the book.
I loved how Dahl only briefly mentions the stories that he is known for once. It is only right near the end where he is describing how Cadbury’s World (Which is just like Charlie's Chocolate Factory by the way!) used to send the boys of his boarding school sample chocolate to taste and how this lead to him writing Charlie and his adventures.
So whenever it was mentioned that his grandfather was nearly seven foot tall or how the young boy used to wonder how gobstoppers worked, you can’t help but feel that Dahl is giving you a knowing wink or whispering a secret that only the two of you are privy to.
Witnessing these glimmers of inspiration that lead him to write his beloved stories, all those years later, was definitely my favourite thing about this book.
Mrs Pratchett with her blouse covered in “toast-crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk” and hands that “looked as though they have been putting lumps of coal on the fire all day long.”
Remind you of any one?



Or the Matron, that “large fair-haired woman with a bosom” who “ruled with a rod of steel.”




And Dahl’s Bestemama with her perpetual chair rocking or Bestepapa, who sits “saying very little and totally overwhelmed.”

Paired with photographs, hand-written letters home and, of course, Quentin Blake’s glorious illustrations (My favourite one being the bug-eyed, twitching Captain Hardcastle), Boy is still one of my all-time favourites.

I could quite happily fill this review with quotes.... but I'll just leave you with this one...

n  “Anaesthetics and pain-killing injections were not much used in those days. Dentists, in particular, never bothered with them. But I doubt very much if you would be entirely happy today if a doctor threw a towel in your face and jumped on you with a knife.”
n


You can find this review and lots of other exciting things on my blog here.

Όπως χαρακτηριστικά αναφέρει ο Νταλ στον πρόλογο του βιβλίου (1984), δεν έγραψε μια αυτοβιογραφία, αλλά ένα μυθιστόρημα που αποτελείται από αναμνήσεις, τις οποίες ανέσυρε από το υποσυνείδητό του. Οι αναμνήσεις αυτές ξεκινούν από την ηλικία των 6 χρόνων και καταλήγουν στη ηλικία των 20 χρόνων, το 1936.

Ο αναγνώστης θα γελάσει, θα συγκινηθεί και θα απορήσει με τις τρομερές περιπέτειες του συγγραφέα, οι οποίες ξεκινούν με τον θάνατο του πατέρα του, μόλις 57 ετών, συνεχίζονται με την επιβολή σκληρών μεθόδων διαπαιδαγώγησης στα βρετανικά σχολεία και κολλέγια, ενώ, ταυτόχρονα, εντυπωσιάζουν η εποικοδομητική σχέση του Νταλ με τη μητέρα του και το περιπετειώδες ένστικτό του.

Ο τίτλος του βιβλίου προέρχεται από τον τρόπο με τον οποίο ολοκλήρωνε τα πολυάριθμα γράμματά του προς τη μητέρα του (δεν έγραφε το όνομά του, αλλά τη λέξη 'Boy').

Ένα από τα πιο πρωτότυπα βιβλία του Νταλ, όπου αντικατοπτρίζεται ένα μεγάλο μέρος της ευρωπαϊκής κουλτούρας της δεκαετίας του '20 και του '30.

Βαθμολογία: 4,3/5 ή 8,6/10.

I am very fond of reading books about children’s bitter experiences. Perhaps I believe in American psychologist, Erik Fromm’s belief that “ to understand children, we, adults, try to think like a child again.”Unfortunately, not all adults are aware of this fact. That’s why the main purpose of literature is to educate people about life, basically about children life. I have read some books about children. I can hardly ever forget Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt ( 5 stars ), The Butcher’s Boy by Patrick McCabe ( 3 stars ), Torey Hayden’s books such as The Innocent Child and its sequel The Tiger’s Child ( I was so generous to fault to give both 5 stars at that time when I was not yet critical on Good Reads. ) I also cried over the classical books such as Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. Even Beloved by Toni Morrison, one of my favorite fictional writers , punched my chest although the character is a young teen-ager gives eerie feelings. For local books, one is the Connecting the Dots by Gojo Cruz ( 5 stars ) which author swept me off my feet. ( laughs ) Such books are awash in the same theme: human cruelty in children, perhaps, out of ignorance.

This book of Road Dahl is one of the books above. This may be intended to make readers laugh. Of course, I did. However, the real highlight of this , even Dahl admitted it at the end of the story, is his miserable experiences as a student in the hands of his school head masters, teachers, and matrons. ( or you’d rather I put it bluntly , under the rotten educational system in Britain at that time ) Dahl narrated how he was such a poor innocent child . He was an archetype of educational upbringing. He had been beaten many times. So had his classmates. He had been humiliated and treated unfairly. So had his classmates. Admittedly, I abandoned myself to his said stories. If I had been his classmate at that time, I would have been so defiant that I could have been booted out. ( laughs ) So , the title of this book fits all the stories- Boys: Tales of Childhood.


I always want to be an active advocate for children’s rights, particularly for their education. Like Dahl, I was also a victim of wrong education from teachers who may have been ignorant of child psychology. As a teacher now , I believe in teaching students based on their individualism.

The good thing about this is that Road Dahl was still able to make us laugh despite those harboring ill-feelings. He was like a friend I have just made, sharing his ala Thomas-Sawyer stories. The atmosphere he built was so amiable that I felt sympathy for him. In addition, reading it was so easy unlike the other autobiographies or novels about children which require higher level of thinking. He narrated his stories age by age and every sentence is well-written. Since it is a children book, I hope young readers take precious lessons from it. And I do not think that it should be banned from the hands of young readers just like of what happened to his Charllie and the Chocolate Factory which received negative criticism. Duty on their distorted realities! ^^

Road Dahl said in his preface that an autobiography for him is full of all sorts of boring details. If I take him for his words, what he meant to say I believe is like what the famous American writer, William Arthur Ward, said:

“The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of like is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give.”

Yippee! ^^
t

Today after an hour of sleepy studying I was hovering around the school library when I saw this Roald Daul book on a shelf and grabbed it. A few paragraphs and "that's it!" The librarian was watching me with a big funny smile on her face so I had no other way but to walk toward her like a real senior studying for university entrance test and try not to think that almost every book I pick up in the school library is a children's book. :-"
I know this is not a review! What's the point in writing one?! Honestly!

Well, I'm kind of attached to "Boy".
You can feel the sincerity in every phrase. [I'm actually reading a Persian translation; but believe me, it's just as great.]

+Reading the last few pages, avoiding the fifth star is considered as a crime!

+It was AMAZING.

Readers, hop on the train that journeys through the beautiful countryside, where you would find yourself easily immersed, rejoicing in the lush greenery, cotton-like clouds, the bluest of skies—breathtaking picturesque views drawn into a satisfying blur by Mr. Dahl. This book has that dreamy feeling. And yes, this is an autobiography.

Boy is a memoir of childhood, where the memories that stand out vividly in the writer’s mind are narrated, in parts. The memories stand out like geometric patterns juxtaposed together, not continuously linked but interconnected, all arranged in sequence and symmetry. Reminiscing what probably is the fondest part of human life, Mr. Dahl depicts the misfortunes and delights in great detail, everything pigmented in the brightest of colors.

The book transported me to my own childhood. Or perhaps, it was my own time in boarding school (which functioned in a very Victorian way) that made me relate with the book even better-the fear of the Matron, who had no choice but to be strict; the habit of writing letters, but writing only good things about the school because the teachers read it; the joy of receiving one, especially when parents had sent some goodies from home; the bonds and lessons from boarding school that we carried for life!

Each book I read by Roald Dahl just labels him more strongly as one of the greatest storytellers I have known. He takes you through his memories in an interesting yet succinct way, which is admirable as this is a genre where it is very easy for the writer to fall into the trap of over describing his or her life, merely out of attachment. Mr. Dahl really knows the art of keeping it short (and sweet), and has somehow managed to figure out that point in the curve of marginal utility where utility (and therefore the happiness) seems to have maximized.

There is never a dull moment in the book. Mr. Dahl captures the beauty and essence of childhood-simplicity. innocence and curiosity, all in rose tones, not because he doesn’t mention bitter memories but mostly because he keeps you distant from the experience. It seems as though you are watching them from a thick glass pane, clear enough for a lucid view but shielded enough not to feel the brunt of it. It is also delightful to know how some of the much-loved characters from his future bestsellers are inspired from his childhood. And it is really inspiring to know how he retained much of the imaginative prowess, enthusiasm and curiosity from his boy days.

I picked this book on a friend’s (repeated) recommendation, and am glad that I did so. Thank you, Mr. Dahl, for reminding me of the part of my childhood that stays in locked in the treasure chest in the corner of my mind. And thank you, for all your splendid work, that time and again reminds me why I love reading so much!

Funny and moving account of a 1920s chlidhood in Wales, England and Norway, written by a master storyteller.

Absolutely charming stories about Dahl's family and his early school days. As he says, it's not actually an autobiography, but its the bits and pieces he remembers. And you can see how those memories informed his books, and how his intelligent, close knit and fantastical family inspired him as well. Complete with illustrations and snippets of his letters home as well.

4.5 rounded up

I forgot how much fun it is to read Dahl. This memoir is no exception, focusing on his childhood in Cardiff and at boarding school(s) up until he joins Shell after leaving school and moves to Kenya. The illustrations and snippets from letters he sent his mother were fun additions too. Recommended!