Classic Review - Boy by Roald Dahl

I don't know how Roald Dahl did it! He made a childhood memoir from the early 20th century suitable for children to read.

Dahl may have grown up privileged but it doesn't mean he didn't suffer. "Boy" is mainly full of the horrible stories of pain that he had to endure throughout his younger years - beatings, surprise operations, loss and homesickness. But, somehow, he has made it light and almost fictional. If I was reading this as a child I probably would have found some of it funny, without the understanding that I have as an adult that these things were real and painful. Don't get me wrong, there are also some lovely memories there of family and, of course, various types of sweets (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory anyone?!)

A lot of the stories really display where he got ideas from for his later publications: terrifying headmasters, Oslo, his grandmother, lolly shops etc. As I was reading along I really enjoyed having little bits flick through my memory of his books and wonder if that was the inspiration. I'm super curious now about his time aboard and his time as a pilot. I might have to pick up the second installation "Going Solo" to find out more.

-@becandthebooks

Classic Review - Treasure Island

One of the best things about the book community is how accepting we are of diverse opinions. Books, like all other art forms, are subjective to the consumer. There is not a single work of art that is universally loved. I’m sure even the Mona Lisa has haters.

So it is with classic books. Here are two diverse opinions of our February 2023 Classic pick - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

2.5 ⭐️
I really wanted to love this book. I love a high sea adventure as much as the next guy, but this was so incredibly hard to connect with. Perhaps it was choosing the audio format rather than reading the physical book, or perhaps it would have been the same no matter how I read it. It just wasn’t for me.

I found the narration was sort of diary like and felt quite dry. The “I went here, he went there, I did this, then he did that” style of writing should have made it easy to follow along and visualise, but instead, I found it hard to focus. There was a lot of action happening and I wanted to be swept away, but I just couldn’t feel anything in it. With all that was going on, I still found myself bored and unable to grip onto the action.

I’m truly disappointed that I didn’t end up liking it as much as I thought I would. I was really excited when I first received it in my Classics Subscription because I hadn’t ever read it - or seen any adaptions, including the Muppets (unpopular opinion, I don’t like the Muppets 😬). I think I’ll put it down to a lack of emotional connection to the story. I’ve seen such good reviews for this one, so I think I’m in the minority.

Better luck next time, Classics!

-@thebookishkimmy (thanks to Kim for the photo above!)

5⭐️

I love a good swash-buckling adventure tale, particularly one that involves dastardly pirates, mutiny, treasure and sword fights.

I first read Treasure Island as a child and also watched the movie. It left an impression on me and I’ve since had a fondness for the morally grey yet lovable character. Long John Silver is all that though I did wish he was described more like Luke Evans. 😜 Who BTW, reads an abbreviated version on Audible. 😁

Listening to the full cast audio version was like a combination of reading and watching it. It was action-packed from the get go and I enjoyed followed young Jim’s adventures. The characterisation is a bit cliche but I feel like this was the book that originated the cliches so that’s excusable.

It helps that it is short and easy to digest for a classic.