Matilda
by Roald Dahl
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Book Summary Information
Author: Roald DahlBrand: Puffin Books
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-16
ISBN: 0142410373
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Puffin
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780142410370
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Matilda
Book Review: "That is the Trunchball's Great Secret..."
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the last novels written before Roald Dahl's death, "Matilda" reads almost like a goodbye, with a thank-you to all the authors that have touched Dahl during his lifetime - the text even includes a reading list of books recommended to Matilda - and through her, to the reader. And Matilda herself, despite being female, could very well be a reflection of Dahl himself as a child: a precocious bookworm with a fascination with words, people and places. As such, "Matilda" holds a special place in the canon of Dahl's literature for children, and Matilda herself is one of those shining characters that you simply wish was a real person and your friend. It is a rare thing indeed for an author to not only create a character who has practically no faults, and yet never becomes a goody-two-shoes or implausibly perfect, but to give her a remarkable gift (in this case, her hyper-intelligence) and make it seem less important than her goodness, her loyalty, her sense of justice and her love of learning.
Matilda Wormwood is born to two rather awful parents who have no interest whatsoever in their young daughter, instead pouring all their attention into their work, (for Mr Woodworm) bingo, (for Mrs Wormwood) and occasionally their first-born son Michael. However, they are mean-spirited enough to take umbridge at the sight of Matilda indulging her great love for reading. To get back at them (and to keep her own sanity) Matilda engages in a series of practical jokes every time her parents are beastly or dishonest - which happens on a rather regular basis.
But all of that changes when she starts school and Matilda meets the two most important women in her life: the lovely Miss Honey and the terrible Miss Trunchball. The gentle and timid Miss Jennifer Honey is Matilda's adored teacher, whereas Miss Trunchball is the Headmistress of Crunchem Hall Primary who terrifies student and teacher alike. Miss Trunchball may be a rather unfortunate stereotype of a butch, unattractive, athletic woman, but as an incarnation of psychotic feminine rage, she comes second only to Lewis Carroll's Queen of Hearts. More a force of nature than an actual person, she's sure to send a shudder down any child's spine - however bad your teacher is, you can be sure she's not *this* bad!
It soon becomes clear that the students of the school are waging a war against Miss Trunchball, one that Matilda is all-too-keen to become a part of when she realizes that there is a mysterious link between her beloved Miss Honey and the tyrannical Trunchball. And it just so happens that around this time, Matilda finds that she has a remarkable ability: to move things with her mind. Being a moralistic girl as well as an intelligent one, she soon realizes that she now has the perfect tool with which to restore Miss Honey to her former fortune and deliver Miss Trunchball her just desserts.
The text is full of allusions to other books and stories, making it a remarkably rich read for a children's book (and will hopefully get young readers interested in other books - as I'm sure was Dahl's intention) and of course includes plenty of Dahl's trademark love for the grotesque and macabre, components that have always made him controversial in the adult community, and beloved in the child's world. But even more in "Matilda", there is a sense of the spiritual and the sublime - Matilda's emerging powers seem to not only stem from her intelligence, but from her great spirit as well, particularly when she describes her powers as feeling like: "flying past the stars on silver wings." With justice served in the guise of a tiny five year old (captured perfectly in the illustrations by long-time Dahl collaborator Quentin Blake), and an ending that manages to be both happy and bittersweet, "Matilda" is a must for any children's bookshelf.
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