These are my reviews of Matilda and the BFG. I don’t have too much to say about these books. It’s a while since I
read Matilda, as well, so this is a bit… well it’s something. I did say I’d
review all the books I read though, so there we go.
Matilda
Matilda was one of my favourite books as a child. I loved it, so much.
It’s about a young girl named Matilda who is extremely intelligent and
precocious. She comes from a family where her intellect is seen as important or
needful. Her father thinks he’s a genius, her mother ignores her, and they both
love her brother more. She starts school under the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull.
Matilda decides to kick some ass and right some wrongs.
Thoughts
I loved this book when I was little, and it totally holds up. Also,
because Mara Wilson was in the movie I imagined her as Matilda, which is nice.
It was a lot darker than I remembered. I mean I remembered pretty much
everything that happened, but I was like… eight, so I don’t think I took it all
in. Basically when her father misbehaves she literally just decides to punish
him to teach him a lesson. For instance she puts her mother’s peroxide bleach
stuff in her father’s hair gel so his hair changes colour and also falls out.
She also glues his hat to his head so they have to cut it off, hair and all.
This is also her tactic with the principal, who don’t get me wrong, is a
psychopath, but Matilda’s behaviour is a bit creepy. I would like to say I
support her, and she’s entirely justified, and I realize that it’s to show a
kid getting back at authority figures when she has little to no power. It’s
just a bit creepy. What if she decides this is how she’ll raise her children?
This is how you can tell I’m not a child anymore.
I love the way it looked at how children are powerless to strike back
when their authority figures, parents, teachers, so on, are cruel to them. They
have very little recourse, especially when no other grown-ups will stand up for
them, and the only way Matilda finds to fight back is to develop telekinesis
and threaten her principal with a crime she might have committed. It’s also
great to see children fighting back.
I love that Matilda is bookish, I love that she’s nerdy, and a bit
awkward, and weird. I was very bookish and nerdy. I say was. I am bookish and nerdy.
Anyway. I loved Matilda, it’s amazing. Roald Dahl is a genius. He writes
beautifully for children. I feel like he really knows children and how to write
for them.
The BFG
Onto the BFG. This was also a favourite of mine when I was a kid. I was
a huge Roald Dahl fan. I should read more. Anyway. This is about Sophie, who
can’t sleep one night, because moonlight. She sneaks up to the window, looks
out quickly, and sees a giant. He sees her too, and therefore has to take her
away. She is told that she now has to live with him because she knows about
giants. She learns about the other giants who like to eat humans and with the
BFG she devises a plan to stop them.
Thoughts
I love the BFG, it’s great.
I think that when I was a kid I felt like it told a story that lasted
for weeks, and actually it only lasts like three days. A lot of things happens
in that time, it’s packed with action.
I loved how philosophical it was. The BFG explains to Sophie what the
other giants are doing and when she categorically writes them off as cruel and
disgusting he challenges her notions and suggests she sees it from different
perspectives, and how are giants so different from people. While he completely
disagrees with what the man-eating giants are doing he launches quite a lot of
interesting philosophical ideas.
I liked how the BFG spoke. He sort of moves his words around and jumbles
his letters, and it’s really cool. I don’t know why I enjoy it so much, I just
do.
I also really like this fairy tale aspect, other than the fact that
there’s a giant. Essentially Sophie decides that the best way to stop the
giants is to go to the Queen of England, because she would know how to fix it.
I like the faith she has in the Queen. Obviously the faith is well placed,
because it’s a fairy tale, but I just really love that she sees a huge problem,
and thinks; the queen will know.
I love the humour of the RAF soldiers who are sent out to capture the
giants. And I love that while he makes the queen a sort of hero Roald Dahl also
makes fun of authority figures by making the head of the RAF and the head of
the army into pompous, weird, cowards. Roald Dahl is great.
Finally
I love Roald Dahl. I thought both books were lovely, funny, and they
were delightful. And so much sentimental joy. I’ll need more Roald Dahl.
Matilda was one of my favourite books as a child. I loved it, so much.
It’s about a young girl named Matilda who is extremely intelligent and
precocious. She comes from a family where her intellect is seen as important or
needful. Her father thinks he’s a genius, her mother ignores her, and they both
love her brother more. She starts school under the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull.
Matilda decides to kick some ass and right some wrongs. 
Onto the BFG. This was also a favourite of mine when I was a kid. I was
a huge Roald Dahl fan. I should read more. Anyway. This is about Sophie, who
can’t sleep one night, because moonlight. She sneaks up to the window, looks
out quickly, and sees a giant. He sees her too, and therefore has to take her
away. She is told that she now has to live with him because she knows about
giants. She learns about the other giants who like to eat humans and with the
BFG she devises a plan to stop them.