1916 - 1990… Without a doubt we meet a very special guy. In charge of composing, practically from the shadows, part of the imagination of many generations of children and adolescents from around the world. Say some like Walt Disney take fame while others like Roald Dahl cardan wool.
Because Dahl is responsible for characters like the Gremlins, or Matilda, and of course Charlie in a fanciful chocolate factory.. A creation, the latter projected from the author's own work in a chocolate factory. Something that in my case reminds me of a distant school visit to the Lacasa chocolate factory in Zaragoza, where nougats and lacasitos come out from enormous chocolate warehouses.
The point is that this authorship of glorious imaginaries for childhood brings him closer to another great one as he was. Michael Ende. Because over the years, Roald Dahl and his Willy Wonka have become major words in their different cinematographic recreations. From Gene Wilder in 1971 to Johnny Deep in 2005 or Timothée Chalamet in 2023.
Although, to compare, another Dahl tune, this time with Antoine de Saint Exupery It also has its own. Both were pilots in the air forces of their respective countries. And yet, the two exploited their literary vein towards the childish, perhaps sublimating that war performance soaring through the skies of half the world.
But beyond coincidences and references, it is clear that on many occasions for all these authors, it was about cinema, its translation from literature to a complete universalization of the characters, which achieved that generational mark that went from children to others for decades.
But it is fair to recognize that his are the characters and the stories. And that from his imagination ended up assaulting ours. And that, without a doubt, the reading of the works is always infinitely more enriching than the largest of the screens.
Although the Dahl bibliography It basically focuses on children's or youth genres, it also jumped into narrative for adults with some novels and stories of varied inspiration, as interesting as they are far from youth themes, which demonstrates the versatility of every good author. And here it is always about discovering new facets…
Roald Dahl's Top 3 Recommended Novels
My uncle oswald
To this day, at times, this humorous story approaches that fearsome frontier of the politically incorrect. And the matter is strange if what it is about is to move towards a world with basic freedoms, such as freedom of expression, assured at all levels.
But freed from any burden of censorship, discovering this story is enjoying in abundance amid laughter, bewilderment and that tragicomic point that ends up slipping into every life of a rogue who "only" intends to exploit his virtues to profit in a world that certainly would have. apart if not for his wits to earn a living.
Uncle Oswald's hedonistic, erotic, revelry, scoundrel takes us through a path that makes its way through the deception of the most powerful, capable of paying millions for remedies for their trivial ills that sound like a mockery for the rest of us mortals. So this selfish Robin Hood ends up winning our hearts from that perspective that whoever steals from a thief has 100 years of forgiveness.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Without a doubt I am not completely objective when adding this work to the ranking. The Tim Burton and Johnny Deep movie conquered me even after reading the book. Something that is not common for me or almost any reader.
In the fantastic and crazy chocolate factory we find an interesting story with a final moral, the kind that every boy and less boy should read as a reminder of values.
The poor boy in this story is undoubtedly the most gifted to visit the chocolate factory. In the rest of the participants we found a scathing criticism of the upper classes and their capricious interests, their fickle wills, their inability to show empathy or to take advantage of those details of true happiness.
A novel about an initiatory journey towards the remains of humanity, those that end up transcending from the sweetness of life as a bitter taste that, for those who are not used to savoring it, will lead to the most unexpected defeat ...
Complete stories
To approach Dahl's storytelling task is to delve into that value of the story as a reading duality. Perfect for children and sprinkled with those fabulous allegorical jewels that make us adults return to being children to rediscover that innocence from which to extract relearning and empathy.
In this volume you can find «Gastronomers» «The great change» «Vengeance is mine» ... and in each one of them we travel to those distant settings in which we have no choice but to enjoy the landscape from the eyes of each character.
The author's imagination will be in charge of tuning us towards the ultimate goal of each story, towards that transcendent aspect that ends up standing out from the interaction of some surprising protagonists in their reflection with our real world.
Other recommended books by Roald Dahl
wonka
To Caesar what is Caesar's and to Roald Dahl. If Wonka was his invention, this book corresponds to his style. Even more so because of the fidelity with which the story abounds, in the prequel that every legend ends up composing new universes...
Before Charlie, and before the chocolate factory, there was a story full of ingenuity and imagination...
The best things in life begin with a dream. And since he was a child, Willy Wonka had imagined being able to create his own chocolate and share it with the whole world.
When he was young, he came to the famous Gourmet Galleries, ready to change everything with each bite of their delicious sweets. But a trio of jealous chocolatiers tricked him and sentenced him to work in a laundry for life.
With a little luck and a lot of magic, in addition to the help of his friends, he will achieve his dream. Because, when you're Willy Wonka, anything is possible.
This delicious story about dreams, friendship and chocolate is based on the film Wonka, directed by Paul King, who created the story and wrote the script with Simon Farnaby. Bestselling author Sibéal Pounder has adapted the story into this novel.
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