The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl-Early Life

This biography is enormous. The book is roughly the size and length of a textbook. But it is way more interesting. I am on page 137 of it right now, which delves into Dahl's early life, and it is fascinating. One quote from the novel, on page 40, is "His seductive voice, the subversive twinkle in his eye, and his sense of the comic and curious gave him an ability to mesmerize almost every child who crossed his path-yet he could also remember and reimagine his own childhood with astonishing sharpness" (Sturrock 40). I agree 100% with the author's opinion. Roald Dahl was a master storyteller, whose, quote, main goal was "...to please children. I don't care about adults." Reading this biography, the author points out that all the heroes in Dahl'sn novels are children. Dahl's childhood was quite difficult. He spent his young years going to harsh boarding schools that, on the outside, looked "charming" and "seemed to care about their children." But in the school, there were poor living conditions, condescending upperclassmen, and most terrifying of all, harsh headmasters who gave brutal whippings to boys for no reason at all. Dahl had to live constantly in fear from when he was seven to 17 years old. This, I believe, is the main reason why all the main characters of his children books are children and adults are the antagonists. Dahl was brought up feeling powerless and weak against adults, and his books when he was much older were his way to retaliate.

This has been a great novel so far and I will continue reading it until the end.