Once opon a time a little boy was borned named Roald. No one knew that this boy later would become a world-famous author. Before he grew up he experienced a lot of remarkable things which has played great parts in his life, making him what he is today.
There is the story about the motor car ride where he nearly lost his nose, and the visit to the doctor, who cut out the whole of the middle of his head. Not to forget the great story about "the Golden Mouse Plot". These are some of the many funny, and sometimes unpleasant stories in the book called "Boy" by Roald Dahl. The book is tight-packed with true, vivid descriptions from his childhood, and it’s a pleasure to read as it’s both exiting and funny. The book starts with Roald giving an insight into his life during his adolescene. We are first presented for his parents. His father, Harald Dahl, from Sarpsborg in Norway, got two kids with his first wife Marie, from France. Unfortunately she tragically died after giving birth to their second child. Harald then went to find his new wife, Sofie Hesselberg, in Norway,
There is an event with Harald in the book from his younger days as well. Harald was, after falling off the roof of the family house, sent to a doctor, who was drunk. The drunk doctor managed to mistake a fractured elbow for a discolated shoulder and tried to pull it back into place.
Roald does not write much about his earlier days, when he was attending Kindergarten and so on, as he can’t remember much from that period of his life. He writes more about the time at Llandaaff Cathedral School. Here he writes about "the Great Mouse Plot". Roald used to walk by a sweet-shop every day together with his four friends, this playing a great role in their lifes. The woman who owned it was the woman they hated the most, Mrs. Pratchett. She is described as "an old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and a mouth as sour as a green goosberry",
She always had left-overs all over her blouse, was mean and dirty and picked up the sweets with her grimy hand with black fingernails. The boys thought she was really discusting. This resulted in "the Great Mouse Plot".
One day they went into the shop and slipped a dead mouse in one of the jars. Mrs. Pratchett quickly contacted the school and Roald and the boys got caught. They punishment was caning. When Roald told his mom about the punishment rutines she did not accept it and sent him to an English School instead.
Roald summer holidays in Norway is full of exiting events. In Norway he had an unpleasant experience when visiting the doctor in order to remove his adenoids. His first thought after the operation was that the doctor had removed the whole middle of his head.
On one occasion during the Christmas holidays, Roald was involved in a car accident where he nearly lost his nose. He was thrown through the windscreen, this resulting in his nose hanging on a small tread of skin. He got it sewed back on again by the doctor, thought.
Roald was sent to a boarding school in England when he was nine years old. Here he started writing, as all the pupils had to send a letter home every Sunday. He continued writing letters for the next thirty-two years, until his mother died. At the boarding school Roald had to deal with the terryfing matron, strickt masters and more caning.
The third school Roald attendet was Repton. Here a so-called fag had to do whatever the elder students wanted him to, like warming up the lavatory seat on a cold winter morning. Roald spent two long years at Repton as a fag, having many unpleasant memories from that time. He was really good at games and photography, thought, and this gave him both dignity and respect. Things weren’t so bad after all.
After finishing school Roald was trying to get a job. He got a job in the Shell Company and was later sent to East Afrika. Roald Dahl had now reached 20 years of age. He ends the book with giving clues about a follow-up.
Why I think Roald has succeded so well with this book is that it’s both well written and easy to understand. This makes the book enjoyable for youngsters as well as for grownups. "Boy" is a very engaging book . The characters are vividly described, and the book is filled with funny black and white drawings. This masterpiece is surely one of the best I ever read.