Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The Witches, by Roald Dahl

***

Not Dahl's best, but still well worth reading. Gruesome, of course (it is Dahl, after all), and a "happy" ending that is unconventional at best. Still, I enjoyed reading it. And "Grandmamma" is one of the strongest adult characters I remember reading in Dahl (who, as a general rule, does not think too highly of grown-ups). Grandmamma is equal to anything, and knows all sorts of things about what's really important, and doesn't care a bit about less important things that so many other grown ups get bent out of shape about (like baths, for example). He writes her as the ideal grown-up, and I think he succeeds. All in all, definitely not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

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