📕 Read pages 138-162 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📕 Read pages 138-162 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (finished)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Mike is sent by television.

I was a bit disappointed by the title of the final chapter which gives things away paragraphs earlier than it should have. It makes the build up to the big reveal a bit less than lackluster.

The 70’s version of the film has a stronger finish than the novel by showing Charlie’s nobility. In particular it was even better given the overall morals put forth by the book.

I find myself thinking about how solidly this book still stands today. I suspect that a slightly more modern retelling would replace gum chewing with the moral ills of using social media.

📖 Read pages 116-138 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 116-138 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

One has to love Veruca in the nut room. This is one of the substantive changes from the movie which opted for a similar narrative, but apparently gooses were easier to film than squirrels.

I think I preferred the squirrels and the way this plays out in the novel. In particular, the fact that the parents get thrown down the trash chute as well (and the reason why) are fantastic!

What a great morality play.

📖 Read pages 100-115 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 100-115 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

His storytelling style is truly delicious. His sentence structure creates quite a bit of surprise, even when you know what’s coming.

📖 Read pages 86-100 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 86-100 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

The trip down the river is very close in its dialogue to the version in the original 1974 movie version.

📖 Read pages 73-86 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 73-86 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

We get the story of the Oompa-Loompas and Augustus goes up the pipe. Parables about benign exploitation and colonialization followed by a short tale of gluttony.

📖 Read pages 58-73 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 58-73 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

The big day finally arrives and the children enter the chocolate factory with Mr. Willy Wonka. We see the chocolate waterfall and river and see the first Oompa-Loompas.

I’m not quite sure how Mr. Wonka (and interestingly he’s always called Mr.), managed to get sunlight down into his underground chocolate room–I’m presuming all the edible plants grow somehow.

 

📖 Read pages 40-58 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 40-58 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

 

Circumstances for our poor hero Charlie become far more desperate before they begin to turn for the better.

Except that we’ve just read how horrifically poor and physically starving the family was, I’m surprised that he took two candy bars. Though I suspect his family would easily have given him the who dollar’s worth of food.

📖 Read pages 32-40 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 32-40 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

I suspect at the time this was written many of these horrid children were hyperbole. It now seems like people accidentally read this as a model for how children should be and they totally missed the fact that Charlie was the hero.

Donald Trump was 18 years old when this book was released. Sadly, I strongly suspect he never read or benefited from it.

📖 Read pages 18-32 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📖 Read pages 18-32 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

I love how delicate, yet emotive Joseph Schindelman’s illustrations are in this edition.

I’m trying to stop reading after short sections at points which might be mini-cliffhangers.

I’m so used to watching the Gene Wilder version of the movie the book version is quite refreshing in comparison.

📗 Read pages 1-18 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

📗 Read pages 1-18 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

I managed to pick up a revised hardcover copy (1973) of this classic from 1964 and thought I’d give it another read.