Book #11
The BFG by Roald Dahl
The well-loved story of a big friendly giant who spirits a child out of bed to the land of the child-eating giants.
This is another firm favourite of mine; it's so adorable that I believe it has the ability to warm even the coldest of hearts.
Dahl's creativity clearly knows no bounds. Although he is incredibly fantastical in his writing, he writes with a respect for his target audience and never condescends to them. This is his appeal to his target age group. He gives us this charming giant who catches dreams and blows the best ones into children’s windows at night. An orphan called Sophie looks out her window and sees him, so he plucks her out of bed and carries her off to Giant Country! The then proceed to build a wonderful friendship, and begin a very big adventure.
The BFG's patter is my favourite part of this novel. The way he talks is astoundingly funny, describing nightmares as "trogglehumpers" and telling Sophie she is talking "flushbunking rubbish," which is one I might actually try to incorporate into daily conversation. I feel Dahl really surpassed himself in wordplay here, my favourite part being the BFG referring to Charles Dickens as Dahl's Chickens.
There is a subtle lesson slipped in towards the beginning of the book, with the BFG explaining that giants don't kill other giants, and in fact humans are the only species who kill one another. Although I am sure there may be some exceptions to this rule, I liked the message that Dahl was trying to put across.
I love this one almost as much as Matilda. It's a wonderful quick read, it's heart-warming, it's adorable, and it's definitely one for everyone - especially (as I said above) for people with the coldest of hearts.