I remember Roald Dahl from my childhood. And I'm pretty confident that if you lined up 5 of your closest friends they could rattle off the name of RD's classics: The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory etc. His writing is ace. I also loved his main illustrator Quentin Blake. Champion. Before I read Going Solo, i didn't know much about the man behind the stories. I didn't know about his wartime experiences and how he got shot down over the Libyan desert. I didn't know about his time in Africa. I didn't know he was absolutely scared shitless of snakes. He really did have an amazing life.
Going Solo is one of the best books I've read in recent times. I can see why it's a penguin classic. His writing is personable, honest and warm. Not surprisingly, he is an experienced and confident storyteller.
One of my favourite bits in the book is towards the end. Whilst waiting for the Germans to attack his fleet in Greece, Dahl and his mate, David, go out in search of food. They end up purchasing a bucket of olives and two bottles of retsina wine from the locals. "Well here we are", David said, "sitting in the sun and drinking pine juice and what a terrific cock up it all is."
Love it. Go out and purchase Going Solo right now!
No comments:
Post a Comment