Wednesday, March 16, 2011

144. CHARLIE and the CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Roald Dahl 1964
Illustrated by Quentin Blake

A marvelous and endearing story that is a must read for all!! When good little Charlie and four other children: greedy Augustus Gloop, spoiled Veruca Salt, gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde and television addict Mike Teavee win the golden tickets to tour the mysterious chocolate factory, we share in the absolute delight and suspense of discovering the wonderful and delicious, mouth-watering world of Mr. Wonka and his music-loving Oompa-Loompas. 

'These two very old people are the father and mother of Mr. Bucket. Their names are Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine.(opening lines)

'Every one of these old people was over ninety. They were as shriveled as prunes, and bony as skeletons, and throughout the day, until Charlie made his appearance, they lay huddled in their one bed, two at either end, with nightcaps on to keep their heads warm, dozing the time away with nothing to do...  For they loved this little boy. He was the only bright thing in their lives, and his evening visits were something that they looked forward to all day long. Often, Charlie's mother and father would come in as well, and stand by the door, listening to the stories that the old people told; and thus, for perhaps half an hour every night, this room would become a happy place, and the whole family would forget that it was hungry and poor.'(8)

"Mr. Wonka can make marshmallows that taste of violets, and rich caramels that change every ten seconds as you suck them, and little feathery sweets that melt away deliciously the moment you put them between your lips. He can make chewing gum that never loses its taste, and candy balloons that you can blow up to enormous sizes before you pop them with a pin and gobble them up. And by a most secret method, he can make lovely birds' eggs with black spots on them, and when you put one of these in your mouth, it gradually gets smaller and smaller until suddenly there is nothing left except a tiny little pink sugary baby bird sitting on the tip of your tongue.'(11-12)

'To tell you the honest truth, I simply wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't have a little wedge of gum to chew on every moment of the day, I really wouldn't. My mother says it's not ladylike and it looks ugly to see a girl's jaws going up and down like mine do all the time, but I don't agree. And who's she to criticize, anyway, because if you ask me, I'd say that her jaws are going up and down almost as much as mine are just from yelling at me every minute of the day."(31)

'There is something about very cold weather that gives one an enormous appetite. Most of us find ourselves beginning to crave rich steaming stews and hot apple pies and all kinds of delicious warming dishes; and because we are all a great deal luckier than we realize, we usually get what we want -- or near enough.'(37)

'He threw up his arms and yelled "Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" And at the same time, his long bony body rose up out of the bed and his bowl of soup went flying into the face of Grandma Josephine, and in one fantastic leap, this old fellow of ninety-six and a half, who hadn't been out of bed these last twenty years, jumped on to the floor and started doing a dance of victory in his pajamas.'(48-49)

'There!" cried Mr. Wonka, dancing up and down and pointing his gold-topped cane at the great brown river. "It's all chocolate! Every drop of that river is hot melted chocolate of the finest quality. The very finest quality. There's enough chocolate in there to fill every bathtub in the entire country! And all the swimming pools as well! Isn't it terrific? And look at my pipes! They suck up the chocolate and carry it away to all the other rooms in the factory where it is needed. Thousands of gallons an hour, my dear children! Thousands and thousands of gallons!"'(64)

'A steamy mist was rising up now from the great warm chocolate river, and out of the mist there appeared suddenly a most fantastic pink boat. It was a large open rowboat with a tall front and a tall back (like a Viking boat of old), and it was of such a shining sparkling glistening pink color that the whole thing looked as though it were made of bright, pink glass. There were many oars on either side of it, and as the boat came closer, the watchers on the riverbank could see that the oars were being pulled by masses of Oompa-Loompas -- at least ten of them to each oar.'(81)

"They're completely new! I am inventing them for children who are given very little pocket money. You can put an Everlasting Gobstopper in your mouth and you can suck it and suck it and suck it and suck it and it will never get any smaller!"(89-90)

'For though she's spoiled, and dreadfully so,
A girl can't spoil herself, you know.
Who spoiled her, then? Ah, who indeed?
Who pandered to her every need?
Who turned her into such a brat? 
Who are the culprits? Who did that?'(117-118)

'So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
a lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks --
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.'(141)

a Puffin Book
155 pages
Book owned
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge
___________________________

No comments:

Post a Comment