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The BFG
Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast.
When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!
When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!
199 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1982
About the author
Roald Dahl
1,459 books24.8k followersRoald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors.
Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as A Piece of Cake. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel.
His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach.
He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story "The Landlady"; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin".
Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as A Piece of Cake. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel.
His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach.
He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story "The Landlady"; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin".
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July 7, 2018
Do you know what the BFG stood for before his publisher told him he had to think of other words for the acronym? Dahl wasn't joking either, not at all. This story is of a man's interest in a prepubescent girl. The first thing he does is enter her bedroom in the middle of the night, blow "dust" over her and kidnap her. Taking her away from the orphanage she lives in to the land of the extremely unfriendly giants who, in the original draft forced the little girl to look at their giant 'clubs'. But the BFG's different, he's friendly.... It all ends with the little girl giving the BFG kisses and living next door to him and everyone is very happy. Dahl sees himself as the BFG giving Sophie, children, a new way to think, different from human adults, who don't even believe in giants.
It is an inventive story without doubt, and all fairy stories require you to absolutely suspend disbelief. Lots of them include sexual and violent elements which children either don't notice (sexual) or thoroughly enjoy (violent). When Disney gets hold of them, they lose both and become the anodyne Barbie-doll princesses (cue violins-in-the-background) we are used to. In that tradition, the BFG succeeds.
In the mid-to-late 20thC there was less emphasis on paedophilia than there is now, and I wonder if this book could have been written at all in the 21stC. Ironically, this book is banned in some educational districts in the US for 'teaching poor moral values' and cannibalism. Ridiculous. Children laugh at those sort of things. I don't believe in banning books, but Dahl was an unpleasant character and it is wilful blindness to ignore the feet of clay our heroes sometimes have as we place laurel wreaths on their brows.
Misogyny: Dahl's misogyny, especially in his adult stories, is quite extreme, and, in shades of Harper Lee and Go Set a Watchman being turned into To Kill a Mockingbird at the publisher's insistence, the first draft of Matilda:
"Painted the protagonist as a devilish little hussy who only later becomes "clever", perhaps because she found herself without very much to do after torturing her parents."Dahl's editor Stephen Roxburgh completely revised Dahl's last novel and, in doing so, turned it into his most popular book."
Anti semitism,: " In a 1983 interview with the New Statesman, he said, “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason. I mean, if you and I were in a line moving towards what we knew were gas chambers, I’d rather have a go at taking one of the guards with me; but they [the Jews] were always submissive.” Buzzfeed
Racism and rudeness. Remember the Oompah-Loompahs? The NAACP objected that in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the manual labor, performed by characters called Oompa-Loompas, are described by Dahl as African Pygmies, essentially brought-over slaves running the chocolate factory. Look at the original illustrations for the first edition of the book on Bidnessetc In the BFG, one of the giants, the Fleshlumpeater is supposed a black character, certainly another of them likes eating Turkish people.
There is also a discussion on Bignessetc on his general misogyny and unpleasant character leading his publishing company, Knopf, who made a lot of money from him to write,
"You have behaved to us in a way I can honestly say is unmatched in my experience for overbearingness and utter lack of civility."
Dahl used to belong to the only country club in South Wales that allowed Jewish members. My father and grandfather were members in their time. He once objected very loudly to the number of Jews dining there and how it fouled the atmosphere. The management threw him out and banned him. He is supposed to have done something similar at a gambling club in London with the same result!
I think he worked on the principle that everyone male, white and Christian shared his views on women, non-whites and Jews. I get it here, those sort of whites say racist things to me thinking because I am white I will go along with it. My clerks, always black, say they get complaints about whites from other blacks thinking they are bound to sympathise, but they don't. But most of us aren't racist or hate any group of people. Trouble is most people aren't vocal about that in a conversation and are likely to nod and just file it away. We need always to speak out.
Perhaps the best link of all to Roald Dahl is This Recording. He was without doubt a horrible person, but equally without doubt, a tremendously talented writer with an extraordinary imagination. I've enjoyed on some level all of his books and the films made of them.
It is an inventive story without doubt, and all fairy stories require you to absolutely suspend disbelief. Lots of them include sexual and violent elements which children either don't notice (sexual) or thoroughly enjoy (violent). When Disney gets hold of them, they lose both and become the anodyne Barbie-doll princesses (cue violins-in-the-background) we are used to. In that tradition, the BFG succeeds.
In the mid-to-late 20thC there was less emphasis on paedophilia than there is now, and I wonder if this book could have been written at all in the 21stC. Ironically, this book is banned in some educational districts in the US for 'teaching poor moral values' and cannibalism. Ridiculous. Children laugh at those sort of things. I don't believe in banning books, but Dahl was an unpleasant character and it is wilful blindness to ignore the feet of clay our heroes sometimes have as we place laurel wreaths on their brows.
Misogyny: Dahl's misogyny, especially in his adult stories, is quite extreme, and, in shades of Harper Lee and Go Set a Watchman being turned into To Kill a Mockingbird at the publisher's insistence, the first draft of Matilda:
"Painted the protagonist as a devilish little hussy who only later becomes "clever", perhaps because she found herself without very much to do after torturing her parents."Dahl's editor Stephen Roxburgh completely revised Dahl's last novel and, in doing so, turned it into his most popular book."
Anti semitism,: " In a 1983 interview with the New Statesman, he said, “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason. I mean, if you and I were in a line moving towards what we knew were gas chambers, I’d rather have a go at taking one of the guards with me; but they [the Jews] were always submissive.” Buzzfeed
Racism and rudeness. Remember the Oompah-Loompahs? The NAACP objected that in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the manual labor, performed by characters called Oompa-Loompas, are described by Dahl as African Pygmies, essentially brought-over slaves running the chocolate factory. Look at the original illustrations for the first edition of the book on Bidnessetc In the BFG, one of the giants, the Fleshlumpeater is supposed a black character, certainly another of them likes eating Turkish people.
There is also a discussion on Bignessetc on his general misogyny and unpleasant character leading his publishing company, Knopf, who made a lot of money from him to write,
"You have behaved to us in a way I can honestly say is unmatched in my experience for overbearingness and utter lack of civility."
Dahl used to belong to the only country club in South Wales that allowed Jewish members. My father and grandfather were members in their time. He once objected very loudly to the number of Jews dining there and how it fouled the atmosphere. The management threw him out and banned him. He is supposed to have done something similar at a gambling club in London with the same result!
I think he worked on the principle that everyone male, white and Christian shared his views on women, non-whites and Jews. I get it here, those sort of whites say racist things to me thinking because I am white I will go along with it. My clerks, always black, say they get complaints about whites from other blacks thinking they are bound to sympathise, but they don't. But most of us aren't racist or hate any group of people. Trouble is most people aren't vocal about that in a conversation and are likely to nod and just file it away. We need always to speak out.
Perhaps the best link of all to Roald Dahl is This Recording. He was without doubt a horrible person, but equally without doubt, a tremendously talented writer with an extraordinary imagination. I've enjoyed on some level all of his books and the films made of them.
September 19, 2021
The BFG, Roald Dahl
The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) is a 1982 children's book written by British novelist Roald Dahl.
The start of the book begins with an eight-year-old orphan girl named Sophie lying in bed in an orphanage run by Mrs. Clonkers.
She cannot sleep, and sees a strange sight in the street; a giant man, carrying a bag and an odd trumpet. He sees Sophie, who tries to hide in bed, but the giant picks her up through the window. Then he runs quickly to a large cave, which he enters.
When he sets Sophie down, she begins to plead for her life, believing that the giant will eat her.
The giant laughs and explains that most giants do eat human beings (which he pronounces as "human beans"), and that the people's origins affect their taste.
For example, people from Greece taste greasy while people from Panama taste of hats. The giant then says that he will not eat her as he is the Big Friendly Giant, or BFG for short.
The BFG explains that she must stay with him forever so that no one can know of his existence.
He warns her of the dangers of leaving his cave as his nine neighbours are sure to eat her if they catch her.
He also explains what he was doing with the trumpet and suitcase. He catches dreams, stores them in the cave, and then gives the good ones to children all around the world. He destroys the bad ones.
The BFG then explains that he eats the only edible plant that will grow in the giants' homeland: snozzcumbers, which are disgusting striped cucumber-like vegetables with wart-like growths that taste like frog skins and rotten fish to Sophie and cockroaches and slime wanglers to the BFG. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و چهارم ماه آگوست سال 2001میلادی
عنوان: غول بزرگ مهربان؛ رولد دال؛ مترجم: مهناز داوری؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، محراب قلم، 1378؛ در 171ص، مصور؛ شابک9643230848؛ موضوع داستانهای کودکان از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م
عنوان: غول بزرگ مهربان؛ رولد دال؛ تصویرگر: کوانتین بلیک؛ مترجم: گیتا گرکانی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، نشر مرکز، 1379؛ در 215ص، مصور؛ شابک 9645571499؛
عنوان: غول بزرگ مهربان؛ رولد دال؛ تصویرگر کوانتین بلیک؛ مترجم: شهلا طهماسبی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، نشر مرکز، 1385؛ در ده، 215ص، مصور؛ شابک 9645039912؛
مترجم: محبوبه نجف خانی؛ تهران، افق، 1388؛ در 282ص؛
مترجم: علی هداوند؛ تهران، سپاس، 1393؛ در 220ص؛
داستان دختر بچه ای یتیم، به نام «سوفی» است؛ که با غول بزرگ مهربانی که در شهر، به دنبال غذاست، آشنا میشود؛ در حالیکه دیگر غولها، با پیدا کردن محل زندگی انسانها، قصد دارند به «انگلستان» یورش ببرند، و همه ی کودکان آنجا را بخورند؛ برای همین «سوفی» و غول بزرگش، کوشش دارند، از انجام آنکار شیطانی، جلوگیری کنند؛
فیلمی، در سبک خیالپردازی، و ماجراجویی، به کارگردانی، و تهیه کنندگی: «استیون اسپیلبرگ»، و نویسندگی: «ملیسا متیسن» است، بر اساس همین رمان «غول بزرگ مهربان»، اثر «رولد دال»، ساخته شده، که «مارک رایلنس»، در نقش غول بزرگ مهربان؛ «روبی بارنهیل»، در نقش «سوفی»؛ «بیل هیدر» در نقش غول؛ «پنه لوپه ویلتون»، در نقش ملکه؛ «ربکا هال» در نقش «ماری» و ...؛ نقش آفرینی کرده اند؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/08/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 27/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) is a 1982 children's book written by British novelist Roald Dahl.
The start of the book begins with an eight-year-old orphan girl named Sophie lying in bed in an orphanage run by Mrs. Clonkers.
She cannot sleep, and sees a strange sight in the street; a giant man, carrying a bag and an odd trumpet. He sees Sophie, who tries to hide in bed, but the giant picks her up through the window. Then he runs quickly to a large cave, which he enters.
When he sets Sophie down, she begins to plead for her life, believing that the giant will eat her.
The giant laughs and explains that most giants do eat human beings (which he pronounces as "human beans"), and that the people's origins affect their taste.
For example, people from Greece taste greasy while people from Panama taste of hats. The giant then says that he will not eat her as he is the Big Friendly Giant, or BFG for short.
The BFG explains that she must stay with him forever so that no one can know of his existence.
He warns her of the dangers of leaving his cave as his nine neighbours are sure to eat her if they catch her.
He also explains what he was doing with the trumpet and suitcase. He catches dreams, stores them in the cave, and then gives the good ones to children all around the world. He destroys the bad ones.
The BFG then explains that he eats the only edible plant that will grow in the giants' homeland: snozzcumbers, which are disgusting striped cucumber-like vegetables with wart-like growths that taste like frog skins and rotten fish to Sophie and cockroaches and slime wanglers to the BFG. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و چهارم ماه آگوست سال 2001میلادی
عنوان: غول بزرگ مهربان؛ رولد دال؛ مترجم: مهناز داوری؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، محراب قلم، 1378؛ در 171ص، مصور؛ شابک9643230848؛ موضوع داستانهای کودکان از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م
عنوان: غول بزرگ مهربان؛ رولد دال؛ تصویرگر: کوانتین بلیک؛ مترجم: گیتا گرکانی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، نشر مرکز، 1379؛ در 215ص، مصور؛ شابک 9645571499؛
عنوان: غول بزرگ مهربان؛ رولد دال؛ تصویرگر کوانتین بلیک؛ مترجم: شهلا طهماسبی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، نشر مرکز، 1385؛ در ده، 215ص، مصور؛ شابک 9645039912؛
مترجم: محبوبه نجف خانی؛ تهران، افق، 1388؛ در 282ص؛
مترجم: علی هداوند؛ تهران، سپاس، 1393؛ در 220ص؛
داستان دختر بچه ای یتیم، به نام «سوفی» است؛ که با غول بزرگ مهربانی که در شهر، به دنبال غذاست، آشنا میشود؛ در حالیکه دیگر غولها، با پیدا کردن محل زندگی انسانها، قصد دارند به «انگلستان» یورش ببرند، و همه ی کودکان آنجا را بخورند؛ برای همین «سوفی» و غول بزرگش، کوشش دارند، از انجام آنکار شیطانی، جلوگیری کنند؛
فیلمی، در سبک خیالپردازی، و ماجراجویی، به کارگردانی، و تهیه کنندگی: «استیون اسپیلبرگ»، و نویسندگی: «ملیسا متیسن» است، بر اساس همین رمان «غول بزرگ مهربان»، اثر «رولد دال»، ساخته شده، که «مارک رایلنس»، در نقش غول بزرگ مهربان؛ «روبی بارنهیل»، در نقش «سوفی»؛ «بیل هیدر» در نقش غول؛ «پنه لوپه ویلتون»، در نقش ملکه؛ «ربکا هال» در نقش «ماری» و ...؛ نقش آفرینی کرده اند؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/08/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 27/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
June 18, 2021
Don't gobblefunk around with words.This entire book was a gobblefunk of words. Snapperwhippers and babblement and crockadowndillies. My inner grumpy adult came out about 1/2 way through the book - just say what you mean!
Meanings is not important, said the BFG. I cannot be right all the time. Quite often I is left instead of right.Yes, yes you were, Mr. BFG - you went left the entire book.
Sophie, a little "human bean," gets up one night and spies from her window, a long spindly shape creeping around in the dark. Much to her horror, a real-life giant bounds up to her window and snatches her. He whisks her away to giant country where she learns that every night, giants steal humans for their dinner and would eat her in a heartbeat.
Luckily, Sophie is stolen by the Big Friendly Giant (BFG) who truly is good, and kind, despite his propensity for murdering the English language. He would rather eat disgusting snozzcumbers than human beans and does his best to give children happy dreams. Sophie insists that the other giants must be stopped and quickly hatches a plan with the BFG - but the real question is, will the queen of England believe them?
English aside, this was a very cute story. Sophie manages to be heroic without being precocious and the BFG's earnestness really cinched the plot.
Audiobook Comments
I listened to the enhanced audio - which came equipped with sound effects and great characterizations. If you have a hard time with the grammatical errors and deliberate misspellings, listening to the book makes it much better.
The 2018 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge - A childhood classic you never read
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April 11, 2017
Two wrongs don’t make a rightWHAT A BOOK IT WAS! What an ending it was!
I can't control my emotions. I haven't felt anything like this before. I haven't read a children book like this. I am soo happy by reading this. I am soo in love with the characters. Or writing. Or everything which this book offered me. It took me little long to finish this because of my exams. Otherwise this book was soo good that I wanted to finish it in one sitting. Nevertheless, I am finished with this and I am very happy. I think if I will be in the mood of re-reading, I will choose this book.
OVERVIEW
Sophie, an orphan, is taken away by a giant named BFG (Big Friendly Giant) as she sees him in the witching hour (a time when everyone is sleeping and giants show up). He takes her away because he is afraid that she will tell everyone and he will be in danger. BFG is a good giant. But his fellows aren't. They eat humans. But BFG don't. He considers it immoral. When Sophie learns this, she makes a plan with BFG to stop them.
THINGS I LIKED
=> BFG. I loved him. He is uneducated. Can't speak English correctly. No giant can as they have no means of education. But I loved how BFG speaks. That's what makes him soo cute and funny.
=> I liked that giants called human beings: 'Human Beans' hehehe...
=> Giants don't eat Greek people because they taste like grease hehehe...
=> I liked the chapter named 'Dream'. That was pretty hilarious. I was laughing out loud while reading this chapter.
=> BFG called helicopters 'Bellypoppers' hehehe...
=> I liked how they captured the giants. That was pretty interesting.
THINGS I COULDN'T LIKE
=> This point is not much important but I felt little bad about it. I didn't like the history of giants. But I didn't care much about it after that ending. Still it should have been better.
Regardless, I adored this book even with this fact.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. Especially children must read this book.
The matter with human beans,’ the BFG went on, ‘is that they is absolutely refusing to believe in anything unless they is actually seeing it right in front of their own schnozzles
April 10, 2017
June 6, 2013
Like many others, I remember the Roald Dahl books that I read, or had read to me, during my childhood fondly, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and especially, Matilda. Perhaps because I expected to have the same childhood reading adventure as I had with those books, I liked, but did not love, The BFG. I think that Dahl's idea for the story is a creative one, but little things, such as the puns on the names of countries when the BFG describes the taste of "human beans" in those countries, or what I think were stereotypical remarks at the end of the novel. For instance, when Dahl describes thankful world leaders bestowing gifts upon Sophie and the BFG for saving their people from man-eating giants, he writes that "The Rule of India sent the BFG a magnificent elephant...The King of Arabia sent them a camel each. The Lama of Tibet sent them a llama each" (pp. 204-5). However, to me, the worst line was when the Queen of England called the Sultan, "next best thing" to a Lord Mayor to ask him whether any of his subjects had mysteriously disappeared recently, and he responds, "Every night unpleasant things are happening in Baghdad...We are chopping off people's heads like you are chopping parsley" (p. 174).
To be fair, the novel was copyrighted in 1982, and probably written before such things were widely considered inappropriate, and the book is widely engaging and creative. Some would also say that these things are "just jokes," that they were silliness written for the amusement of children. In spite of the fact that the novel was written over two decades ago, I do not think that children should just absorb these lines, because they are most likely reading this book at the suggestion of an adult who is, in their mind, only supposed to give them "good" books. The children would most likely read these lines and the stereotypes exoticizing non-Western countries would persist.
Another niggling doubt about the book was the resolution with the giants being imprisoned in a giant pit, doomed to eat disgusting snozzcumbers for the rest of their lives. I think that Dahl was well-intentioned in including the conversation between the BFG and Sophie about how humans make their own rules, and giants make their own rules and that the rules don't coincide. When I got to this conversation, which included the the BFG basically telling Sophie that it was somewhat judgmental or short-sighted of her to immediately think of the other giants as bad, because humans, unlike giants, kill their own kind all the time, I thought that the story was incredibly promising. However, the story ended as they typically do, especially in "children's" literature, with the "bad" guys getting captured and the "good" guys living happily ever after without the moral ambiguity that Dahl touched upon in that one particular conversation between Sophie and the BFG. I think that it might have been more interesting if it was ever brought up that perhaps giants just eat humans just as humans eat bacon, sausage, and eggs, just as Sophie, the BFG, and the Queen did at the end of the story, and that perhaps the solution would be to respect all life, just as the BFG always had (before uncharacteristically eating all that bacon and sausage at the end of the novel) because he could hear the world's suffering. Instead, as I mentioned, the story has a more typical ending, and it is emotionally acceptable that the human-eating giants are imprisoned with disgusting food for the rest of their lives (and the Queen is humane for imprisoning them rather than killing them, to boot) only because Dahl portrays the giants as disgusting throughout the entire novel. Although the giants are portrayed as mean in the scene during which they toss around the BFG, emphasis is continuously on how the giants are "half-naked and disgusting" in their appearance and smell. Thus, emphasis is placed on their physical, rather than moral disgustingness, and to me, this is too reminiscent of the way that we vilify those who are different than us to justify our inhuman treatment of them.
In closing, although I enjoyed this book because of Dahl's creativity in coming up with a BFG and a dreamblower, etc, I don't think that it should hold such a coveted place in children's literature because it is somewhat outdated in its attitude, and there are many, many wonderful children's adventure novels out there with which to replace it. I think that it would be a good novel to discuss with kids, but I don't think that parents/teachers should just give it to kids an example of a "good book" because remember loving it during their childhood.
P.S. It's a little frustrating that people just think I'm being "oversensitive" or that I'm just another crazy person who wants everything to be PC. I don't think that my reaction to this book was knee-jerk (for instance those people who refuse to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and/or think it has no merit because of the use of the n-word). I've said many good things about this book. Heck, I even liked it. I just pointed out that I don't think that it's perfect, my reasons for not thinking that it's perfect, and that there are plenty of great books out there for kids to read, so people should at least think a millisecond about what they recommend to kids (about the content, child's maturity, and child's personal preferences) instead of just pushing their own childhood favorites on them.
To be fair, the novel was copyrighted in 1982, and probably written before such things were widely considered inappropriate, and the book is widely engaging and creative. Some would also say that these things are "just jokes," that they were silliness written for the amusement of children. In spite of the fact that the novel was written over two decades ago, I do not think that children should just absorb these lines, because they are most likely reading this book at the suggestion of an adult who is, in their mind, only supposed to give them "good" books. The children would most likely read these lines and the stereotypes exoticizing non-Western countries would persist.
Another niggling doubt about the book was the resolution with the giants being imprisoned in a giant pit, doomed to eat disgusting snozzcumbers for the rest of their lives. I think that Dahl was well-intentioned in including the conversation between the BFG and Sophie about how humans make their own rules, and giants make their own rules and that the rules don't coincide. When I got to this conversation, which included the the BFG basically telling Sophie that it was somewhat judgmental or short-sighted of her to immediately think of the other giants as bad, because humans, unlike giants, kill their own kind all the time, I thought that the story was incredibly promising. However, the story ended as they typically do, especially in "children's" literature, with the "bad" guys getting captured and the "good" guys living happily ever after without the moral ambiguity that Dahl touched upon in that one particular conversation between Sophie and the BFG. I think that it might have been more interesting if it was ever brought up that perhaps giants just eat humans just as humans eat bacon, sausage, and eggs, just as Sophie, the BFG, and the Queen did at the end of the story, and that perhaps the solution would be to respect all life, just as the BFG always had (before uncharacteristically eating all that bacon and sausage at the end of the novel) because he could hear the world's suffering. Instead, as I mentioned, the story has a more typical ending, and it is emotionally acceptable that the human-eating giants are imprisoned with disgusting food for the rest of their lives (and the Queen is humane for imprisoning them rather than killing them, to boot) only because Dahl portrays the giants as disgusting throughout the entire novel. Although the giants are portrayed as mean in the scene during which they toss around the BFG, emphasis is continuously on how the giants are "half-naked and disgusting" in their appearance and smell. Thus, emphasis is placed on their physical, rather than moral disgustingness, and to me, this is too reminiscent of the way that we vilify those who are different than us to justify our inhuman treatment of them.
In closing, although I enjoyed this book because of Dahl's creativity in coming up with a BFG and a dreamblower, etc, I don't think that it should hold such a coveted place in children's literature because it is somewhat outdated in its attitude, and there are many, many wonderful children's adventure novels out there with which to replace it. I think that it would be a good novel to discuss with kids, but I don't think that parents/teachers should just give it to kids an example of a "good book" because remember loving it during their childhood.
P.S. It's a little frustrating that people just think I'm being "oversensitive" or that I'm just another crazy person who wants everything to be PC. I don't think that my reaction to this book was knee-jerk (for instance those people who refuse to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and/or think it has no merit because of the use of the n-word). I've said many good things about this book. Heck, I even liked it. I just pointed out that I don't think that it's perfect, my reasons for not thinking that it's perfect, and that there are plenty of great books out there for kids to read, so people should at least think a millisecond about what they recommend to kids (about the content, child's maturity, and child's personal preferences) instead of just pushing their own childhood favorites on them.
January 31, 2019
“We is in Dream Country,' the BFG said. 'This is where all dreams is beginning.”
I love the BFG, as a child this was one of my favourite books (and films.) There’s just something captivating about the story, about how a mystical creature could appear in your bedroom in the middle of the night and take you to another world (a more exciting world.)
And that’s why Roald Dahl is such a successful children’s author; here he does exactly what the best books in the genre do. He gives you a glimpse of the real world, of the standard realities of everyday, then underneath it all he reveals something spectacular: he reveals fantasy. Time and time again a child is whisked off to experience the adventure of a lifetime. And when reading his books as a child of similar age, it’s so easy to imagine yourself in the shoes of one of his protagonists.
Reading it as an adult, gives the book a slightly different flavour. For starters, the hilarious nature of the language is blatant. And it just feels funnier. I was invested in this as a child, I cared about the characters and I was worried about what could happen. Now it just seems all so ridiculous.
It was fun and entertaining, revisiting a book I read fifteen years ago.
I love the BFG, as a child this was one of my favourite books (and films.) There’s just something captivating about the story, about how a mystical creature could appear in your bedroom in the middle of the night and take you to another world (a more exciting world.)
And that’s why Roald Dahl is such a successful children’s author; here he does exactly what the best books in the genre do. He gives you a glimpse of the real world, of the standard realities of everyday, then underneath it all he reveals something spectacular: he reveals fantasy. Time and time again a child is whisked off to experience the adventure of a lifetime. And when reading his books as a child of similar age, it’s so easy to imagine yourself in the shoes of one of his protagonists.
Reading it as an adult, gives the book a slightly different flavour. For starters, the hilarious nature of the language is blatant. And it just feels funnier. I was invested in this as a child, I cared about the characters and I was worried about what could happen. Now it just seems all so ridiculous.
It was fun and entertaining, revisiting a book I read fifteen years ago.
May 28, 2017
There are a number of books that shape the youth of a child. This was one of those books for me, alongside a handful of other Roald Dahl classics. I remember reading it (and having my father do so as well) and getting lost in the story, which I did again today. Young Sophie finds herself unable to sleep one night at the orphanage in which she resides. Peering out the window, she sees a shadowy figure passing down the road, with an odd contraption he uses while poking his head into surround windows. When Sophie spots this figure, a colossal giant, she is scooped up and taken off. Kidnapped, of a sort, Sophie learns that this giant is even larger than he appeared in the shadows, but nowhere near as frightful. That said, the odd giant patois he speaks leaves Sophie to wonder how calm and peaceful he might be. It is in the Land of the Giants that Sophie learns a little more about her captor, the Big Friendly Giant, 'BFG', and the other giant-figures in the area, who have a penchant for human flesh. Sophie also learns that the BFG possesses the ability to instil and inject dreams into the bedtime thoughts of any person, children in particular. He shoots the magic dream dust into his special pipe and, POOF, off it goes and the individual is left to stream the thoughts through their subconscious. Armed with this information, Sophie has an idea after learning from her new friend of the recent kidnapping number of children across Britain by these foul giants. They will alert this highest authority to ensure these evil giants are captured and brought to justice. Next stop, Buckingham Palace! The BFG and Sophie work together to convince the Queen, through a dream sequence, that these events have taken place and that Sophie is the key to helping find the giants. A trip into central London earns Sophie and the BFG an odd morning visit with Her Majesty, during which time all is revealed. Can the Queen use the powers at her disposal to hunt down the kidnapping giants, or will everyone be left with a taste as bitter as snozzcumbers in their mouths? Dahl takes readers on a wonderful journey through some interesting ideas to present one of the central stories known to many young Dahl readers. Perfect for any age, but especially those with an open and vivid imagination.
Dahl continues to marvel with all his ideas and variances on a similar theme. Those who have read a great deal of the author will know he drops references of other books into the narrative, while always keeping things fairly unique and individualised. Dahl offers up a new set of curious characters and some completely horrible villains, as well as the amusing 'power elite' in our actual world. With much gibberish found in many of Dahl's pieces, this one is chock-full of offbeat words and giant patois, which will have the younger reader (or listener) giggling as the story continues. There is little left out in this piece that warms the heart as well as gets the its pulse elevated. Perhaps in my top five all-time, this Dahl piece is exquisite in its presentation and delivery.
Kudos, Mr. Dahl for keeping me excited throughout this piece. I could not have found a better way to spend a few hours and hope to introduce these to Neo before too long.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Dahl continues to marvel with all his ideas and variances on a similar theme. Those who have read a great deal of the author will know he drops references of other books into the narrative, while always keeping things fairly unique and individualised. Dahl offers up a new set of curious characters and some completely horrible villains, as well as the amusing 'power elite' in our actual world. With much gibberish found in many of Dahl's pieces, this one is chock-full of offbeat words and giant patois, which will have the younger reader (or listener) giggling as the story continues. There is little left out in this piece that warms the heart as well as gets the its pulse elevated. Perhaps in my top five all-time, this Dahl piece is exquisite in its presentation and delivery.
Kudos, Mr. Dahl for keeping me excited throughout this piece. I could not have found a better way to spend a few hours and hope to introduce these to Neo before too long.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
April 19, 2017
This is going to be a mini review.
'Sometimes, on a very clear night,' the BFG said, 'and if I is swiggling my ears in the right direction'-
and here he swivelled his great ears upwards so they were facing the ceiling - 'if I is swiggling them like this and the night is very clear, I is sometimes hearing faraway music coming from the stars in the sky.'
I finally read this book after leaving it standing on my bookshelf for months because I still hadn't find the right time to read it until few days ago. Few days ago I was in the mood for children books or middle grade books to help me to get over my book - hangover and so I chose to read this book.
this book indeed quite helped me to get over my book - hangover and the story was quite fun but I couldn't give this book more than 3 stars because of the giant's languange. The way he spoke always confused me. like this :
'It's a trogglehumper!' he shouted. His voice was filled with fury and anguish. 'Oh, save our solos!' he cried. 'Deliver us from weasels! The devil is dancing on my dibbler!'
most of the time I was confused and I was like " What ... ???? " but the story was pretty good but not really awesome in my opinion. The story didn't make my heart pounding hard but the story wasn't bad either. it was just okay.
I'm sure I would've liked this book more if I had completely understood all BFG said but most of the time I didn't really understand what he said but I really loved the illustrations! they were great and I loved them.
thank you for reading and liking this review. I hope you all have a great day!❤❤
February 16, 2008
Hahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
July 8, 2018
A fantastic story about a misunderstood giant and a brave little girl. My kids and I loved this story but never saw the movie because we were scared to be disappointed. Dahl's stories are always full of wonderful humour and inventiveness and this was definitely one of his most imaginative. A wonderful and beautiful masterpiece.
May 3, 2016
"What a spiffling whoppsy room we is in! It is so gigantuous I is needing bicurculers!"
Please kill me now. No, I mean it. Seriously. Kill me now.
"I am brimfull of buzzburgers, This is a sizzling-hot muckfrumping country..."
Please, God. Oh please, please God, make it stop, make it stop, just make it...
"What a phizz-whizzing flushbunking seat. I is going to be as bug as a snug in a rug up here..."
NOOOO!! Sweet mother of God!!!!
Am I still alive? Is it over? Please tell me it's over.
I scan through these 5-star reviews, and I feel like I'm on crazy pills. This book is awful! It's unendurable. This is a classic? How? How? Nothing happens in it. There is no story. There is no wit. There is no magic. Giant Country might as well be Walmart, for all the magic it evokes. Flat! Dull! Dull! And then there's the cave. The cave! I've read some of these 4-star reviews - they grudgingly admit that their kid's attention began to wander somewhere in the middle....yeah, yeah, yeah, admit it! They hated it! It's the Emperor's New Clothes! I know caves. Caves can be magical. Plato's cave. Tom Sawyer's cave. Robinson Crusoe's cave. Those are magical caves. This cave? Not magical. This is not a magical cave. This is the boringest cave ever. What transpires in this cave? Nothing. I kid you not - nothing. Nothing transpires in this cave. 100 pages transpire in this cave. Two thirds of this book, literally a full two thirds, consists of a single unending dialogue in this cave between Sophie and the Giant. Sophie asks a question, and the Giant answers in his INSUFFERABLE DIALECT!!!!, providing some cutesy, backwards explanation about how things work in Giant Country. Then she asks another question. And he answers. Back and forth. And the answers are invariably moronic, punny, unfunny, uninteresting, and utterly irrelevant. They are winks at the adult reader. His entire personality, his every utterance, is a wink at the adult reader. He is not an attempt at character creation. No Big Friendly Giant would ever say these things. He is a fraud. This whole book is a fraud. I kept waiting for the dialogue to end, so something would happen. No luck. It just kept going and going and going, chapter after chapter after chapter....
I love children's fantasy novels. I love them. I teach them, for God's sakes! But this book is a load of swashbickling scrumdiddliumptious crap. I am genuinely mystified by the love this book engenders in people. Am I raping people's childhood by suggesting this? This book raped my adulthood.
Kids know. They know. I began by reading this to my 7 year-old daughter. This was supposed to be our nightly bonding ritual. We started. A few evenings went by. She seemed restless. She seemed distracted. She kept picking her toes. After 4 chapters, I noticed a definite shift. She started avoiding me come sundown. She would look at the clock and get nervous. She kept finding excuses to get out of story-time. She was tired. She was drawing. She had a headache. I pleaded. I coaxed. I offered bribes. Nothing. No good. "Let's watch the trailer again, Daddy!" The trailer. She prefers the trailer! She likes the big hand that comes in the window. She likes John Williams. She likes Mark Rylance, I think. And so here I sit, book on lap, daughter somewhere else in the house - playing, living, being free - and I stare heavily downwards, sunken heart, faced with the unthinkable prospect of having to finish the goddamn thing myself.
And I did, somehow. Sweet Jesus. It was painful. Insincere. Affected. Artificial. Tedious.
Just so you know, my daughter and I sped through Baum's The Wizard of Oz in about a week. Two, sometimes three chapters a night. She loved it. Couldn't get enough of it. You know why? Because kids know. They know, I tell you. How do parents not know? Why do parents keep inflicting this book on their poor, helpless children? Because of the message? Bullying is bad? Being different is okay? Do the right thing? Here's a good message: don't read shit to your children. Please, stop it, now. Read them Dr. Seuss. Read them Wizard of Oz. Read them Peter Pan. Read them The Wind in the Willows. Read them The Enchanted Castle. Just not this. For the sake of the children.
Because they know.
Please kill me now. No, I mean it. Seriously. Kill me now.
"I am brimfull of buzzburgers, This is a sizzling-hot muckfrumping country..."
Please, God. Oh please, please God, make it stop, make it stop, just make it...
"What a phizz-whizzing flushbunking seat. I is going to be as bug as a snug in a rug up here..."
NOOOO!! Sweet mother of God!!!!
Am I still alive? Is it over? Please tell me it's over.
I scan through these 5-star reviews, and I feel like I'm on crazy pills. This book is awful! It's unendurable. This is a classic? How? How? Nothing happens in it. There is no story. There is no wit. There is no magic. Giant Country might as well be Walmart, for all the magic it evokes. Flat! Dull! Dull! And then there's the cave. The cave! I've read some of these 4-star reviews - they grudgingly admit that their kid's attention began to wander somewhere in the middle....yeah, yeah, yeah, admit it! They hated it! It's the Emperor's New Clothes! I know caves. Caves can be magical. Plato's cave. Tom Sawyer's cave. Robinson Crusoe's cave. Those are magical caves. This cave? Not magical. This is not a magical cave. This is the boringest cave ever. What transpires in this cave? Nothing. I kid you not - nothing. Nothing transpires in this cave. 100 pages transpire in this cave. Two thirds of this book, literally a full two thirds, consists of a single unending dialogue in this cave between Sophie and the Giant. Sophie asks a question, and the Giant answers in his INSUFFERABLE DIALECT!!!!, providing some cutesy, backwards explanation about how things work in Giant Country. Then she asks another question. And he answers. Back and forth. And the answers are invariably moronic, punny, unfunny, uninteresting, and utterly irrelevant. They are winks at the adult reader. His entire personality, his every utterance, is a wink at the adult reader. He is not an attempt at character creation. No Big Friendly Giant would ever say these things. He is a fraud. This whole book is a fraud. I kept waiting for the dialogue to end, so something would happen. No luck. It just kept going and going and going, chapter after chapter after chapter....
I love children's fantasy novels. I love them. I teach them, for God's sakes! But this book is a load of swashbickling scrumdiddliumptious crap. I am genuinely mystified by the love this book engenders in people. Am I raping people's childhood by suggesting this? This book raped my adulthood.
Kids know. They know. I began by reading this to my 7 year-old daughter. This was supposed to be our nightly bonding ritual. We started. A few evenings went by. She seemed restless. She seemed distracted. She kept picking her toes. After 4 chapters, I noticed a definite shift. She started avoiding me come sundown. She would look at the clock and get nervous. She kept finding excuses to get out of story-time. She was tired. She was drawing. She had a headache. I pleaded. I coaxed. I offered bribes. Nothing. No good. "Let's watch the trailer again, Daddy!" The trailer. She prefers the trailer! She likes the big hand that comes in the window. She likes John Williams. She likes Mark Rylance, I think. And so here I sit, book on lap, daughter somewhere else in the house - playing, living, being free - and I stare heavily downwards, sunken heart, faced with the unthinkable prospect of having to finish the goddamn thing myself.
And I did, somehow. Sweet Jesus. It was painful. Insincere. Affected. Artificial. Tedious.
Just so you know, my daughter and I sped through Baum's The Wizard of Oz in about a week. Two, sometimes three chapters a night. She loved it. Couldn't get enough of it. You know why? Because kids know. They know, I tell you. How do parents not know? Why do parents keep inflicting this book on their poor, helpless children? Because of the message? Bullying is bad? Being different is okay? Do the right thing? Here's a good message: don't read shit to your children. Please, stop it, now. Read them Dr. Seuss. Read them Wizard of Oz. Read them Peter Pan. Read them The Wind in the Willows. Read them The Enchanted Castle. Just not this. For the sake of the children.
Because they know.
April 13, 2016
I really love this book. It's pretty short but the story is very joyful. The BFG is a good giant, he intrigued me with his own language from the first. Sophie is a girl kidnapped from her bed and her adventure just begins when she and the BFG have to stop the ruthless giants before they devour all of human beans.
Dahl could create the book that hooked me from the beginning and the ending of this book was so delightful, I felt very happy after I finished it. I like his writing style, it captivates me to no end.
เป็นหนังสือที่น่ารักเบาสมองเล่มหนึ่ง การดำเนินเรื่องและภาษาที่ใช้มีเอกลักษณ์และจุดเด่นเหล่านี้ทำให้หนังสือสามารถคงความคลาสสิคเอาไว้ได้ถึงแม้เวลาจะผ่านไปหลายปี เจ้ายักษ์ BFG ออกมาสร้างสีสันตลอดทั้งเรื่องจนทำให้อ่านไปอมยิ้มไป ส่วนโซฟีก็พรีเซนต์ตัวละครที่อยู่ในช่วงวัยเด็กออกมาได้อย่างเหมาะสม สไตล์การเล่าเรื่องมีความคมที่เป็นเสน่ห์ของนิยาย ไม่แปลกใจเลยที่ The BFG สามารถเข้าถึงได้ทุกช่วงวัยแบบนี้ อ่านแล้วปลื้มมาก ที่นิยายเด็กธรรมดาๆ สามารถสร้างออกมาให้ดูมีมนต์ขลังมากๆขนาดนี้
Dahl could create the book that hooked me from the beginning and the ending of this book was so delightful, I felt very happy after I finished it. I like his writing style, it captivates me to no end.
เป็นหนังสือที่น่ารักเบาสมองเล่มหนึ่ง การดำเนินเรื่องและภาษาที่ใช้มีเอกลักษณ์และจุดเด่นเหล่านี้ทำให้หนังสือสามารถคงความคลาสสิคเอาไว้ได้ถึงแม้เวลาจะผ่านไปหลายปี เจ้ายักษ์ BFG ออกมาสร้างสีสันตลอดทั้งเรื่องจนทำให้อ่านไปอมยิ้มไป ส่วนโซฟีก็พรีเซนต์ตัวละครที่อยู่ในช่วงวัยเด็กออกมาได้อย่างเหมาะสม สไตล์การเล่าเรื่องมีความคมที่เป็นเสน่ห์ของนิยาย ไม่แปลกใจเลยที่ The BFG สามารถเข้าถึงได้ทุกช่วงวัยแบบนี้ อ่านแล้วปลื้มมาก ที่นิยายเด็กธรรมดาๆ สามารถสร้างออกมาให้ดูมีมนต์ขลังมากๆขนาดนี้
August 1, 2016
Miravibondo! Fantelastico!
May 18, 2018
We have all heard the story of Jack and the beanstock, right or left? We are all familiar with stories about giants, right or left? The BFG was a story that will make people smile but also encourage them to lock their windows at night... Takeing place in the United Kingdom the BGF captures hearts all over the world and I am so thankful to Roland Dahl for publising such a sweet book that shows friendship and love. This book captured my heart as it wil yours.
In London, England eight year old Sophie Evans is tucked tight in bed in a girls orphanage when she hears a noise outside durning the witching hour. Sophie bravely gets out of her bed and looks out the windo and what does she see but a great big giant with a... Well a trumpet... Sophie quickly runs back to bed and covers her head when a great big hand reaches in and snatches her from her bed in the girls orphanage. Away the tall creature took her until they ended up in Giant Country... Sophie was terrified that the giant was going to eat her but the BFG turned out to be a diffrent kind of giant. The Big Friendly Giant did not eat human beans because he felt it was disgraceful and wrong but his other giant friends did. The BFG was misunderstod by the others and was often pushed around and called names. Sophie becamw the BFG's best friend and she had no choice not to live with him because she had seen him that evening in London. The BFG was a dream catcher and he liked to mix certain things to make one dream it was up to him if he wanted to make a god dream or a bad dream. One day Sophie decided it was time for the other nine giants to be stopped from eating women and children so the BFG and Sophie decided to pay the queen of England a visit and in order to do that they had to mix a nightmare for her to see what was going on in her contry. Of course i am not going to ruin the whole book for you so i am going to stop there… I can tell you that
In London, England eight year old Sophie Evans is tucked tight in bed in a girls orphanage when she hears a noise outside durning the witching hour. Sophie bravely gets out of her bed and looks out the windo and what does she see but a great big giant with a... Well a trumpet... Sophie quickly runs back to bed and covers her head when a great big hand reaches in and snatches her from her bed in the girls orphanage. Away the tall creature took her until they ended up in Giant Country... Sophie was terrified that the giant was going to eat her but the BFG turned out to be a diffrent kind of giant. The Big Friendly Giant did not eat human beans because he felt it was disgraceful and wrong but his other giant friends did. The BFG was misunderstod by the others and was often pushed around and called names. Sophie becamw the BFG's best friend and she had no choice not to live with him because she had seen him that evening in London. The BFG was a dream catcher and he liked to mix certain things to make one dream it was up to him if he wanted to make a god dream or a bad dream. One day Sophie decided it was time for the other nine giants to be stopped from eating women and children so the BFG and Sophie decided to pay the queen of England a visit and in order to do that they had to mix a nightmare for her to see what was going on in her contry. Of course i am not going to ruin the whole book for you so i am going to stop there… I can tell you that
December 31, 2015
Reread because the trailer for the upcoming movie got me all excited! Classic, love this story so much.
January 22, 2020
I love the BFG's speech - so original. The tale is loads of fun. The fact that the giant gives people good dreams is enough to convince me he is a Big friendly Giant. There are beautiful moments in this story and I am impressed by how unique the story is. James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the chocolate factory are better, but not by much. This is a fantastic story.
I remember my brother read this as a kid while I was reading Matilda. I thought about reading the story too, but I didn't because I didn't like the title. What was a BFG, I thought? Seriously, that was my reasoning I missed out on this great story as a kid. Too bad I didn't have reading friends to talk books and someone could have told me to read it. I sure wasn't going to listen to my brother back then.
I remember my brother read this as a kid while I was reading Matilda. I thought about reading the story too, but I didn't because I didn't like the title. What was a BFG, I thought? Seriously, that was my reasoning I missed out on this great story as a kid. Too bad I didn't have reading friends to talk books and someone could have told me to read it. I sure wasn't going to listen to my brother back then.
December 31, 2017
I love Roald Dahl. What wonderful children's literature he wrote. Even though its for children adults love it too. Like Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter. Lovely easy reading. I strongly recommend all three authors.🐯👍
February 14, 2022
honestly a life of solitude in which i am surrounded by dreams in jars and people have given me a cool nickname with an initialism for short and then later i become best friends with a quirky little girl and i meet the queen of england...
well, that sounds pretty good to me.
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
well, that sounds pretty good to me.
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
October 22, 2016
Entertaining little story. I know I am not the intended audience at this point in my life, but it takes me back to when I was a kid and read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and Danny Champion of the World. I used to really enjoy Dahl's books and it has been a long time since I have read one.
This one was less story and more silly wordplay and fantasy. Towards the end it gets into a storyline, but at least the first half is mainly just a conversation between the BFG and Sophie. It is fun, but gets a bit repetitive.
Also, I noticed that there was quite a lot of violence and racial stereotyping that would probably be controversial in a children's book by today's standards. This is just an observation, not me being the book police!
All that aside - it was silly, it was fun, it was a romp through the imagination. I definitely enjoyed this little fantastical getaway, even if it isn't my favorite Dahl book.
This one was less story and more silly wordplay and fantasy. Towards the end it gets into a storyline, but at least the first half is mainly just a conversation between the BFG and Sophie. It is fun, but gets a bit repetitive.
Also, I noticed that there was quite a lot of violence and racial stereotyping that would probably be controversial in a children's book by today's standards. This is just an observation, not me being the book police!
All that aside - it was silly, it was fun, it was a romp through the imagination. I definitely enjoyed this little fantastical getaway, even if it isn't my favorite Dahl book.
April 13, 2023
Another Roald Dahl book that I read to my daughter (well, mostly I read it, she read a few chapters to me), about a chapter a night, most nights...
While the previous Roald Dahl books we whipped through pretty quickly, this one seemed to take ages, in fact it was quite overdue at the library when we finally got it back (lucky they don't fine kids isn't it!).
I didn't particularly enjoy reading this one to her, it was the painful mixed up English the BFG uses - and not so much for the concentration required to get the words out, but more the gibberish that I didn't really think was helping my daughters learning the same way that reading correct English does. It was ok to start with, but it forms such a big part of the book it quickly becomes wearisome.
The ludicrousness of the ending with the Queen was probably secondary to the nonsense words, although my daughter seemed to like it enough that every time I suggested we pack in in and give it back to the library she begged to carry on. I suspect she was far more amused hearing the nonsense than I was reading it out.
There is certainly plenty of violence throughout the story, but I don't have an issue with that - there is more violence on a one hour news broadcast than in any two chapters of this book. Children who remain sheltered from all aspects of life don't prosper in the real world. Bit like children not associating meat with animals, or understanding other cultures. There was also some racist parts which were pretty obvious to me, which I was less keen on exposing by daughter to.
Probably 2.5 stars from me, although I will round it up for my daughters benefit!
3 stars.
While the previous Roald Dahl books we whipped through pretty quickly, this one seemed to take ages, in fact it was quite overdue at the library when we finally got it back (lucky they don't fine kids isn't it!).
I didn't particularly enjoy reading this one to her, it was the painful mixed up English the BFG uses - and not so much for the concentration required to get the words out, but more the gibberish that I didn't really think was helping my daughters learning the same way that reading correct English does. It was ok to start with, but it forms such a big part of the book it quickly becomes wearisome.
The ludicrousness of the ending with the Queen was probably secondary to the nonsense words, although my daughter seemed to like it enough that every time I suggested we pack in in and give it back to the library she begged to carry on. I suspect she was far more amused hearing the nonsense than I was reading it out.
There is certainly plenty of violence throughout the story, but I don't have an issue with that - there is more violence on a one hour news broadcast than in any two chapters of this book. Children who remain sheltered from all aspects of life don't prosper in the real world. Bit like children not associating meat with animals, or understanding other cultures. There was also some racist parts which were pretty obvious to me, which I was less keen on exposing by daughter to.
Probably 2.5 stars from me, although I will round it up for my daughters benefit!
3 stars.
August 14, 2018
My daughter adored this book and I still have the book today. One of our favourites.
August 4, 2016
I'm not going to lie, I'm rather disappointed with BFG (which I've never read before)-- but is the favorite Dahl book of many of my friends. I found it to be pretty grating and not that pleasant a read for the following reasons:
1) Jar Jar Binks factor. The BFG speaks in his weird, uneducated pigdin that I frankly find kind of insulting. I'm sure children around the English speaking world are all thrilled by what Dahl has created-- but honestly, even for a word-monger like me, this is pretty ridiculous. Also, the fact that he is uneducated and constantly judged for his speech pathology by everyone else is just douchey.
2) Sophie is the most annoying Dahl protagonist ever. She's a snotty, bratty, and imperious little brat who exemplifies the worst of stereotypical English children-- lacking imagination and bossy. Compared to wonderful Matilda, Charlie, James, or even the kid in the witches, Sophie is a jerk.
3) Racial insensitivity (though this is also kind of a redeeming factor). Dahl's bit about human beans and how they taste is hilarious, but also kind of meh. Also, the annoying treatment of the entire Middle East by the Queen of England? She should know better.
Redeeming factors:
1) Farting. I'm glad that Dahl supports farting as music. Take that mother England.
2) Hidden Humanitarian Message: BFG is quick to explain that humans are the only species that kill each other. While this is not factually true (watch the Planet Earth chimp wars), Dahl makes a nifty point. Hey kids-- even if the giants are horrible, at least they have the decency not to kill each other. Take that mankind! World Peace!
3) Anti-establishment tinge. Dahl doesn't like army or air force generals, and it shows.
4) Obvious admiration for butlers. "A man does not rise to become the Queen's butler unless he is gifted with extraordinary ingenuity, adaptability, versatility, dexterity, cunning, sophistication, sagacity, discretion and a host of other talents that neither you nor I possess." Dahl definitely has a weird butler fetish.
5) Charles Dickens = Dahl's Chickens. Freaking genius.
1) Jar Jar Binks factor. The BFG speaks in his weird, uneducated pigdin that I frankly find kind of insulting. I'm sure children around the English speaking world are all thrilled by what Dahl has created-- but honestly, even for a word-monger like me, this is pretty ridiculous. Also, the fact that he is uneducated and constantly judged for his speech pathology by everyone else is just douchey.
2) Sophie is the most annoying Dahl protagonist ever. She's a snotty, bratty, and imperious little brat who exemplifies the worst of stereotypical English children-- lacking imagination and bossy. Compared to wonderful Matilda, Charlie, James, or even the kid in the witches, Sophie is a jerk.
3) Racial insensitivity (though this is also kind of a redeeming factor). Dahl's bit about human beans and how they taste is hilarious, but also kind of meh. Also, the annoying treatment of the entire Middle East by the Queen of England? She should know better.
Redeeming factors:
1) Farting. I'm glad that Dahl supports farting as music. Take that mother England.
2) Hidden Humanitarian Message: BFG is quick to explain that humans are the only species that kill each other. While this is not factually true (watch the Planet Earth chimp wars), Dahl makes a nifty point. Hey kids-- even if the giants are horrible, at least they have the decency not to kill each other. Take that mankind! World Peace!
3) Anti-establishment tinge. Dahl doesn't like army or air force generals, and it shows.
4) Obvious admiration for butlers. "A man does not rise to become the Queen's butler unless he is gifted with extraordinary ingenuity, adaptability, versatility, dexterity, cunning, sophistication, sagacity, discretion and a host of other talents that neither you nor I possess." Dahl definitely has a weird butler fetish.
5) Charles Dickens = Dahl's Chickens. Freaking genius.
March 15, 2021
7.5/10
Late night, you can’t sleep. Moonlight hits your eyes so you get up to close the curtains. What do you see? Probably nothing, you just close the curtains and return to bed. That’s not the case for Sophie. She saw something, she saw him
image:
When the giant grubs her with his big arms she’s certain that he will eat her. She was wrong, not that giants don’t eat kids it’s just that this giant doesn’t eat kids or humans in general. Because this giant, this giant is the BFG (Big friendly giant). He takes her to his home and although he is a very nice guy he can’t let her go because he is afraid that she will tell everybody that giants exist and people will hunt them. However he protects her from the other 9 man eating giants.
When Sophie tells the Bfg that they must stop the other giants from eating people he sais that this can’t be done. Weird right? I mean he is a good guy why wont he help? The answer is simple, not only there are 9 of them, their all are twice the size of him.
What Sophie and the Bfg will do? They…. Come on, im not going to tell you, read it
Late night, you can’t sleep. Moonlight hits your eyes so you get up to close the curtains. What do you see? Probably nothing, you just close the curtains and return to bed. That’s not the case for Sophie. She saw something, she saw him
image:
When the giant grubs her with his big arms she’s certain that he will eat her. She was wrong, not that giants don’t eat kids it’s just that this giant doesn’t eat kids or humans in general. Because this giant, this giant is the BFG (Big friendly giant). He takes her to his home and although he is a very nice guy he can’t let her go because he is afraid that she will tell everybody that giants exist and people will hunt them. However he protects her from the other 9 man eating giants.
When Sophie tells the Bfg that they must stop the other giants from eating people he sais that this can’t be done. Weird right? I mean he is a good guy why wont he help? The answer is simple, not only there are 9 of them, their all are twice the size of him.
What Sophie and the Bfg will do? They…. Come on, im not going to tell you, read it
July 15, 2017
One of my goals for 2017 is to read every book by Roald Dahl that I can get my hands on. I really enjoyed re-reading this book, since I haven't read it since middle school.
In the middle of the night many people are eaten by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG. However, Sophie is lucky! She is captured by the BFG. He is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is nice and caring. When Sophie finds out that other giants eat people, she makes it her goal to stop them.
In the middle of the night many people are eaten by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG. However, Sophie is lucky! She is captured by the BFG. He is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is nice and caring. When Sophie finds out that other giants eat people, she makes it her goal to stop them.
October 25, 2021
بدون تردید رولد دال یکی از محبوبترین داستان نویسان کودکه که بیشتر از کودکان، بزرگسالان کتابهاش رو میخونن و عاشقشن.
این داستان فانتزی، یکی از محبوب ترین داستانهای زندگی منه. غول بزرگ مهربونی که شبها وقتی ما خوابیم، از جلوی پنجره مون رد میشه و رویاهای شیرین بهمون هدیه میده. همه خوابهای خوب و شیرینی که میبینیم رو بی اف جی بهمون بخشیده.
این داستان فانتزی، یکی از محبوب ترین داستانهای زندگی منه. غول بزرگ مهربونی که شبها وقتی ما خوابیم، از جلوی پنجره مون رد میشه و رویاهای شیرین بهمون هدیه میده. همه خوابهای خوب و شیرینی که میبینیم رو بی اف جی بهمون بخشیده.
September 7, 2016
I grinned from ear to ear, I laughed out loud, and I even nodded in grave seriousness. These are the reactions The BFG had evoked from me.
(If you're amused or puzzled at the poor usage of grammar and spellings, I don't quite blame you.)
This was so delightful! Roald Dahl’s crammed in a lot of odd, new words in here - as usual - and they often cracked me up. What's more, The BFG is also ironic at times and it put me to ponder about the ways of humans.
The Big Friendly Giant is the only one of his kind to disapprove of eating human beings. He was out one night, blowing dreams into sleeping children’s windows when he was spotted by Sophie.
In his hand went and then, he kidnapped her right out of the orphanage bedroom!
The two shared a couple of long conversations about all sorts of topics (some conversations is quite silly, some make you wonder). Before long, they realized they had to do something about the man-eating giants.
This was full of adventures. I think any kids could easily have loved this. I've also come to appreciate Dahl’s wry humour and his new never-been-seen-on-dictionaries vocabularies have marked his writing style as unique.
It was the movie trailer that pushed me to read the written work and I have no regrets. I can't wait to see how it all played out onscreen!
‘Human beans is the only animals that is killing their own kind. Even poisnowse snakes is never killing each other. Nor is the most fearsome creatures like tigers and rhinostossterisses. None of them is ever killing their own kind. Has you ever thought about that?’
- The BFG
(If you're amused or puzzled at the poor usage of grammar and spellings, I don't quite blame you.)
This was so delightful! Roald Dahl’s crammed in a lot of odd, new words in here - as usual - and they often cracked me up. What's more, The BFG is also ironic at times and it put me to ponder about the ways of humans.
The Big Friendly Giant is the only one of his kind to disapprove of eating human beings. He was out one night, blowing dreams into sleeping children’s windows when he was spotted by Sophie.
In his hand went and then, he kidnapped her right out of the orphanage bedroom!
The two shared a couple of long conversations about all sorts of topics (some conversations is quite silly, some make you wonder). Before long, they realized they had to do something about the man-eating giants.
This was full of adventures. I think any kids could easily have loved this. I've also come to appreciate Dahl’s wry humour and his new never-been-seen-on-dictionaries vocabularies have marked his writing style as unique.
It was the movie trailer that pushed me to read the written work and I have no regrets. I can't wait to see how it all played out onscreen!
November 5, 2019
Loved the characters in this story, especially the BFG! A real "twistytongue" but still one of my favourite read-alouds!
May 31, 2020
شخصیت سوفی و غول بزرگ مهربان خیلی زیاد دوستداشتنی و شیرین بودن و من مجذوب نحوهی روایت داستان از نشر ماهآوا شدم. احساس میکردم یه دختربچهام که داره به یه قصهی جذاب بانمک گوش میده.
امتیازم بهش ۵ بود تا یک چهارم نهایی کتاب که یه مقدار از فاز اصلی خارج و جذابیتش برای دختر کوچولوی درونم کم شد.
در مجموع خیلی دوستش داشتم و توصیه میکنم اگر قصد خوندنشو دارید، نسخهی صوتیش رو از ماهآوا بگیرید و گوش بدین. اولیپن بار بود که به نظرم نسخهی صوتی یه کتاب از متنیشم بهتر بود.
امتیازم بهش ۵ بود تا یک چهارم نهایی کتاب که یه مقدار از فاز اصلی خارج و جذابیتش برای دختر کوچولوی درونم کم شد.
در مجموع خیلی دوستش داشتم و توصیه میکنم اگر قصد خوندنشو دارید، نسخهی صوتیش رو از ماهآوا بگیرید و گوش بدین. اولیپن بار بود که به نظرم نسخهی صوتی یه کتاب از متنیشم بهتر بود.
January 25, 2023
Herein, a Nicholas Nickleby-reading, dream-blowing, runt giant (he is only 24 feet tall) with super hearing kidnaps a young girl (Sophie) from an orphanage, after she sees him out and about.
“‘I did not steal you very much’, said the BFG, smiling gently” (p. 54).
When Sophie finds out what the other, larger giants are doing on a regular basis, the race to stop them is on. Along the way, we have to question whether humans need to be stopped, too:
“She was beginning to wonder whether humans were actually any better than giants” (p. 79).
What are the giants doing that is so evil? Eating another type of animal, besides themselves—namely, people (or “human beans”)! And, specifically, they are eating children who they pluck out of beds at night! In fact, I think it is accurate to characterize this as a relatively scary kids horror story. On top of the child-eating, there is talk of executions (“We are chopping off people’s heads like you are chopping parsley,” p. 174). In other words, I would hesitate to give this to a very young child to read, especially if the child is disposed to being frightened.
“Little chiddlers is not so tough to eat as old grandmamma, so says the Childchewing Giant” (p. 76).
“‘I did not steal you very much’, said the BFG, smiling gently” (p. 54).
When Sophie finds out what the other, larger giants are doing on a regular basis, the race to stop them is on. Along the way, we have to question whether humans need to be stopped, too:
“She was beginning to wonder whether humans were actually any better than giants” (p. 79).
What are the giants doing that is so evil? Eating another type of animal, besides themselves—namely, people (or “human beans”)! And, specifically, they are eating children who they pluck out of beds at night! In fact, I think it is accurate to characterize this as a relatively scary kids horror story. On top of the child-eating, there is talk of executions (“We are chopping off people’s heads like you are chopping parsley,” p. 174). In other words, I would hesitate to give this to a very young child to read, especially if the child is disposed to being frightened.
“Little chiddlers is not so tough to eat as old grandmamma, so says the Childchewing Giant” (p. 76).
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