My favorite...
I am trying to decide what my favorite childhood book is/was. Do I go for one of the Hardy Boy books because I remember my father reading them to me aloud? I know it was one of the early books but I don't remember the title. I think it is more of the memory of being in my pajamas as a seven or eight year old and having my father reading aloud to me.
My other choice would be Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I remember having it read aloud to me by Mrs. Comeau my grade 3 teacher, and later reading it myself. I was always amused by Mike Teevee and his preoccupation with TV, Augustus Gloop and his preoccupation with food, Veruca Salt and her preoccupation with herself, and Violet Beauregarde with her gum chewing. My favorite character had to be Grampa Joe and his zest for life after being bedridden for so long.
I think what appealed to me about Charlie and his adventures was the fact that there was humor involved. You may have noticed that I have a bit of a sense of humor, and humor to me is very important. Each of the minor characters met an unfortunate end by their own preoccupation and these endings were always amusing- at least to me.
If you are wondering... I have only seen bits of the Gene Wilder movie version, I have not seen the Johnny Depp version. I am not sure I want to. Movies can destroy a good book or can make a good book better.
I usually would add an image of one of these books. I have tried, and instead I hope to show you a picture of my dog- Athena. It was her birthday yesterday. Happy birthday Athena! She's at the top of my entry. I really miss her.
posted by Graham at 9:55 AM
1 Comments:
I hated the Gene Wilder version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So did Roald Dahl, it was done without his endorsement. The new Tim Burton/ Johnny Depp version is great. Although Roald Dahl is dead, his family did cooporate in the production and approved of this recent film. I think Burton did a fantastic job of keeping with Dahl's vision for the book. There are some differences but I think the film is still wonderful.
I think an important thing in reading books and watching films of them is to remember everyone has a different images and responses to literature. The film does not incvalidate our own versions, but is just the visual representation of soemone else's. And having said that, I still think the Gene Wilder version was hideous. It really didn't stay true to the author's vision.
10:25 AM
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