Roald Dahl
17/08/12 06:20
When our family is together, he lines of conversation are often fascinating. Last night we had the joy of reading stories to our grandson at his bedtime. After we said good night to him we adjourned to the living room where we continued our conversation. We had in our minds the process of reading to children and soon our conversation drifted from a report of Susan getting bitten by chiggers in Missouri to looking up a picture of the mites. From there, we were discussing insects in general and Isaac was explaining the difference between a centipede and a millipede. A centipede has one leg on each side of each body segment. A millipede has two legs on each side of each body segment. I asked him where he learned that and he said that it is in the book, “James and the Giant Peach” by Roald Dahl.
We were impressed that he remembered the story. Susan recalled that it was the first “chapter book” that she read to him when he was a young child. He recalled the plot of the book to us, which prompted us to look up a summary of the book and read it once again. His memory of the story was very accurate. When you read to children, they really do listen. And reading instills in them a life-long love of reading and learning.
We read several books by Roald Dahl to our children when they were growing up. The most famous ones are probably the ones that were adapted into movies like “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” But Dahl was a very productive author, writing 17 children’s books and three volumes of children’s poetry. He also wrote two adult novels and about twenty collections of short stories for adults. In addition, there are works of nonfiction, screen plays and two plays for the stage. He also wrote for television, including a half dozen episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”
One thing that was interesting from our research last night was that we found we had been reading his children’s books almost as soon as they were published. We must have read “The BFG” within a couple of years and “Matilda” the year it came out.
Dahl’s life spanned a series of adventures. He was born to Norwegian parents in Wales and grew up speaking Norwegian at home and English in school. At the age of eight he and four of his friends were caned by the headmaster of their school for putting a dead mouse in a jar of gobstoppers at a local candy shop owned by a “mean and loathsome woman” names Mrs. Pratchett. Dahl later referred to the incident as “The Great Mouse Plot of 1924.” He later attended a boarding school and became a fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force. He was named an Ace for his victories for Britain during the Second World War. After the war, he married the American actress Patricia Neal.
His ability to support himself as an author began with the sale of an article to the Saturday Evening Post. The article was about his adventures as a fighter pilot and earned him the handsome sum of $1,000, which allowed him to pursue writing full time. He wrote the book “Gremlins” based on a term that the pilots used to explain some of the mechanical problems with their planes. It was published in 1949 and from then on Dahl was able to support himself with his writing. James and the Giant Peach came out in 1961.
Fascinating to me, is the fact that some of his most productive writing came from the decade of the 1980’s, when our children were young. That meant that we were reading at the same time that he was writing. We didn’t come close to reading everything that he wrote, not even all of his children’s stories, but we read enough of them for his name to be among the well-known authors in our household.
Last night as we recalled the books and the good times we had reading, I realized that we came to know Dahl in part through the work of the last decade of his life. He died relatively young, at the age of 74, and remained a prolific author to the end of his life. Some wonderful stories came from that last decade, at an age when he might have retired.
We live in an epoch where age and experience are not particularly valued by society. Our culture is hungry for the creativity and energy of youth. In many fields of employment, youth is valued over experience. The scenario has changed dramatically in the church in the span of our careers. It used to be that age and experience were important factors in pastors obtaining calls. Larger congregations preferred pastors with significant amounts of experience. Younger and less experienced pastors tended to serve smaller congregations in rural and isolated locations with smaller salaries. However, high cost of graduate theological education and the large amounts of debt with which pastors graduate from school have combined to make “brand new” pastors too expensive for small congregations. A shortage of pastors in general has resulted in more opportunities for younger pastors to serve larger congregations. Younger pastors also serve the church in many other areas, such as conference and national positions, which in previous generations were available only to those with years and decades of experience.
While this change brings fresh energy and creative thinking to the church and is likely a blessing to the institution, it is good to be reminded that older and more experienced people still have much to offer. The story of Roald Dahl reminded me once again that people in their sixties and seventies have much to offer. As I enter that phase of my life, I still may have stories to tell and contributions to make.
In the meantime, I still have stories to read. For the next few nights, I have a grandson with a shelf of books in his room and a special reading time each evening. And, inspired by conversations with his parents, I may need to check out a few Roald Dahl books from the library. He wrote more than I have yet to read.
We were impressed that he remembered the story. Susan recalled that it was the first “chapter book” that she read to him when he was a young child. He recalled the plot of the book to us, which prompted us to look up a summary of the book and read it once again. His memory of the story was very accurate. When you read to children, they really do listen. And reading instills in them a life-long love of reading and learning.
We read several books by Roald Dahl to our children when they were growing up. The most famous ones are probably the ones that were adapted into movies like “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” But Dahl was a very productive author, writing 17 children’s books and three volumes of children’s poetry. He also wrote two adult novels and about twenty collections of short stories for adults. In addition, there are works of nonfiction, screen plays and two plays for the stage. He also wrote for television, including a half dozen episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”One thing that was interesting from our research last night was that we found we had been reading his children’s books almost as soon as they were published. We must have read “The BFG” within a couple of years and “Matilda” the year it came out.
His ability to support himself as an author began with the sale of an article to the Saturday Evening Post. The article was about his adventures as a fighter pilot and earned him the handsome sum of $1,000, which allowed him to pursue writing full time. He wrote the book “Gremlins” based on a term that the pilots used to explain some of the mechanical problems with their planes. It was published in 1949 and from then on Dahl was able to support himself with his writing. James and the Giant Peach came out in 1961.
Fascinating to me, is the fact that some of his most productive writing came from the decade of the 1980’s, when our children were young. That meant that we were reading at the same time that he was writing. We didn’t come close to reading everything that he wrote, not even all of his children’s stories, but we read enough of them for his name to be among the well-known authors in our household.
Last night as we recalled the books and the good times we had reading, I realized that we came to know Dahl in part through the work of the last decade of his life. He died relatively young, at the age of 74, and remained a prolific author to the end of his life. Some wonderful stories came from that last decade, at an age when he might have retired.
We live in an epoch where age and experience are not particularly valued by society. Our culture is hungry for the creativity and energy of youth. In many fields of employment, youth is valued over experience. The scenario has changed dramatically in the church in the span of our careers. It used to be that age and experience were important factors in pastors obtaining calls. Larger congregations preferred pastors with significant amounts of experience. Younger and less experienced pastors tended to serve smaller congregations in rural and isolated locations with smaller salaries. However, high cost of graduate theological education and the large amounts of debt with which pastors graduate from school have combined to make “brand new” pastors too expensive for small congregations. A shortage of pastors in general has resulted in more opportunities for younger pastors to serve larger congregations. Younger pastors also serve the church in many other areas, such as conference and national positions, which in previous generations were available only to those with years and decades of experience.
While this change brings fresh energy and creative thinking to the church and is likely a blessing to the institution, it is good to be reminded that older and more experienced people still have much to offer. The story of Roald Dahl reminded me once again that people in their sixties and seventies have much to offer. As I enter that phase of my life, I still may have stories to tell and contributions to make.
In the meantime, I still have stories to read. For the next few nights, I have a grandson with a shelf of books in his room and a special reading time each evening. And, inspired by conversations with his parents, I may need to check out a few Roald Dahl books from the library. He wrote more than I have yet to read.