Better Left Forgotten

Title: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Published: 1972
Pages: 159

Reading Time: December 5-December 7, 2009.

Plot Teaser:
Mr. Willy Wonka might be a genius with chocolate, but Charlie's family doesn't trust his flying skills one bit. And right now, he's at the helm of a giant glass elevator that's picking up speed and hurtling through space - with Charlie and the entire Bucket family stuck inside. As the elevator zips and zooms through the stratosphere, its passengers visit the world's first space hotel, battle the dreaded Vermicious Knids, discover reverse-aging pills, and - whether they know it or not - save the world. In this uproarious sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl whisks his beloved characters along a remarkable, intergalactic joyride - and another magical fantasy adventure.

How I Got It:
As mentioned before, this is a borrowed set from Brossard, Quebec, and it belongs to my girlfriend. Now that I have finished it, it will likely be making its way back to the poutine province. I will say that it really is an impressive looking set, though!


The Review:
One of the things I enjoyed about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was its sense of pacing; it had a natural flow and order to it. Not only that, but the events were not entirely predictable and they were always entertaining. However, in this direct sequel to Dahl's much-loved story, I am sad to say that while Dahl tries really hard to maintain a sense of fun and fantasy, there is very little guiding this whole storyline, and it honestly feels like an afterthought. Reading this after Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is like eating a really good meal, and then being offered seconds despite being completely full. All of the flavours from the start of the meal, while similar, just do not have the same impact on your taste buds and you feel like you are just stuffing yourself for the sake of it. You also end up regretting it afterwards.

So, what went wrong with this book? As mentioned, I think the biggest culprit of its mediocrity is its lack of focus. Allow me to explain. It literally picks up right where the first book left off, and has the entire Bucket family floating through space in Willy Wonka's Great Glass Elevator. They end up inside a space hotel, which is about to be docked by American astronauts. Inside the hotel they meet up with some unsavory alien characters, the Vermicious Knids, who proceed to scare them out. There is a chase scene in which the Knids are burned up in Earth's atmosphere. Back on Earth, and now in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, Mr. Wonka offers the elder Buckets a chance to be younger. There is a long, drawn out sequence of Charlie's grandparents taking too much of an anti-aging pill, and then having to find the pill that will bring them back up to their original ages. One of the grandparents ends up taking too much of that pill, and must take the original anti-aging pill again to end up back where she started. If this sounds needless and like a waste of space, that is because it is. It was predictable and did not serve much of a purpose.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had purpose; it had a reason for its events. This book has paperthin reasons for the actions of its characters, and it feels like a bunch of stuff happening for the sake of a bunch of stuff happening. Now, I am not displeased with the book because it is not like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No. I am displeased with the book because even as a standalone adventure, it is weak and unfocused, and not very fun or entertaining. Sure, there are a couple of songs and rhymes, and the Oompa-Loompas even make a return appearance, but the end result is still one of needless excess.

In addition to its lack of focus, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator chooses to centre around the least interesting characters in this literary universe: the Bucket grandparents. None of them have any characteristics that truly distinguish them from one another, and the majority of the time they are nuisances and they act like bratty children. The final third of the book in particular is frustrating because of the back-and-forth quest aspect of the anti-aging and aging medications. Never mind that this feels like two different stories mashed into one, and I am left with a feeling of "so what," which is never good for any book.

Finally, I did not come away with anything to really think about when I finished Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Most children's books have some moral choices for the characters to make, or a greater lesson to be learned. This book has very little of either, and it feels futile as a consequence.

So, is there anything good at all about this story? Well, I suppose it is nice to see Charlie Bucket, Grandpa Joe, and Willy Wonka back in action. Quentin Blake's art is also incredibly charming and whimsical. Aside from these two things, I found this book to be a major downgrade after such a memorable predecessor. Perhaps its greatest crime is that it takes such a perfect ending in the first book, and turns it into such a miscalculated mess.

The Verdict:
While it is nice to read about these characters again, and to admire Quentin Blake's artwork, the final product feels unpolished, unfocused, and completely forgettable. By choosing to focus on uninteresting characters and providing a plot that is a giant mishmash of half ideas, Dahl sadly provides a tale that slightly tarnishes the preceding work, and one that would have been better left in a private notebook somewhere.

1.5/5

Next Up:
The Dreamfighter and Other Creation Tales by Ted Hughes.

A Reward For Good Behaviour

Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Published: 1964
Pages: 155

Reading Time: December 3-December 5, 2009.

Plot Teaser:
Augustus Gloop eats himself sick. Veruca Salt is a spoiled-rotten brat. Violet Beauregarde chews gum day and night. Mike Teavee is a television fiend. Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, is brave and true and very, very hungry. What do these five have in common? Why, they're the luckiest children in the entire world: they've each won the chance to enter Willy Wonka's famous, mysterious chocolate factory. What happens when the big doors swing open to reveal Mr. Wonka's secrets? What happens when they come upon the tiny factory workers who sing in rhyme? What happens when, one by one, the children disobey Mr. Wonka's orders? In Roald Dahl's most popular story for children, the nasty are punished and the good are deliciously, sumptuously rewarded.

How I Got It:
This is not my book. I do not remember how the conversation started exactly, but I had mentioned to my girlfriend that I had never read a Roald Dahl book. I think it might have come up in a discussion of the 2005 Tim Burton film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This was in 2008. Regardless of where or how it happened, a discussion related to Roald Dahl and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory came up, and a collection of two Roald Dahl titles, this one and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, made their way from Brossard, Quebec to Toronto, Ontario. I have put both of these books on my backlog because they were carted over for the purpose of me reading them, and I have felt bad letting them just sit there, neatly tucked into their slipcase.

The Review:
Like many people of my generation, and the generation or two before it, I was first exposed to the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory through the 1971 film directed by Mel Stuart, which bore the title Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The title was a natural choice because as much as the story was about Charlie Bucket's rise from poverty to abundance, it was Gene Wilder's intriguing portrayal of the chocolate factory owner that gave the film its playful-yet-creepy centre. Now, having had the opportunity to read the book that has inspired two major films, I must say that it is indeed Wonka's captivating presence that is the heartbeat of the story. Along with Roald Dahl's wonderful prose and Quentin Blake's childlike illustrations, Willy Wonka's ubiquity as a decorous guide gives the book a sense of devilish fun and wicked morality.

If you have read the plot teaser above, you know most of what you need to know about the plot. Centrally, the story follows five children who have discovered five golden tickets in one of Willy Wonka's candy bars, and who now have an opportunity to visit the mysterious factory of the master chocolatier. The children are each given a definining character trait that makes them easy to identify, and even easier to dislike; all aside from Charlie Bucket of course, who is a poor but honest boy. As the children and their parents make their way through the factory, each child is undone by their own flaws, and is punished by karma for their lifestyle choices up to that point. The moral of the tale seems to be that proper behaviour and honesty are eventually rewarded, while obnoxiousness, gluttony, and other despicable traits such as chewing gum or watching TV all day long, are ironically and horrifically punished. Not only is each child punished, but they are then immediately eulogized in song by Oompa-Loompas, the tiny aboriginal workers of the factory, who have a gift for rhyme and mischief.

What makes this book so delightful is that Dahl has a real talent for keeping things moving, and keeping things interesting, while not simply smashing together a load of events for the sake of action. No. Each hilarious consequence and plot point has a purpose, and Dahl keeps the ball of complete engagement rolling for the entire 157 pages of the adventure. He simply knows what children, or adults for that matter, need in a work of fiction. He gets the reader completely caught up in the action, and makes you care about what is happening. For example, when discussing the feverish atmosphere that has taken hold of the world because of Wonka's golden tickets campaign, he moves from scene to scene with a rambunctious and joyful energy.

"And now the whole country, indeed, the whole world, seemed suddenly to be caught up in a mad candy-buying spree, everybody searching frantically for those precious remaining tickets. Fully grown women were seen going into sweetshops and buying ten Wonka candy bars at a time, then tearing off the wrappers on the spot and peering eagerly underneath for a glint of golden paper. Children were taking hammers and smashing their piggy banks and running out to the shops with handfuls of money. In one city, a famous gangster robbed a bank of five thousand dollars and spent the whole lot on candy bars that same afternoon. And when the police entered his house to arrest him, they found him sitting on the floor amidst mountains of candy, ripping off the wrappers with the blade of a long dagger."

Dahl understands the importance of rhythm and verb choice in creating a story that continuously moves along. "Searching," "tearing," "peering," "smashing"; while it seems simple, Dahl's use of animated and spirited verbs shows off exactly why he was such a beloved children's author.
Alongside Dahl's lively words, the artwork of Quentin Blake is a perfect complement. He has a thin and wavery style of drawing, which makes his creations feel like they can literally burst at the seams at any moment; it is only the tenuous lines that keep the details inside the characters. His lines also are not perfect, and sometimes cut through their otherwise natural stopping points. This imperfection in his artwork adds to the sense of childlike energy and playfulness. The art feels as genuine, real, and full of life, as does the actual storyline.

So, what is the purpose of this story? It can be seen as a moral tale that is meant to scare children straight, so that they behave well and listen to their parents. Willy Wonka's non-committal responses and untamed personality make him a rascally moral guide throughout, and his "they deserved it" attitude give the book a surprising edge. However, it is interesting to note that unlike the movie, Charlie Bucket is almost invisible once the children enter the factory, and barely makes any moral decisions at all. Is the reader to take from this that kids should mind their own business and simply float on the outskirts of society, without ever really getting involved, and they will eventually be rewarded for not meddling? Nevertheless, whatever lessons are meant to be taken from the book, it is an achievement that Dahl has crafted a deceptively simple book that can be interpreted in more than a couple of ways.

The Verdict:
As a Dahl virgin, I was charmed and delighted throughout Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Its gaiety, whimsy, and wicked sense of humour give it a deserving place in the realm of childhood classics. The book will also make you crave chocolate once you are finished, and that is hardly a bad thing.

4.5/5

Next Up:
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl.