Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

What do I love about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl? Everything. This is one of my childhood favorites. (I don't know how many times--more than two less than six--I probably read this one growing up.) But I recently, last week, read it for the Book to Movie Challenge. I loved the story. I loved the characters. (Especially Charlie and Grandpa Joe.) I loved the humor. Those oompa-loompa songs are just too much fun! I loved the illustrations. (For the record, the illustrations were by Joseph Schindelman). So when I said everything, I meant everything.

For the few that may not be familiar with the story, Charlie Bucket is a young boy, a poor boy, who wins a Golden Ticket--one of five--and is allowed into the ever-so-mysterious chocolate factory owned by Willy Wonka. Why is it so mysterious? The factory closed down years ago--spies in the company selling secrets--and it reopened years later. But no one ever goes in or out of the factory. The gates remain closed. Who are these "mystery" workers? Is Wonka as 'out there' as he seems?

I love the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie as well. The new one. Not that dreadful, dreadful one. Why? It follows the book better. It capture the *essence* of the book. It has the heart and soul of the original even if they change a few details now and then. What do I love most about the movie? A lot of the dialogue comes straight from the book. Not all of it. But enough that when you reread the book you see examples on practically every page. The songs especially are authentic to the book. When you read the book, you hear the songs from this movie. They have brought it to life. What they added to the movie that wasn't in the book was the fact that Willy Wonka's father was a dentist and that they had a strained relationship was an odd twist. In the movie, he had a reluctance to embrace families. He was a loner. In the book, he didn't have this 'odd' quirk and was more than willing to embrace the whole Bucket family from the start. Even though the movie didn't get it quite right at the end, they redeemed it enough where I could accept it.

Do I love Charlie and the Glass Elevator? No. Not really. Not at all. But the first one is classic. It's an unforgettable rags-to-riches story of a deserving boy who finally gets a break.

Of interest:

http://www.hbook.com/history/magazine/camerondahl.asp

Seafaring Challenge

I Heart Paperbacks is hosting a challenge, the Seafaring Challenge. The challenge officially starts November 1, 2007 and runs through January 31rst. The basic criteria for a challenge book is simply this: it must feature something nautical. See the site for official rules and suggestions. The site to post links to reviews is here.

My goal is to reach the fourth rank--admiral--by reading four books.

Here are my choices:

The Redemption by M.L. Tyndall
The Reliance by M.L. Tyndall
The Restitution by M.L. Tyndall
Swiss Family Robins by Johann Wyss

Alternates:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
68 Knots by Michael Robert Evans
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson

Lost Boys

I read Lost Boys for the R.I.P. II Challenge, the Cardathon Challenge which I'm hosting, and the Read the Author Challenge. I had avoided it for years quite honestly because it is not really my kind of book. The premise is simple, what if a boy's "imaginary" friends weren't imaginary. What if they were ghosts. What if a boy's changed behavior wasn't the result of a cross-country move, what if their new house was the burial ground for kidnapped and murdered children. What if he was the only one who could see them, hear them, talk with them. What if no one believed your story. Meet Stevie. A young boy--seven and eight--who is the 'sensitive' one in his family. Thought to be odd by his classmates, Steve's insight isn't as imaginary as folks think. The oldest child--with two younger siblings and another on the way--the year of 1983 is a living nightmare. His father, devastated by the economic recession gets a job as a writer of computer manuals. He was a game programmer. A rather successful one. The mother is lost in taking care of her children and busying herself with church work. Neither is quite aware of the dangers that await them in this small town in North Carolina.

It's an uncomfortable read that never gets any easier. Why? It paints the horrors of humanity--the depravity of man--in a thoroughly realistic and haunting way. Though there is 'one' main threat, the sickness and cruelty of the human race surround this family. The coworker who is a bit too insistent on babysitting. The teacher whose cruelty is just unspeakable. The neighbor who is quite possibly certifiably crazy yet off his medication. And then there is the serial killer/child molester. This seemingly "normal" and "safe" neighborhood is anything but. And that is what makes Lost Boys so scary. The fact that even though these are cautious parents who want only the best for their children, in some ways they are helpless to protect them. It is what you don't know that may come back to haunt you when all is said and done.

Bibliography Challenge

The Bibliography Challenge is being hosted by Historia.

This is the Bibliography Challenge. The Challenge is to read 3 Books about Books. This challenge starts October 1st. And finishes December 31st. Fiction or Non Fiction, Crossovers are acceptable.Your books can be about books, about running a bookshop, about antiquarian books, being a book editor, about Publishing Books or a Book Publishing company, about a lifetime of reading, even a biography of an Author is fine. As long as its about Books in some way.

My books:

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Pass It Down: Five Picture Book Families Make Their Mark by Leonard S. Marcus

Alternate: I may if I have time listen to The Book Thief on audio. Time being the key word.

Something About America

Testa, Maria. 2005. Something About America.

Told in the first-person-narrative through a series of revealing poems, SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA will seem so HONEST and so REAL that you'll be tempted to think it's NONFICTION instead of FICTION. SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA features a fictional heroine who has immigrated from Kosova, Albania, with her parents ten years ago. When the narrator was three or four, she was burned. The family escaped their war-torn country seeking refuge in a land with burn centers and facilities able to help their daughter recover. Her father had always dreamed of freedom in America, but years after 9/11, the father is tired of having everyone look at him with suspicion because he is a FOREIGNER. He's tired of being seen as un-American. But the daughter considers herself an American. She can't really remember her former home or former life. The father is torn between returning to his country, which is no longer at war, and staying in America and making a new life. When members of their town voice a protest against the growing number of foreigners, the father makes his decision and makes a counter-protest to show his patriotism and devotion to America and his commitment to his daughter. The poems are well-written. The voice of the character is very well done. She's a well-developed and believable character.