Matilda (by Roald Dahl)

(Amazon UK link)

Last night, we watched the DVD of the 1996 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book ‘Matilda’. Despite it being set in the US rather than the UK, I was pretty sure that it kept fairly closely to the story. Not that it mattered much; the film was excellent. Even for people like us who are several decades older than the intended audience. 

This morning I decided to check a few pages of the book, wondering whether (as in the film) it started with Matilda as a newborn…

The book actually starts with a few pages detailing the way that most parents consider their children to be the most wonderful, talented people in the world even when they are not. It then contrasts this with Mr and Mrs Wormwood, who tolerate their son Michael but think very little of their daughter Matilda. Which, the book states, would be bad enough if she were ordinary. But Matilda is an extraordinary little girl, who taught herself to read at three from the magazines lying around the house...

Once I’d finished the first chapter, naturally I kept going, and read the whole book in a couple of sittings.  It’s about 230 pages but they’re easy to read, with line drawings here and there, and text that’s a bit large than the novels I usually read. The line drawings are by Quentin Blake with his easily recognisable style, and undoubtedly add to the enjoyment of the book. 

Roald Dahl created some extraordinarily appalling characters. Matilda’s parents are bad enough. They care nothing for education, and like to spend their time watching poor quality TV, eating junk food. Her father is a used car salesman who takes pride in cheating his customers, and her mother spends her time on her face and hair, and playing bingo.  

But the star villain of this story is the dreadful, frightening Miss Trunchbull, headmistress of the school where Matilda is sent. She is a former athletic champion, big built and strong, and she hates children. She bullies them, terrorises them, and expects instant obedience. She’s a horrendous caricature of a twisted army major, and while some children would probably find her funny, she might give nightmares to others. 

Happily Matilda’s teacher is the opposite of Miss Trunchbull in almost every way. Miss Honey is quiet, caring, and very interested in her brilliant new pupil. For Matilda reads Charles Dickens for fun, and does complex arithmetic in her head. Miss Honey lives in a small cottage with no real furniture, while Miss Trunchbull is in a large house. 

To add to Matilda’s uniqueness, she discovers that she can manipulate inanimate objects with her mind. This leads to all kinds of trouble before she thinks of a way to solve the problem of Miss Trunchbull and have a happy ending for Miss Honey. 

Dahl’s books aren’t supposed to be taken seriously, and most of them have some dubious ethics even from the ‘good’ characters. This is no exception, not just because of Matilda’s unusual powers, but because she believes she has the right to take revenge: to punish her father or Miss Trunchbull for times they treat her unfairly. And while Matilda’s actions usually lead to amusing results, and nobody had taught her any kind of ethical or moral behaviour anyway, it seemed a bit cold-blooded that she would add up her wrongs and try to pay them back.

But other than that little niggle, I thought it a very enjoyable book despite having seen the film the evening before. Definitely recommended to children of about six or seven who read for themselves, or as a read-aloud.  

Review copyright 2024 Sue's Book Reviews