June 10, 2005

The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre opens to the public tomorrow, June 11, in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.

A launch party for invited guests is being held on Friday 10 June - but we can confirm absolutely that Johnny Depp is not coming! Roald Dahl passed away in 1990, but his legacy continues unabated. First published anonymously in 1942, Shot Down Over Libya was his account of his famous 1940 RAF crash in the Libyan desert. One of my favorites, Revolting Rhymes. An excerpt of The Three Little Pigs So anyone excited about the upcoming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Or is Hollywood about to damage another classic?

posted by sugarmilktea 18 years ago
  • ))) for the link to the Pig poem!!! Hadn't realized Mr. Dahl had pig penned on this topic. Delightful, sugatmilktea.
  • Slightly related, the DVD box set of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected came out recently, and I've been wracking my brain for ways to justify the expense to Mrs. Pettle. I used to watch that every Sunday afternoon, and John Housman's voice never failed to creep me out. A wise man believes only...in LIES... Trusts only...in the ABSURD... And learns to EXPECT....THE UNEXPECTED! Great stuff.
  • Hmm... Just saw the trailer for the new movie for the first time. Color me: quietly optimistic.
  • My whole perception of Mr. Dahl changed after reading My Uncle Oswald. What a naughty monkey, a deliciously naughty monkey.
  • I loved his autobiographies, which we had read to us at school one year. I keep meaning to buy them for my son (and myself, of course). Revolting Rhymes is a classic and every kid should own a copy. Likewise James and the Giant Peach. Who was the illustrator for most of his books? He had such a distinctive style...ah, Quentin Blake, yes.
  • OMG, he was my favorite childhood author. I can't tell you how many times I have re-read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James and the Giant Peach". Dang it, now I have to go to England. I am terribly excited to hear they spent $2 million USD to train squirrels for the Burton/Depp version of the Factory...
  • Dahl was, of course, an utterly repellent shit as a person. Bloody good writer, though.
  • "A turtle steak's better than a beefsteak if you cook it right. It's more tender and it's got one heck of a flavor." - excerpt from "The Boy Who Talked with Animals" Thanks for the Quentin Blake link tracicle!
  • What flashboy said, but this of course has nothing to do with his ability to write, or his writings.