There’s no need to introduce Roald Dahl… he is beloved writer for children and an author of many, many books. And also books that have been turned into films. I recently reviewed Witches, which I disliked, not to mention that the film version for Witches scared me to bits when I was a little human bean. Yet now BFG, first published in 1982, is coming out as movie, so I decided that it is time to read it.
The BFG is a story about a giant, one of ten who currently live in the Giant country and it happens so that he meets Sophie with whom the giant shares his life, general things and information about giants, his favourite things to do and also the dreadful habits of the rest of giants. It is a children fairy tale about the adventures of BFG and Sophie.
I picked this book up only because of the trailer – it looked really magical and seemed like it could be a pretty good film and I sure hope it is.
The writing in this book was really nice, I enjoyed the many puns (like ‘beings’ were turned into ‘beans’ in giant conversations) that were used in this book and often they made me smile. I got really curious though about how this book is translated into other languages (so if you have examples, please let me know). The reference to Jack the Giant slayer was pretty awesome too, I happened to catch onto it with the first sentence although I haven’t read that fairy tale!
Names for all the giants though I found a little bit of a mouthful, especially because they are named pretty much all at the same time and I just couldn’t remember who preferred Wellington and who Jersey, if you know what I mean. I think it would and could give a bit more character to the giants, if I could distinguish them from one another, yet at the same time, it gives the place for an adult to expand, if (s)he is reading this book to his/her child. I like that it gives the chance to interact and add own bits to the story.
As characters, I found that I liked the Elizabeth the most as well as her butler. Although they had rather short scenes, I found them to be my favourites. I especially enjoyed the part about setting the table ready. It was cute and funny at the same time.
What I didn’t really like about the book was a tiny thing. The BFG seems like a very sensible and sensitive being, who respects life and surroundings, so it makes sense that he disapproves other giants’ doing and is vegetarian. Yet, it strikes me weird (and I believe so it has done with many other people) that he is feasting with eggs, bacon and sausages. I get that vegetarianism wasn’t that big of a thing when this book was written and I don’t expect it to, yet I feel like it goes against the idea Sophie and BFG stand for. And somehow it at the end shows that after all, the human’s life is a lot more important than animals, which is a really strong thing to say in a kids book.
I am not a vegetarian (well sometimes I am, but for different reasons than this book offers), but it still seems weird from the aspect of logic.
And the other thing that threw me off was the ending – what happened to the giants. It again implied that eating humans is bad, but animals – just fine. Although human is an animal from the biological aspect, yet they punish one while allow the other.
This made it hard for me to rate the book – I really liked it at the beginning, but the more these things, that seemed to oppose ideas mentioned before, happened the more I started to dislike it. I am still quite excited about the film and I really hope it is going to be as magical as I hope, but this book with its ending and the ideas that I didn’t like got three stars out of five on my goodreads page. It was a sure four star rating before all changed up. I also have read that this book is outdated, but I am not sure where I stand on this, I would guess, they are still talking about the vegetarian thing…
I also thought that the fact that I read this book in a plane when flying back from Rome might change my decisions, but actually I feel like it had no impact whatsoever and I think this was the first book in a flight that I actually read, instead of just carrying around with me and never using.
Let me know, if you have read the book and what you think of the upcoming movie and it’s trailer in the comment section below! I am really, really excited about it and hope it’s going to me amazing!
March 13, 2016 at 00:55
Oh man, the Witches movie scared the bajeeps out of me when I was a kid too! That little girl trapped in that painting, oh my gosh! You raise some good points about this book, I’m keen to give it a read- I remember enjoying James and the Giant Peach when I was younger, and I like Dahl’s short stories. Great review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 13, 2016 at 09:28
I am so happy that someone feels the same way! 😀
LikeLike
March 13, 2016 at 03:15
I find Roald Dahl to be hit-and-miss when it comes to the children’s books. I didn’t like The BFG or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But I did like James and the Giant Peach. Matilda is one of my favorite books.
I love Dahl’s adult short stories most though. They really are horror gems. Check them out if you like to be spooked.
Great review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 13, 2016 at 09:27
It is similar for me, everyone hated me for saying that Witches is outdated and genuinely scary (and wrong), if read by child alone. Yet, when I was a child, Matilda was also one of my favourite books.
I haven’t read enough of him to judge properly though. And thanks for the tip, will see, if I am interested! 🙂
LikeLike
March 13, 2016 at 08:16
I haven’t read this book, but your review make me want to read it as soon as possible.
¡Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 13, 2016 at 14:26
You should watch the original BFG film 🙂 It’s really good.
LikeLike
March 14, 2016 at 13:22
There’s one already? I had no idea!
LikeLike
March 13, 2016 at 16:35
I’m in a book club that read this last year, and I had mixed feelings about it. Mostly the language got kind of annoying à la Jar-Jar Binks. I’d never really considered the double-standard of eating animals. That’s a good point.
LikeLike
March 13, 2016 at 18:36
You should so check out “Danny, The Champion of the World”. Dahl actually happens to be my favourite author.
One thing to keep in mind while reading his books is that he loves dark humour. Its presence is not blatant but nuances of it are definitely there.
Keeping this in mind, do give some of his other books a try! You won’t be disappointed!
LikeLiked by 2 people
March 14, 2016 at 13:23
Matilda was my favourite book as a child, but I am planing to slowly go through his books and become familiar. I feel like he’s a legend of a writer and I should read at least part to his books in order to be able to participate in talks about him!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 14, 2016 at 14:31
Matilda remains to this day, one of my all time favourite books by Dahl.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 15, 2016 at 03:53
I haven’t read this book since I was little. REading your review makes me want to reread and see how I’ll feel about it as an adult!
LikeLike
April 6, 2016 at 18:16
I was a big fan of Dahl’s stories as a kid. (I still love them, honestly.) I’m looking forward to seeing the movie just because I like to see how cinema interprets his writing. Like I thought Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory captured Dahl’s tone/style better than the 1971 version, but I think Gene Wilder was a better Wonka than Johnny Depp.
As an earlier commenter said, Dahl tends to weave his stories with a slightly macabre tone but without being nasty. As for The BFG itself…I think it (and the animated movie that came out years ago) influenced me a lot. Especially the idea of collecting dreams. I love that concept of him gathering them.
Good point about the vegetarian angle and the human vs animals (even if humans are biologically animals too). When I re-read it last year, I didn’t even notice that. (here’s a link to my response, if you’re curious: https://amandadbat.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/the-bfg/) But yeah, it feels like a contradiction.
I agree that the story starts out stronger than how it ends. But overall, I like it. (James and the Giant Peach is probably my favorite, followed by The Twits and The Witches.)
LikeLike
April 8, 2016 at 11:05
I read the BFG and have watched the original animated movie but as always Disney has got to make a better version of the movie. To be honest, I think the BFG was a magical book and I remember loving every minute of it. I was evn more excited to watch the movie! The book, now that I look back on it, did have some flaws. I totally agree with you about Sophie and BFG and the animal business. My favourite scenes however were when they would catch dreams! I found them so magical! I read the BFG along time ago and so I might read it again and publish a review.
LikeLiked by 1 person
April 18, 2016 at 23:31
We (my six year old and I) are currently reading James and the Giant Peach. It’s lovely, Mr Dahl certainly knows how to paint a picture of a baddie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
April 28, 2016 at 13:12
I just love this book! ❤ My favorite one by Dahl. Haven't seen the trailer yet but I'M really excited about the upcoming movie!
LikeLiked by 1 person