Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl

Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

The mysterious and most wondrous inventor Willy Wonka is opening the gates of his Chocolate Factory for just one day, and for Charlie Bucket it promises to be a mouth-watering chance to feast his eyes on sweets beyond his wildest imagination. The new stage musical, presented by Warner Bros, is directed by Sam Mendes, the Academy award-winning and theatre director.

• ISBN13: 9780141347264
• Publish Date: 20 May 2013 (first published 12 September 1964)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Puffin
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Roald Dahl was a go-to author for me growing up. I loved the magical worlds he built, the palaces made of chocolate, trained squirrels and gobstoppers create a unique story that is absolutely scrumptious.

The characters Roald Dahl draws in his books bounce off the wall Monty Python style. Willy Wonka was crazy like a fox and not only would think wood, ducks and churches would sink but could find a way to achieve the impossible. Out of the children, Veruca Salt was my favorite, yes theoretically it should be Charlie Bucket but there is just something about dear Veruca and her incessant "Daddy I want..." that reels me in and keeps me entertained.

Granted, the story itself is all unbelievable (I mean seriously, who builds a palace out of chocolate?) but in the entire book, I found Grandpa Joe the least engaging and found it hard to take that he would stay in bed for years but suddenly pop out from under the sheets over a bar of chocolate? Puh-lease!

However, as a whole Roald Dahl created an imaginative world where I could taste snozzberries, hear the gates to Wonka's factory creak close and form a smile over the Oompa Loompa's dietary needs of cacao beans and their biting songs. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a childhood classic when I read it 20 years ago and after this nostalgic reread feel that it remains so.This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews

[thepunktheory]

Book vs. Movie:
I can't even tell you how much I love the movie adaptation with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. This film is truly magical. Although I am not a big fan of musical, I can sing along to each song in this one. Mel Stuart created a colorful world that invites you to dream.

So, I was pretty excited to finally check out the book. The one I got from the library also feature some illustrations, that means double fun, right?
Turns out, it's not. First of all, I disliked the pictures. There were not near as exciting or lovely as any part of the movie. In fact all the drawings seemed dull and boring, I definitely expected something better.
However, the book itself also let me down a bit. Usually the adaptations are not as impressive as the novel but in this case it's the other way round. To be honest, not only the drawings felt a little lifeless. The story itself and the picture Roald Dahl paints with his words is not nearly as breath-taking and entertaining as the film. It's a decent story but you don't get dragged in, you don't end up wishing you could actually visit Willy Wonka factory. Moreover, Gene Wilder's interpretation of Mr. Wonka was by far funny than how he was depicted in the book. This being a story for children you'd expect it to be silly or a bit more imaginative.

Summing up I can clearly vote for the film in this case. The adaptation is far lovelier than the book!

[Kelly]

Love it even all these years later.
Review to come.

[kimbacaffeinate]

A much darker version then the movie. I really enjoyed this.

[Eve1972]

Read this when I was in grade school!