Throwback Thursday: Matilda


Throwback Thursday is a new feature at Reading Lark. We'll still be doing some Book Boyfriend Posts and Book BFF Posts on Thursdays as well, but the Larks wanted a little variety on Thursdays. Throwback Thursday will allow us to celebrate some of the reads we loved way back when...

Matilda
By: Roald Dahl
Release Date: 1988


This is one of the first novels I can remember checking out from the library in elementary school. I was so excited to finally be able to read a "big kid" book. I loved the idea of this one because Matilda was also elementary school aged and she loved to read. I found her adventures to be exciting and terrifying. The Trunchbull was a villain that gave me nightmares! Matilda was also one of the first characters that made me feel a deep sense of empathy; I hated how she was treated by her family. I loved the magical realism of this one.


Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there's the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Mrs. ("The") Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.

She warms up with some practical jokes aimed at her hapless parents, but the true test comes when she rallies in defense of her teacher, the sweet Miss Honey, against the diabolical Trunchbull. There is never any doubt that Matilda will carry the day. Even so, this wonderful story is far from predictable. Roald Dahl, while keeping the plot moving imaginatively, also has an unerring ear for emotional truth. The reader cares about Matilda because in addition to all her other gifts, she has real feelings.

Comments

  1. I'm reading this to my little sister right now! It's the first time for us both, and I'm loving it (she's struggling to understand, hahaha).

    Amazing TBT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad to hear you're reading it! It's still one of my favorites. :)

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