Friday, May 16, 2014

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (Review)



 Series: Charlie Bucket #1
Genre: Fantasy
Book Length: 155 pages
Publication Date: June 1st, 1998 (original publication date: January 1st, 1964)
Publisher: Puffin
Format: Paperback

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Synopsis:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, along with Roald Dahl's other tales for younger readers, make him a true star of children's literature. Dahl seems to know just how far to go with his oddball fantasies; in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for example, nasty Violet Beauregarde blows up into a blueberry from sneaking forbidden chewing gum, and bratty Augustus Gloop is carried away on the river of chocolate he wouldn't resist. In fact, all manner of disasters can happen to the most obnoxiously deserving of children because Dahl portrays each incident with such resourcefulness and humor.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a singular delight, crammed with mad fantasy, childhood justice and revenge, and as much candy as you can eat.
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Let me clarify something real quick before going into this review. I absolutely ADORE the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, despite this is my first time reading the actual book. Like most children, I have seen the first movie when I young, and I absolutely LOVED it. And even now, it is still one of my favorite movies of all time.

Without going into too much detail, I will just say this: The original movie was just so magical and has a certain charm to it that it still has this very day, and it makes me love and want to rewatch it over and over and over again. The remake was good and it did follow the book more accurately than the original adaptation, but I personally still love the original.

Now, onto the actual book. Since I mentioned that I absolutely adore this story, I naturally already has love for this because again, it's one of my favorite stories ever. Not like City of Bones or Cinder or If I Stay, but it's just one of those stories that sticks with you forever. And this is what I think when I think about the classic story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Anyway, let's talk about the differences between the movies (since you should have already seen at least one of the movies) and the book. For this, I will be describing the differences between the remake and the book itself, since the one with Johnny Depp is more accurate than the original movie. The adaption was pretty good from the book. It did follow how  the Bucket family was poor, at least half of the crazy inventions from the book, and how the children were punished. Both the book and the movie are dark in their respective ways, but I did enjoy it.

I'm going to stop talking about the movie(s) for real this time, but if you do want me to discuss this, just ask me and I'll do it!

Now, primarily focusing on the book. The characters were either A; wonderful and I just loved them, or B; annoying as hell. And most of the characters fell in the latter due to the fact that most of the other characters were the

children or their parents. Now, since I have seen both movies at least five or ten times, for the two of the three main characters, I've never had a solid picture of them.
Willy Wonka: Mostly Johnny Depp, but sometimes Gene Wilder would find his way in.
Grandpa Joe: Mostly the second movie, but sometimes the one from the original
Charlie: Second movie.The other children, I pictured from the second movie.

The plot and the world, if you have been reading this entire review you should now that I already love and adore this world and plot. There just seems to be something so magical about this plot and story that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Everything in this story is just so memorable and unique and special and I will always remember this until the end.

I'm sorry about that, I am just having a Nostalgia Blind moment. But I just don't know how else I can describe this story and world.

In the end, I gave Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a 4/5 stars. Even though it is the original story, this isn't my favorite way the story has been told (my favorite would be the original movie), but I will love always this  story and I know I will reread this someday. This story is just so magical and it will always mean so much to me.

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