2006-03-11 - 7:36 p.m. - Danny, the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl
A strange entry in the Dahl canon, and unusual among his chapter books for children. There's no sign of the fantastic elements that tickle the imagination in, say, James and the Giant Peach or Matilda or even the relatively non-magical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; moreover, we don't get the customary gruesome attention to gristly detail - there's a villainous tycoon we're supposed to hate, but barely any time is spent on making him personally loathsome. The dialogue is restrained, there are no made-up gibberish words, and generally speaking, if you didn't know it was written by Roald Dahl, you probably wouldn't guess it.
That's not to say that Dahl fans won't enjoy it, though. It's a very quick read and arguably has more heart than most of his delightedly sadistic work. The moral of the story ends up being that the titular Danny's dad is a really cool dad, and it's hard not to love a book that can take an idea like that and sell it convincingly, especially when the dad in question is an unrepentant criminal. Danny presents a quieter and possibly more accessible escapism for children - you may not be able to really believe in a giant peach lifting you into the sky, but that your dad might do really interesting things when he's not home, that's plausible. And in the meantime, he'll teach you all about different animals and how to fix a car. I can dig it.