Book Review: Boy by Roald Dahl

Boy is certainly not Roald Dahl’s autobiography but definitely a reflection of his early phase of life. Roald Dahl’s father hailed from a small town near Oslo. His father had married twice and died when Dahl was young. In his childhood, Dahl was a naughty kid. In this book he narrates an anecdote from his childhood where he along with his friends placed a dead mouse into a box containing sweets. The seller of those sweets was a lady who complained to Dahl’s school head. They all got caught and were punished badly. Furthermore Dahl mentions his admission into a boarding school. There he suffered from homesickness and also faced the wrath of his school teachers and seniors. In addition to that he had secretly kept a bicycle which he would often ride after sneaking out from his dormitory. Adding on to that, he mentions about his different teachers; their behavior towards students and the beating which they got from them. One day he was really missing home and wanted to go back. This only became possible when he pretended to be sick. He also explains the physical pain which he underwent after getting his adenoid removed without anesthesia. Dahl’s naughtiness once made him mix goat’s dropping into the pipe of his sister’s fiancé. After high school Dahl did not wish to study at a university and instead opted to work. He got inducted into Shell Oil Company. Later on he also became an RAF pilot fighting against the Germans in Second World War. Dahl was passionate about photography and got a Bronze medal from the Egyptian photography Society in Cairo. Throughout the book Dahl shares his childhood experiences, school life and his family trips. He believes that some events have made an ever lasting impact on his life. As Roald Dahl states ‘Throughout my young days at school and just afterwards a number of things happened to me… Some are funny. Some are painful. Some are unpleasant…All are true’.