I would call this a charming, enlightening and inspiring modern fable, but, no, the author is adamant: this is NOT a fairy tale - it's about REAL witches. Thus, one could call it an expose on the diabolical, if you will, so perhaps it's something everyone should read, if ever they should find themselves in the company of said creatures.
Witches, it turns out, are everywhere: many of life's unfortunate circumstances can often be ascribed to their machinations, apparently. They have real jobs: like working as a cashier, or a secretary, or any number of mundane occupations, even those involving children - like one's very own schoolteacher! Witches are clever, and, as it turns out, hate children "with a red-hot sizzling hatred that is more sizzling and red hot than any hatred you could possibly imagine." And, the author reveals, the sole purpose of a witch is to rid the vicinity of any and all children... it's less clear whether the sorceresses of Dalh's imagination steal their essence to live forever, ala another popular account about witches in Salem. According to the author, witches trap children in paintings, turn them into hens, and, most effectively, just make them disappear!
In this account, a Boy, a Norwegian but English by birth, goes to live with his grandmother after his parents were killed in a tragic accident. He has had a lifelong love of her stories, especially the ones about witches, as it appears that she has had some run-ins with them in her earlier life, as well. In fact, his grandmama eventually reveals that she herself was a retired witch-hunter (after an encounter left her with a missing thumb!). She also knew of several children in her own youth who fell victim to witches. What follows is a somewhat dark and fanciful tale of the Boy and his grandmother, whose misadventures take a turn when they discover how to rid the world of witches once and for all!
I don't want to provide too many spoilers (and most people are familiar with the book or films anyway), but this delightful tale (expose?) is one of literary luminary Roald Dahl's most popular. Norwegian himself, one wonders if Roald himself (who was actually born in Wales) had any similar experiences with witches in his youth! First published in 1983, this popular children's novel has been adapted into not one but TWO motion pictures - the first one with Anjelica Huston as the grand high witch is a forever classic - and was also the subject of a 2008 opera by Marcus and Ole Paus. There are quite a few difference between the book and movie adaptations, however, primarily that in the first film the boy (who remains unnamed in the book) is turned back into a human by a "good witch," but remains a mouse for life in the book.
This is a wonderful book for children and adults alike; highly recommended, but perhaps not as a bedtime story!
Witches, it turns out, are everywhere: many of life's unfortunate circumstances can often be ascribed to their machinations, apparently. They have real jobs: like working as a cashier, or a secretary, or any number of mundane occupations, even those involving children - like one's very own schoolteacher! Witches are clever, and, as it turns out, hate children "with a red-hot sizzling hatred that is more sizzling and red hot than any hatred you could possibly imagine." And, the author reveals, the sole purpose of a witch is to rid the vicinity of any and all children... it's less clear whether the sorceresses of Dalh's imagination steal their essence to live forever, ala another popular account about witches in Salem. According to the author, witches trap children in paintings, turn them into hens, and, most effectively, just make them disappear!
In this account, a Boy, a Norwegian but English by birth, goes to live with his grandmother after his parents were killed in a tragic accident. He has had a lifelong love of her stories, especially the ones about witches, as it appears that she has had some run-ins with them in her earlier life, as well. In fact, his grandmama eventually reveals that she herself was a retired witch-hunter (after an encounter left her with a missing thumb!). She also knew of several children in her own youth who fell victim to witches. What follows is a somewhat dark and fanciful tale of the Boy and his grandmother, whose misadventures take a turn when they discover how to rid the world of witches once and for all!
I don't want to provide too many spoilers (and most people are familiar with the book or films anyway), but this delightful tale (expose?) is one of literary luminary Roald Dahl's most popular. Norwegian himself, one wonders if Roald himself (who was actually born in Wales) had any similar experiences with witches in his youth! First published in 1983, this popular children's novel has been adapted into not one but TWO motion pictures - the first one with Anjelica Huston as the grand high witch is a forever classic - and was also the subject of a 2008 opera by Marcus and Ole Paus. There are quite a few difference between the book and movie adaptations, however, primarily that in the first film the boy (who remains unnamed in the book) is turned back into a human by a "good witch," but remains a mouse for life in the book.
This is a wonderful book for children and adults alike; highly recommended, but perhaps not as a bedtime story!
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