"'Boy' tells the story of Roald Dahl's childhood. It was a very eventful period of his life. He centers on his education, where he voices his anger at the use of cruel punishments like caning in the UK at the time. He tells many amusing stories of his childhood and teenage years, but there are also some sad and dramatic ones as well. "
Andrew Haine, Resident Scholar
"Roald Dahl chronicles his early childhood, beginning with his parents' histories, then his own birth, through the time he graduated high school and got a job with Shell Oil. You get an insight into the casual brutalities of boarding school matrons and masters, and many funny stories about the mischief Roald and his friends got up to. If you look closely enough, you can see that many of the characters in his novels (Miss Trunchbull in "Matilda" for instance) are based on people he writes about in "Boy.""
Meaghan, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of Boy
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Kids:
- general coming of age story
Period of greatest activity?
- 1900+
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
- scholar
Age:
- a kid
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Biography of famous person?
Yes
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- British
- Scandinavian
How sensitive is this person?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other people
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 6 (an above average amount)
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Century:
- 1930's-1950's
- 1900-1920's
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Book makes you feel?
- very happy
- thoughtful
Is book humorous?
Yes
If humorous, kind of humor
- eccentric personalities
- gentle
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- decency
- capitalism
- justice system
- wicked men
Writer's slant towards subject:
- very favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of set of events during life
If this is a kid's book:
- Age 11-14
Autobiography?
Yes
Pictures/Illustrations?
- More 6-10 B&W
- A ton 16-20 B&W
How much dialogue in bio?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
- little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 0-25% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story?
- 0-25% of book
