Roald Dahl's Wondrous Delights

Hungry for something sweet and substantial? Something that will delight you, and transport you on wondrous delights? Then consider James and the Giant Peach, a story that could be considered both an appetizer or an entree. 

In his book, author Roald Dahl relates the story of James, a young boy who lived happily in England until his parents went shopping in London.

A busy street in London
November 2013

Now everyone knows that shopping is incredibly dangerous. On this occasion an even more terrible thing happened to his parents than racking up large credit card bills and getting their credit privileges revoked. A rhinoceros escaped the zoo, and on a busy street in London, in full view of other shoppers, the animal ate James's parents. So James was sent off to live with his aunts in their house in the south of England. 

Aunt Spiker & Aunt Sponge,
Illustration by Quentin Blake

His aunts lived in a little house on top of a hill in the south of England. They made him work all day, beat him for his efforts, and never let him go anywhere. He had no friends. Despite the terrific view, all he could do was stand by the fence and peer out at the surrounding landscape. 

A cottage at Seven Sisters, England.

James was terribly lonely.

One day, a kindly old man appeared in his garden and offered James a bag filled with strange and magical items. He told James how to use them, and promised that if James obeyed his instructions to the letter, he would have a wonderful adventure.

Author Terry Pratchett at the World Fantasy Convention in
Brighton, England, in 2013.
A kindly old man whose strange and magical stories
transported me on many wondrous adventures.

Before James could fulfill the old man's instructions, he tripped over an exposed tree root, and dropped the bag. The contents seeped into the soil before he could gather them back together. Suddenly, a peach appeared on the old tree. 

This peach grew as large as his aunts' house. That night, James discovered a hole in its skin. He climbed inside, and and walked down a tunnel. There, deep inside the peach, the young boy who never got to see anyone else saw some interesting people.

Author Mary Robinette Kowal at the 2013 World Fantasy Convention.
From the lighting, you can tell she did her reading
inside a giant peach.

He met a musical grasshopper, a kindly spider, a polite ladybug, a mischievous centipede, and a frightened earthworm, among others.

James meets interesting people.
Illustration by Quentin Blake

These friendly bugs were as big as him, spoke perfect England, and welcomed him to the heart of the peach. Suddenly, the boy who was always lonely had some new and interesting friends. In the morning, his new friends freed the peach from the old tree. It rolled down the hill, tumbled off the cliff, and plunged into the ocean.

Seven Sisters, England, 2013

From there, James and his friends sailed off across the sea. Later, due to James' ingenuity, they even flew into the sky. Suddenly, the boy who never went anywhere was traveling, and seeing sights he could never have imagined.

To mark the 99th anniversary of Roald Dahl's birth, I read James and the Giant Peach for the first time. His delightful prose, Quentin Blake's magical illustrations, and my own journeys through England combined to satisfy my cravings for a sweet and satisfying read. Even if you haven't traveled to England, and even if your edition doesn't include Quentin Blake's masterful illustrations, I feel confident that Roald Dahl's prose alone will conjure up sufficient imagery to help you visualize James, feel for him and his friends, and help you accompany them on their journey aboard the giant peach. 

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, my brief summary cannot possibly have spoiled your appetite. I haven't told you half of his story, or touched on more than a tidbit of Roald Dahl's strange, magical, and wondrous delights. 

Bon Appetit!

Dragon Dave

Happy Birthday Mary Robinette Kowal

At the World Fantasy Convention held in Brighton, England in November 2013, I had the opportunity to attend a reading by Mary Robinette Kowal. She imbued her reading from her upcoming novel with personality and flair, giving each character his or her own unique voice. This novel was from a series written in the style of Jane Austen, and set in a Regency era England in which women can manipulate glamour to enhance their lives. 

As an unexpected bonus, she revealed that she was not only a fan of the TV show Doctor Who, but she inserted a cameo of the Doctor in each novel. While she didn't identify the character as such, she would typically have a scene involving a medical doctor in each book, and she would mold his speech and mannerisms around one of the incarnations of the famous Time Lord. She read us these sections of each novel, and awarded a copy of the book to the first listener to correctly identify the Doctor she was portraying. 

When she's not writing, she's making costumes, or hanging out with her friends who love dressing up in old English attire. Or she's using her old typewriters, of which she has a substantial collections. Or there's her day job, which is building puppets or holding performances. She gave us an example of her puppeteering skills with a short selection from a famous play, using a stage and figures she fashioned from the most inexpensive of materials. She held the audience in stitches, and left us wanting to read her books. (Or reread them, especially the sections that included a cameo of the Doctor).

Last Sunday was her birthday, so Happy Belated Birthday, Mary Robinette Kowal! May you continue writing, puppeteering, and entertaining us for a long time to come!

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
Pride and Prejudice and Magic
Pride and Prejudice and Puppets
Pride and Prejudice and Propriety
Pride and Prejudice and Plays
Pride and Prejudice and Passion

Pride And Prejudice And Passion

A garden at Wychnor Hall in the English Midlands

In Mary Robinette Kowal’s Jane Austen-pastiche Shades of Milk and Honey, Miss Jane Ellsworth adores the family estate of Long Parkmead. She loves to wander through the maze of hedges, with the rose garden at the center, and looks forward to the grand strawberry-picking outing her parents have planned. She brings this love of nature into the house with her use of glamour, as well as her sketches and paintings. As her family and friends, including the handsome Mr. Dunkirk, complement her talents, she feels proud of her artistry. But when she sees the glamural Mr. Vincent created for Lady FitzCameron, it takes her breath away.

The fine furniture and architectural details of Banbree Manor pale before the moonlit glade nestled against one wall. Jane walks across soft grass, breathes in jasmine and the pleasant smell of loam, walks beside the babbling brook that flows through the wind-blown trees, and listens to sweet birdsong. The effort has cost Mr. Vincent however, and after his collapse, she visits him in his room. Bedridden, he presses a book into her hands. It is filled with his sketches, and his thoughts on glamour. While he compliments her efforts, he insists that she take his book and study it. He tells her:

“You are always so careful, so methodical in your thoughts and actions. I should like to know what levels of art you could reach if you relaxed your guard.”

When Jane reads his book at home, her eye is drawn to a seascape she painted in Lyme Regis. Previously, she gazed at this watercolor with pride. Now she feels disappointed.

“Though her colours were correct, and her use of light and shading exacting, the whole of it was lifeless and dull.”

A few nights later, Jane tosses and turns in bed, worried by the unwise choices of some family members and friends. Unable to help them, she summons a birch tree from the ether, and then adds a few more for good measure. The next morning, she realizes this woodland scene in her bedroom possesses more vitality than any glamural she has previously done.

“The level of detail she had employed was not what made the difference; it was the tension underlying the straight graceful boughs, as if they had yearned to uproot themselves and move, giving the whole scene life.”

Her devotion to art and glamour, as well as her impeccable manners, have won Jane the interest of Mr. Dunkirk. Now it would seem that Mr. Vincent respects her as well. Longpark Mead is entailed; she has no future there. Most men see her as plain, and she is twenty-eight, far older than most available young women. Worse, her inheritance amounts to little more than a pittance. But now she realizes that she can draw upon her passion, her fervor, to create compelling scenes of glamour. This feeling of empowerment means more to her than the idea of a man rescuing her from spinsterhood.

Jane now knows that it's not enough to study life, and follow the dictates of others. To follow her dreams, and live the life she desires, means pushing herself forward with all the passion she possesses. Only by doing so can she unleash the magic that makes her--and every person--unique.

Dragon Dave

Pride And Prejudice And Plays

Early 19th Century Male & Female apparel,
courtesy of London's Victoria & Albert Museum

In Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, the Bertram family decides to stage a play for their own amusement. In the absence of Lord Bertram, eldest son Tom takes charge of the production. Using his position and charisma, he navigates a stormy sea of negotiations and choices. Not only must they settle on a play that everyone likes, and not only must each person find a role agreeable to them, but also the play must be rewritten so that no one’s part is too large or too small. Then their labors and expenses really begin. A stage must be built, backgrounds painted, curtains and costumes made, and of course, everyone must practice long and hard to learn their lines. And hanging over all this activity and expense is the question of whether Lord Bertram would approve of this production, and members of their social class acting, if he were present.

In Mapp And Lucia by E. F. Benson, Mr. and Mrs. Wyse ask Lucia to hold a garden fete in her backyard as a fundraiser for Tilling’s hospital. While this is nothing in comparison with the elaborate Fetes she threw in her former town of Risholme, a stage must be constructed, acts planned, and costumes constructed. Lucia plans a series of tableaux vivants, in addition to other types of entertainment. She and her friends dress up as historical characters such as Queen Elizabeth, King Cophetua, and Sir Francis Drake, and appear holding props and adopting specific poses. Between each tableau, while the stage is being redressed, a choir sings to hold the audience’s attention. It’s a large effort for Lucia and her friends, but everyone who attends has a marvelous time, and they raise needed funds for the hospital.

In her novel Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal introduces magic to the world through her characters’ use of glamour. Jane Ellsworth decorates the family room with swaying trees, warm sunsets, birds and animals that prowl the walls or drink from ponds, and the scents of exotic places. When she plays the piano, she can summon a length of glamour from the ether, and tie it off when the piece reaches its conclusion. Having recorded the music with a strand of glamour, she can then replay the music on an infinite loop, or until she banishes it. And then there are Mr. Vincent's shadow plays, and the tableaux vivants performed with the aid of glamour.

One day, while enjoying an outing in the country, Lady FitzCameron declares that she wants a tableau vivant. So Jane and Mr. Vincent take a moment to discuss what scene to portray, and summon the energy and mental focus necessary to perform such an illusion. The others sit waiting for their entertainment to commence.

Jane tugged folds over her to create a mask of Daphne, and the delicate garments such an ephemeral nymph would wear as she fled the sun god.

Appearing taller than he was, and glowing with the light of the sun, Mr. Vincent embodied Apollo, his hands outstretched to reach for the frightened nymph. As their guests studied the tableau vivant with exquisite fascination, Jane released the slipknot she held, and hidden folds slid around her into a laurel tree. She was gratified by the gasps of surprize and pleasure from their viewers. It was no small thing to change a detailed glamour so smoothly.

While Jane and Mr. Vincent pull off this tableau successfully, a later attempt ends differently. After putting the finishing touches on Lady FitzCameron’s impressive glamural, Mr. Vincent exhibits signs of exhaustion at its unveiling. Yet Lady FitzCameron takes no notice, and commands Mr. Vincent and Jane to perform another tableau for her visitors. Jane performs her role as expected, but Mr. Vincent collapses. So drained is he that he nearly dies. Thus Mary Robinette Kowal reminds us that, regardless of the era they live in, some people will always undervalue the entertainment they enjoy, and that nothing worthwhile—no matter how easily accessible—is created without great skill, effort and cost.

Dragon Dave

Pride And Prejudice And Propriety

An early 19th Century fan made of horn and metal,
courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England

There’s more to evoking the spirit of Jane Austen than using favorite character names, such as Jane and Elizabeth, or creating similar names like Mr. Dunkirk (to Austen’s Mr. Darcy). Such an effort demands more than to merely include a few Austen-like words, such as teaze, chuze, or nuncheon. So in preparing her novel Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal meticulously studied favorite novels like Persuasion, Sense And Sensibility, and Pride And Prejudice. She drew up rules of grammar, and made her own Austen dictionary. Then she embarked on her goal of returning us to Regency Era England, and populated it with characters, situations, and story structures that evoke Jane Austen's classic stories.

Regency Era English society followed strict rules, and any who ignored them tarnished or ruined their reputations. Thus, we read a plentitude of “Forgive me’s” and “Thank you’s” in Kowal's novel. Characters dress, act, and talk in proscribed ways for various types of social events. No one willingly says or does the wrong thing in a particular social setting, at least not if he or she possesses a modicum of common sense. 

Jane Austen often touched on myriad aspects of society, and populated her novels with a large cast of characters. Kowal's novel is shorter, and her focus rarely wavers from her central character of Ms. Jane Ellsworth. Thus, while we meet a few rogues and officious matriarchs, we don't encounter anyone as completely lacking in common sense as William Collins in Pride And Prejudice. He simply doesn’t seem to have a clue as to how others see him. He may be a Church of England priest, but when he talks, others hide their smiles or frowns. Not even his patroness Lady Catherine de Borough, or his wife Charlotte Lucas, truly respects him.

In Shades of Milk and Honey, Jane Ellsworth scrupulously follows the rules of etiquette. Still, misunderstandings are inevitable. Remember when Mr. Dunkirk surprises Jane playing the piano in the drawing room? Melody inadvertently enters and finds them together. She holds strong feelings for Mr. Dunkirk, and sees Jane's quiet conversation with him as something of a betrayal. This prompts her go to increasingly greater attempts to attract and win the complete attention of all worthy suitors. After watching Mr. Vincent’s shadow play of “The Broken Bridge” with Captain Livingstone, Melody hears unexpected laughter and applause. She turns to see Jane lingering in the stairwell, and complement Mr. Vincent with a sophisticated assessment of his work. What, another betrayal from her sister?

“La! Jane, you would strip enjoyment from everything with your endless examinations.” Melody picked her fan up from the side table and flicked it open; the sharp rattle as the fan opened expressed her irritation far beyond the sweet tone of her voice.

While promoting Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal handed out modern day laser-cut wooden replicas of this staple of a woman’s Regency Era apparel. It sits on our nightstand now, a reminder of when my wife and I met her.

When my wife occasionally uses the fan, I wonder if she's attempting to tell me something. Would it be impolite to ask her? Or should I just ignore it, even if I appear insensitive? One thing's for sure. Regardless of the state of familiarity we enjoy, I don’t want to be a modern day Mr. Collins.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links
Regency Era Fans
Language of the Fan

Pride And Prejudice And Puppets

In an era before television and cinema, shadow plays offered an inexpensive form of entertainment. They were performed simply, using little cut out shapes that children could reproduce at home. One such play was “The Broken Bridge,” which may have originated in France in the 18^th Century. One puppeteer, Francois Dominique Seraphin, so captivated audiences that he drew the attention of the French aristocracy. Marie Antoinette reportedly attended his shows.

Author Mary Robinette Kowal pays homage to this once-popular form of entertainment in her Jane Austen-like novel Shades of Milk and Honey. One afternoon Melody Ellsworth receives visitors in the family drawing room. Her old sister Jane is upstairs, reading to her mother from William Meinhold's gothic romance novel Sidonia The Sorceress. After awhile, her mother asks Jane to see what’s occurring in the drawing room. She creeps downstairs, where she watches Mr. Vincent performing “The Broken Bridge” for her sister Melody and the dashing Captain Henry Livingston. Weaving folds of glamour from the ether, Mr. Vincent creates small dark silhouettes on the tea table.

“A traveler, after a number of obstacles, approached a bridge, which was in the process of being destroyed by a workman with a pickax. The traveler tried to get the workman to tell him how to cross the river, and after receiving a series of increasing rude answers, he found a boat and crossed the river.”

Mary Robinette Kowal is a professional puppeteer, and she performed “The Broken Bridge” at last year’s World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, England. Afterward, she turned her stage around to show us how she constructed it. Apparently, she found a better use for cereal boxes than consigning them to the landfill.

Isn’t it amazing the way an author or a puppeteer can make a story come alive for us, can draw us into their characters, plot, and drama, can make us laugh and cry and care about what happens, and without spending hundreds of thousands, or hundreds of millions of dollars, to make a “realistic” TV episode or movie? That’s a special kind of magic, a feat that such talented people should take great pride in. 

At least, that’s what I think. But then, maybe I’m just prejudiced…

Dragon Dave

Pride And Prejudice And Magic

A Burne-Jones grand piano at the Victoria & Albert Museum

With her novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal whisks us off to a time and place familiar to readers of Jane Austen’s 19th Century stories. There she introduces us to Jane Ellsworth, whose father Charles manages the family estate of Long Parkmead in Dorchester, England. While he scrupulously sets aside a portion of each year’s income to attract future son-in-laws, he knows that after paying the estate’s bills, and maintaining a standard of living acceptable to his wife (and suitable for someone of his class), he can never assemble a sizable dowry. Already his eldest daughter Jane is twenty-eight, far beyond the age at which most women marry. Sadly, while she adores Long Parkmead, she cannot count on living there forever. For the estate is entailed, and upon his death, ownership of the property will pass on to Charles' elder brother and family.

This fact might reduce some to worry. It certainly bothers her mother, who suffers from a nervous disposition and imagined illnesses. This puts added pressure on Jane, who must keep a careful watch over her younger sister Melody. Unlike her, Melody has a beautiful face and a girlish disposition that attracts available bachelors for miles around. And then there are the womanly arts, which Jane constantly practices, such as her painting, her music, and her glamour. She may not have looks or money, but might her accomplishments enable her to find a respectable man who will love and appreciate her?

Like most men, Melody's youthful smile captivates Mr. Dunkirk of nearby Robinsford Abbey. Still, he usually compliments Jane on her abilities. During his visits, he can’t help but notice how she’s enhanced the family’s drawing room. Through weaving strands of glamour out of the ether, she enhances the furniture with images of palm trees that sway to illusory breezes. Egrets alight to drink from a pond, and the setting sun casts a warm glow across the room. Once, while waiting for him to call, Jane sits down to practice the piano. Mr. Dunkirk enters then, and sees colors swirling around her, responding to the tempo and mood of her music. When she notices him and stops playing, he insists that her music and glamour offer far more than mere idle amusement. “Other men might seek a lovely face,” he tells her, “but I should think that they would consider exquisite taste the higher treasure. Beauty will fade, but not a gift such as this.”

Her younger sister Melody often grows petulant when Jane receives such compliments. She plays for men’s attention with her smiles, or feigns illness or injury to arouse their concern. From time to time, she makes attempts to better her music and glamour skills. But she lacks Jane’s patience and determination. I suppose those qualities are needed to master anything worthwhile in life: the patience to work through our mistakes, and the determination to succeed no matter how many times we fail. And I imagine that remains true regardless of what region or era we live in, and however the people who live there define the magic that enhances their lives.

Dragon Dave