Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Charlie e a Fábrica de Chocolate by Roald Dahl

8 reviews

kate_has_book_thoughts's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

✨  Reviews are for Readers ✨
       Any spoilers are hidden! 

I read this book as an audiobook narrated by Roald Dahl. 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory functions as a morality tale, but the punishments feel disproportionate to the misdeeds.
As a kid, I saw the silliness in this book, but as an adult it just seems so harsh on the child characters with pretty poor justifications for being so cruel to them.
 
A kid was so excited about candy that they didn’t follow directions?
Off to the guillotines with them!
That’s just a joke, but here are some actual examples from the book: 

The Oompa Loompas sing a song about Ms. Bigelow who chewed gum so much she bit her tongue in two and thus "spent her life shut up in some disgusting sanatorium”.


When singing about Violet, a child who chews gum a lot, they sing, “Dear friends, we surely all agree there’s almost nothing worse to see than some repulsive little bum who’s always chewing chewing gum.” Actually, I don’t agree. lol I don’t think that would even make it in my top 100 worst things to see.


Augustus’ crime is being greedy, which is depicted as him being fat. This means that the song that’s sung chastising him includes lines like, “However long this pig might live, we’re positive he’d never give even the smallest bit of fun or happiness to anyone.”
 

If you’re an adult considering rereading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for nostalgia, be forewarned that your warm fuzzy feelings from childhood may not survive by the end of the book…
much like the characters in it.
 
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mysticfaerer's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is the first Roald Dahl book I’ve ever read despite having seen a few movies based on his works. The author is clearly brilliant but he must have been either quite the misanthrope or overwhelmingly depressed by the state of the world. (I can sympathize with the latter.) His hatred of practically everything except chocolate is evident from the beginning. 

While I knew the plot I wasn’t prepared for cavalier meanness. The happy ending makes up for the (not necessarily undeserved) cruelty that precedes it.
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obviousthings's review against another edition

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genie09's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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katharina90's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

At its core Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is such a magical story that continues to bring joy to children and adults alike. 

Unfortunately its flaws are impossible to ignore: repeated body shaming/fatphobia, patriarchal ideas of how women and girls ought to behave, ableist language. 

Even the whitewashing of the original text (which introduced the Oompa-Loompas as Africans smuggled to the UK in crates... yikes!) doesn't obscure the icky owner-property relationship between Wonka and his factory "workers". 

I'm leaving my 4 star rating in place for now but reading this book definitely involves a lot of cringing these days.

I continue to wrestle with the legacy of authors like Roald Dahl. He was a man who unashamedly held incredibly harmful views and wrote children's books that perpetuate antisemitism, racism, sexism, fatphobia and ableism. 

And yet, his stories are whimsical and fun and beloved by so many.

Can we hold space for both of these truths?
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teki_p's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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eliya's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Obviously outdated. First book I’ve actually read myself and finished in like 5/6 years and it was a really easy read, some funny parts. Really frustrating that the kids in the book really didn’t do anything wrong. Very fitting for the time that the punishment very very much does not fit the crime. Poor kids. 
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