Jayson’s Reviews > Matilda > Status Update
Jayson
is 47% done
Notes:
(1) While this hasn't yet shown any inkling of fantasy nor the supernatural, it's nonetheless imbued with a great sense of improbability and wonder.
- Matilda being able to read and do advanced mathematics in her head is treated like having magical powers.
(2) This also uses a lot of Biblical language, which only adds to its sense of mystery.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 31, 2025 02:35AM
Notes:
(1) While this hasn't yet shown any inkling of fantasy nor the supernatural, it's nonetheless imbued with a great sense of improbability and wonder.
- Matilda being able to read and do advanced mathematics in her head is treated like having magical powers.
(2) This also uses a lot of Biblical language, which only adds to its sense of mystery.
(Continued in comments)
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is 94% done
Notes:
(1) "The margarine wasn't at all bad. [Matilda] doubted whether she could have told the difference if she hadn't known."
- Evidently, Matilda suddenly realizes she's been sold a bill of goods by Big Butter.
- Dietary effects and chemical composition notwithstanding, elevating butter over margarine seems more about social status than anything.
(Continued in comments)
— Feb 07, 2025 09:30AM
Notes:
(1) "The margarine wasn't at all bad. [Matilda] doubted whether she could have told the difference if she hadn't known."
- Evidently, Matilda suddenly realizes she's been sold a bill of goods by Big Butter.
- Dietary effects and chemical composition notwithstanding, elevating butter over margarine seems more about social status than anything.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 76% done
Notes:
(1) Matilda develops magic/telekinetic powers quite late in the book.
- It's interesting how Dahl held onto this as a kind of end reveal, tying her mental magic to her overall mental acumen. It implies that her advanced reading and math abilities were superpowers all along.
- Not exactly Harry Potter, though it does involve lightning imagery.
(Continued in comments)
— Feb 05, 2025 06:30PM
Notes:
(1) Matilda develops magic/telekinetic powers quite late in the book.
- It's interesting how Dahl held onto this as a kind of end reveal, tying her mental magic to her overall mental acumen. It implies that her advanced reading and math abilities were superpowers all along.
- Not exactly Harry Potter, though it does involve lightning imagery.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 23% done
Notes:
(1) First of all, this has a ton of illustrations! At least compared to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which I recently finished.
- Probably because illustrations for the latter were done retroactively, and along with other books for visually-uniform new editions, so far less time would have been put into that compared to a new release.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 29, 2025 09:30AM
Notes:
(1) First of all, this has a ton of illustrations! At least compared to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which I recently finished.
- Probably because illustrations for the latter were done retroactively, and along with other books for visually-uniform new editions, so far less time would have been put into that compared to a new release.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is starting
Notes:
(1) There are two versions of this eBook at my library, and as much as I detest the big Netflix logo defacing the cover, this is the original text, not the 2022 altered text that removes "offensive" language.
- Regardless of how you feel about the controversy, this is the version written by no one else but Roald Dahl, and so this is the only version I will ever read.
— Jan 25, 2025 07:00AM
Notes:
(1) There are two versions of this eBook at my library, and as much as I detest the big Netflix logo defacing the cover, this is the original text, not the 2022 altered text that removes "offensive" language.
- Regardless of how you feel about the controversy, this is the version written by no one else but Roald Dahl, and so this is the only version I will ever read.
- It's interesting how Miss Trunchbull isn't only described as akin to (or literally) Satan, but in masculine terms as well: "the Trunchbull" not Miss Trunchbull, and "the Prince" not princess or anything close to feminine.
- Additionally, we have the children attending prayers and scripture lessons, and allusions/references to Moses parting the Red Sea and "the Day of Judgment."
(3) "'Get me a mirror!' the father yelled. 'Don't just stand there shrieking at me! Get me a mirror!'"
- Reminds me of that scene in Batman 1989 after the Joker has his reconstructive surgery. Though, I doubt either could have been inspiration for the other since they came out about the same time.
- I presume it's the mother shrieking here, though I can't entirely discount the brother Michael.
(4) "'Be careful!' shrieked the mother. 'Now look what you've done! That's my best Elizabeth Arden face powder!'"
- Gee, you know, I'll never see the words "Elizabeth Arden" again without Prince Harry coming to mind. That brand's ruined forever!
- An awful lot of shrieking in this household. The word's used four times in Chapter 6 alone. Though, it may just be a character trait of the mother.
(5) "[Miss Honey's] body was so slim and fragile one got the feeling that if she fell over she would smash into a thousand pieces, like a porcelain figure."
- Like how Matilda's repeatedly described as being tiny, Miss Honey is also described in diminutive terms and therefore immediately sympathetic—incapable of being a physical aggressor.
- Miss Trunchbull is described as the mirror opposite: "She was a gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical monster who frightened the life out of the pupils and teachers alike."
- Just from these opening descriptions alone, it's crystal clear how we're supposed to feel about these two teachers.
(6) "Looking at [Miss Trunchbull], you got the feeling that this was someone who could bend iron bars and tear telephone directories in half."
- I have a feeling that in the future "telephone directories" may require a footnote.
- If not Gen-Z, subsequent generations simply won't have a clue—probably about either word. Roald Dahl may as well be Shakespeare.
(7) Miss Trunchbull wears "bottle-green" breeches, which, if memory serves me right, is exactly what Willy Wonka is described as wearing.
- Were bottle-green pants a thing back in the day? If not, I can only conclude that it's intentional as either something Dahl-specific or (albeit far less likely) a direct allusion to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
(8) Mrs. Wormwood: "A girl should think about making herself look attractive so she can get a good husband later on. Looks is more important than books, Miss Hunky."
- How very Game of Thrones, a positively medieval mindset.
- Everything about that last sentence, from the message to using the incorrect copular verb to calling Miss Honey by the wrong name just screams superficial, crass and uneducated.
- Additionally, Mr. Wormwood calls Miss Honey "Miss Hawkes" and "Miss Harris," which is very Horace Slughorn of him/them.
- From Miss Trunchbull to Matilda's parents, this book's villains don't care about education, particularly reading.
(9) We get blatant child abuse here, with Miss Trunchbull literally throwing kids around by the hair.
- A scene that likely horrifies children and parents alike.
- It's yet another example of the book's "brains versus brawn" duality.
(10) "Mr. Wormwood ... [cast] a look of such simpering sloppiness at his wife it would have made a cat sick."
- I've got to disagree with Dahl's characterization here. There's nothing wrong with going gaga over one's own wife.
- Dahl makes it seem like Mr. Wormwood is crazy or delusional for thinking his wife is better looking than Miss Honey. Misogynist though he may be, at least he's a monogamy-minded misogynist.
- One man's simp is another man's hopeless romantic.