A Belated Trip Into English Literature: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

I have very fond memories of Mrs Brockart, my 2nd grade teacher, reading "James and the Giant Peach" to us. I was a Roald Dahl fan for life. Turns out I didn't read anything of his myself until last year, when I burned through "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". It was a winner, so I picked up a bunch of used paperbacks at Powell's. James and the Peach? Witches? Yep and yep.

Today's review is "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator", predictably the sequel to the Chocolate Factory. It is a fanciful and entertaining read. It is also almost completely nonsensical. Not the "The Unconsoled" kind of nonsensical, but a "These are humans in this story, but nothing in here makes any sense whatsoever" kind of nonsensical. I liked it, once I got on for the ride.

The book is really a series of chronological vignettes, with no plot line, climax, or denouement. Remember the essential elements of a story from jr high? Forget them. The book is fun to read, but not engrossing, and easily forgotten. There are pieces (vicious Knids, Wonka-vite) that will stay with me. And Dahl's poetry is just wondrous. But there are no life-lessons to be learned here, no deeper meaning to ruminate on, and no characters that are complete enough to connect with.

My take-away: I hope that somedy I can write some poetry as uncluttered from reality as the gems in this book. It's worth the read just for that.