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It’s confession time. I’d been planning to give this audio book away, but then I found out the narrator was Monty Python’s Eric Idle. That was it: I knew then that I’d be ransacking the shops for another gift, because this one was staying with me.
And however bad I feel about my giving cowardice, I’m really glad I got to listen to it. Idle’s exaggerated voice perfectly matches Roald Dahl’s outrageous silliness in language, plot, and character. It made me happy to hear it. This story is one of those that brings out the sense of the ridiculous and the imaginative wordplay that so appeals to kids (and adults like me) in Roald Dahl’s stories.
The plot is as follows: Mr. Wonka, owner of the best, most secret chocolate factory in the world, has decided to have a contest, giving a few children and their guardians a chance to see inside his factory walls for one day only. Charlie Bucket most unexpectedly finds himself the owner of one of the winning Golden Tickets, and since he’s the hero (and because the book’s named after him), we get to follow him on his adventures in Mr. Wonka’s factory, which turns out to be quite as marvelous as it’s been rumored.
If you want to truly let your imagination run wild in a way the movie won’t quite let you, listen to the book instead. The unabridged audio book is 3 1/2 hours, so it won’t take too much longer than either watching the movie or reading the book would. And I have to say, this was my favorite experience of the book to date. I’m already planning to buy another copy next year as a gift (and I really will be giving it away this time, I promise).
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