{"id":10967,"date":"2026-09-12T21:45:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T13:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=10967"},"modified":"2026-09-12T21:45:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T13:45:59","slug":"ajia_on_dahl01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2026\/09\/12\/ajia_on_dahl01\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Dahl\u2019s inge\u00adnious solu\u00adtion"},"content":{"rendered":"
The biog\u00adra\u00adphy \u201cThe Great Mr. Dahl,\u201d soon to be pub\u00adlished in Chi\u00adnese.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Speak\u00ading of Dahl, I can\u2019t help but get excit\u00aded. I\u2019ve read quite a few books for adults and chil\u00addren, but books that are tru\u00adly cap\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading, excit\u00ading, and leave a last\u00ading impres\u00adsion, even mov\u00ading me deeply, are rare indeed. I\u2019ve heard many friends com\u00adment on Dahl, and one remark par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly res\u00adonates with me. This friend said, \u201cAlas, it\u2019s a pity I\u2019m an adult now!\u201d It\u2019s so true. If I had read Dahl more than 20 years ago, I think I would\u00adn\u2019t be wear\u00ading this shrewd smile; I\u2019d prob\u00ada\u00adbly be jump\u00ading for joy. Ah, grow\u00ading up brings a cer\u00adtain\u2026<\/p>\n

There are quite a few reviews of Dahl\u2019s work in Chi\u00adna, most\u00adly prais\u00ading him. It seems they\u2019ve used up almost all the words they could think of for praise. Gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly, these reviews cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adrize him by aspects like humor, imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion, skill, and relata\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty to chil\u00addren, sug\u00adgest\u00ading that domes\u00adtic works fall short in com\u00adpar\u00adi\u00adson. It\u2019s like how, when you men\u00adtion the Chi\u00adnese nation\u00adal foot\u00adball team, the first thing that comes to mind is: \u201cInfe\u00adri\u00ador skills!\u201d But say\u00ading this too often becomes tire\u00adsome, sound\u00ading like a per\u00adfunc\u00adto\u00adry, irre\u00adspon\u00adsi\u00adble state\u00adment. Sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly, when com\u00adpar\u00ading Chi\u00adnese chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture with excel\u00adlent chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture from around the world, the phrase \u201csome gap\u201d is grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly becom\u00ading a sim\u00adi\u00adlar expres\u00adsion.<\/p>\n

The eccen\u00adtric old man who works on chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture (Mr. Sun You\u00adjun) was quite indig\u00adnant. He said, \u201cYou (I guess you\u2019re refer\u00adring to researchers) always say that Chi\u00adnese chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture is no good, that it\u2019s far behind for\u00adeign ones. Then tell me where the gap is, how it\u2019s bad, and how it should be writ\u00adten.\u201d I admire the old man\u2019s straight\u00adfor\u00adward\u00adness and com\u00adplete\u00adly agree. If some\u00adone is doing research or lit\u00ader\u00adary crit\u00adi\u00adcism, they should at least draw up some con\u00adclu\u00adsions. It does\u00adn\u2019t mat\u00adter if they\u2019re wrong; at least we can dis\u00adcuss it. How\u00adev\u00ader, I\u2019m par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly glad that I\u2019m not a researcher; at most, I\u2019m just an enthu\u00adsi\u00adast. Hehe, I\u2019m just here to have fun.<\/p>\n

He gets espe\u00adcial\u00adly hap\u00adpy when Dahl is men\u00adtioned.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wei Wei said, \u201cGod poured all kinds of tal\u00adents and abil\u00adi\u00adties onto Dahl like a tor\u00adren\u00adtial rain. The 20th cen\u00adtu\u00adry pro\u00adduced Astrid Lind\u00adgren, who was already the pride of 20th-cen\u00adtu\u00adry chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture. Then, the 20th cen\u00adtu\u00adry pro\u00adduced Robert Dahl, so 20th-cen\u00adtu\u00adry chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture had dou\u00adble the pride.\u201d \u2014 Wow, that sounds pret\u00adty scary, does\u00adn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

But what exact\u00adly is this \u201cstorm of tal\u00adent\u201d? I\u2019ve thought about this ques\u00adtion for a long time. I\u2019m a pret\u00adty metic\u00adu\u00adlous per\u00adson. A friend once told me that a cer\u00adtain book became a clas\u00adsic pic\u00adture book because it \u201ccon\u00adtains all the ele\u00adments that a pic\u00adture book should have.\u201d I kept pes\u00adter\u00ading this friend, ask\u00ading what exact\u00adly the ele\u00adments of a pic\u00adture book should be, and why this book said it con\u00adtained those ele\u00adments. In the end, I made my friend quite embar\u00adrassed. Actu\u00adal\u00adly, I know she def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly knew, but some things are just hard to express in words right away.<\/p>\n


But Dahl\u2019s ques\u00adtions can\u00adnot be ignored. What exact\u00adly were his tal\u00adents? What are the dif\u00adfer\u00adences between our local prod\u00aducts and his import\u00aded works? These ques\u00adtions should not be avoid\u00aded. Because there are count\u00adless works in Chi\u00adna that are sim\u00adi\u00adlar in form to his, and pic\u00adture books are, after all, a dif\u00adfer\u00adent con\u00adcept.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve thought about this issue a lot, so I\u2019ll just throw out my ini\u00adtial thoughts.<\/p>\n

I believe Dahl\u2019s most remark\u00adable tal\u00adent lies in cre\u00adat\u00ading and resolv\u00ading plot points. If you don\u2019t know the ori\u00adgin of these col\u00adlo\u00adqui\u00adal terms, I\u2019ll assume I invent\u00aded them. A more ele\u00adgant way to describe a plot point is a \u201ccon\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion.\u201d Every sto\u00adry has a core con\u00adflict, and then par\u00adal\u00adlel or sup\u00adport\u00ading con\u00adflicts. A mas\u00adter sto\u00adry\u00adteller always presents this con\u00adflict as if it were real, keep\u00ading the audi\u00adence on the edge of their seats, their hearts pound\u00ading, draw\u00ading them into the sto\u00adry, won\u00adder\u00ading, \u201cWhat hap\u00adpens next?\u201d Final\u00adly, the plot is resolved, and the audi\u00adence is relieved. A true mas\u00adter is always far supe\u00adri\u00ador to the audi\u00adence. Even if every\u00adone knows the end\u00ading before\u00adhand, they can\u2019t guess how the plot is resolved. The mas\u00adter reveals the method, and the audi\u00adence sud\u00adden\u00adly under\u00adstands, exclaim\u00ading in admiration\u2014\u201cHow come I did\u00adn\u2019t think of that!\u201d This is the \u201ccre\u00adat\u00ading plot\u201d and the \u201cresolv\u00ading it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take Christie, for exam\u00adple. Her detec\u00adtive nov\u00adels are incred\u00adi\u00adbly well-craft\u00aded in their plot twists, and few read\u00aders escape her grasp. How\u00adev\u00ader, I have some reser\u00adva\u00adtions about her meth\u00adods of unrav\u00adel\u00ading these twists. She often unrav\u00adels them com\u00adplete\u00adly out\u00adside the orig\u00adi\u00adnal con\u00adtext. For instance, in a sto\u00adry like \u201cTen Indi\u00adans,\u201d no one could pos\u00adsi\u00adbly come up with a way to unrav\u00adel the plot because the infor\u00adma\u00adtion she pro\u00advid\u00aded was ini\u00adtial\u00adly insuf\u00adfi\u00adcient.<\/p>\n

In terms of unrav\u00adel\u00ading plot devices, I think O. Hen\u00adry is a mas\u00adter. Take \u201cThe Gift of the Magi,\u201d for exam\u00adple. Every\u00adone is famil\u00adiar with it. Del\u00adla wants to give her hus\u00adband Jim a Christ\u00admas present, but the fam\u00adi\u00adly is poor. What to do? That\u2019s the dilem\u00adma. This plot device is sim\u00adple and relat\u00adable. In explain\u00ading this, O. Hen\u00adry nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly men\u00adtions that Del\u00adla has beau\u00adti\u00adful hair and Jim has a fam\u00adi\u00adly heir\u00adloom gold watch, their most valu\u00adable pos\u00adses\u00adsions. And then? Del\u00adla sells her hair to buy the watch chain, while Jim sells his watch to buy a comb. \u2014This plot device is beau\u00adti\u00adful\u00adly unrav\u00adeled! The sto\u00adry is so short, yet it\u2019s intri\u00adcate\u00adly woven and utter\u00adly mov\u00ading. \u201cThe Last Leaf\u201d is anoth\u00ader mas\u00adter\u00adpiece.<\/p>\n

\"\u590f\u6d1b\u7684\u7f51\u63d2\u56fe\u4e00\"Speak\u00ading of \u201cThe Last Leaf,\u201d I imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly think of E.B. White\u2019s \u201cChar\u00adlot\u00adte\u2019s Web.\u201d Both sto\u00adries revolve around the themes of sal\u00adva\u00adtion and self-sac\u00adri\u00adfice, with the lat\u00adter car\u00adry\u00ading an added lay\u00ader of depth. White\u2019s theme is also mas\u00adter\u00adful: a pig named Wilbur, born tiny, is slaugh\u00adtered by a farmer, but a lit\u00adtle girl named Finn brave\u00adly saves him. Wilbur sur\u00advives and grows increas\u00ading\u00adly nor\u00admal. When he becomes fat and strong like a nor\u00admal pig, the farmer again intends to kill him for ham. From the pig\u2019s per\u00adspec\u00adtive, it\u2019s a tru\u00adly ago\u00adniz\u00ading sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion: if he does\u00adn\u2019t grow up, he\u2019ll die; if he does grow up, he\u2019ll still die. Do you think this pig has any rea\u00adson to live?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t laugh, White was very sin\u00adcere in ask\u00ading this ques\u00adtion. He raised pigs on his own farm; while he would\u00adn\u2019t say he \u201cloved his pigs like his own chil\u00addren,\u201d he cer\u00adtain\u00adly treat\u00aded them like pets, much like dogs. One of his pigs fell ill, and he sought out vet\u00aderi\u00adnar\u00adi\u00adans and cared for it for two days and two nights. He was quite sad\u00addened when the pig died. He held a small funer\u00adal for it, and many friends sent con\u00addo\u00adlences. Lat\u00ader, he even wrote a famous essay, \u201cThe Death of a Pig.\u201d To be hon\u00adest, White\u2019s feel\u00adings about pigs dif\u00adfered from those of us who only see them as pork and ham; he believed they were also lives worth cher\u00adish\u00ading, which is why he want\u00aded to res\u00adcue Wilbur in his fairy tale. This was a very sin\u00adcere idea, not a joke at all.<\/p>\n

Tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal fairy tales often employ \u201cmyth\u00adi\u00adcal\u201d unrav\u00adel\u00ading meth\u00adods, such as: the prince kiss\u00ades the princess, the princess kiss\u00ades the frog, or some\u00adone casts (or breaks) a spell, or a tremen\u00addous coin\u00adci\u00addence occurs (pure\u00adly by luck). The under\u00adly\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adple is most\u00adly \u201clove con\u00adquers all\u201d or \u201cgood deeds bring good rewards.\u201d How\u00adev\u00ader, chil\u00addren today, once they get a lit\u00adtle old\u00ader, can\u2019t stand these old clich\u00e9s. Some chil\u00addren say, \u201cI don\u2019t like read\u00ading fairy tales; they\u2019re all lies.\u201d Actu\u00adal\u00adly, they don\u2019t dis\u00adlike fairy tales; they just dis\u00adlike the old clich\u00e9s. If you don\u2019t believe me, ask any chil\u00addren how many don\u2019t like the fairy tales of White and Dahl. They also wrote fairy tales, but they used entire\u00adly new unrav\u00adel\u00ading meth\u00adods.\"\u590f\u6d1b\u7684\u7f51\u63d2\u56fe\u4e8c\"<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get back to White\u2019s puz\u00adzle. Hon\u00adest\u00adly, it was a real prob\u00adlem. You could\u00adn\u2019t let the pig escape, it was\u00adn\u2019t a wild ani\u00admal; and you could\u00adn\u2019t turn the pig into a lit\u00adtle boy, that would be too much of a joke on a child. If you put your\u00adself in White\u2019s shoes, it\u2019s incred\u00adi\u00adbly frus\u00adtrat\u00ading. From the age of four, White had devel\u00adoped a habit of spend\u00ading a month each year vaca\u00adtion\u00ading on the Great Lakes of Maine. At first, he went with his father, then with his son. When\u00adev\u00ader he need\u00aded qui\u00adet time to think about impor\u00adtant issues, he would always think of going there. So, he went to a small boathouse there to pon\u00adder: how to save the pig named Wilbur? He thought about this prob\u00adlem for over two weeks, until one day he spot\u00adted a large spi\u00adder\u00adweb and a spi\u00adder in the cor\u00adner of the boathouse. And so, a spi\u00adder named Char\u00adlotte was born!<\/p>\n

Using a spi\u00adder web to save a pig is, in my opin\u00adion, far more dif\u00adfi\u00adcult than using the last leaf to save a dying artist. This is a remark\u00adably clever twist. Why is it dif\u00adfi\u00adcult? Because White is try\u00ading to con\u00advince chil\u00addren, and chil\u00addren are actu\u00adal\u00adly hard\u00ader to fool than adults. You not only have to make the lie flaw\u00adless, but you also have to make it incred\u00adi\u00adbly enter\u00adtain\u00ading. You can\u2019t rely on the \u201clast leaf\u201d trick to coax chil\u00addren; few chil\u00addren have the patience to lis\u00adten to you fin\u00adish your sto\u00adry. Dahl under\u00adstood this deeply; he said that writ\u00ading sto\u00adries for chil\u00addren is hard\u00ader than writ\u00ading sto\u00adries for adults. The dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty lies here\u2014you must imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly cap\u00adture a child\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

White also gave more thought to Char\u00adlot\u00adte\u2019s \u201cself-sac\u00adri\u00adfice.\u201d In O. Hen\u00adry\u2019s sto\u00adry, the artist who saved the pig died of ill\u00adness, and Char\u00adlotte, who saved the pig, also died. But Char\u00adlotte left off\u00adspring; her self-sac\u00adri\u00adfice was also a nat\u00adur\u00adal process of repro\u00adduc\u00adtion. This is a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant dif\u00adfer\u00adence between unrav\u00adel\u00ading a sto\u00adry in adults\u2019 sto\u00adries and in chil\u00addren\u2019s sto\u00adries. Chil\u00addren\u2019s sto\u00adries need a sense of return, or some\u00adthing akin to \u201csecu\u00adri\u00adty.\u201d White hoped that chil\u00addren would\u00adn\u2019t be over\u00adly sad\u00addened by Char\u00adlot\u00adte\u2019s death. This reflects a sense of respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty on the part of sto\u00adry\u00adtellers for chil\u00addren.<\/p>\n

You see, telling sto\u00adries to chil\u00addren is indeed a bit dif\u00adfi\u00adcult.<\/p>\n

White\u2019s genius in cre\u00adat\u00ading and uncre\u00adat\u00ading clasp is also evi\u00addent in *The Trum\u00adpet of the Swan*, a near-flaw\u00adless work, exquis\u00adite\u00adly detailed. How\u00adev\u00ader, I still find it less vivid than *Char\u00adlot\u00adte\u2019s Web*. Selden\u2019s *The Crick\u00adet in Times Square* is also a mas\u00adter\u00adpiece of clasp-uncre\u00adat\u00ading. But let\u2019s leave that aside for now, as it seems I\u2019m drift\u00ading fur\u00adther and fur\u00adther away from Dahl\u2019s style.<\/p>\n

Unlike oth\u00aders who cre\u00adate and undo but\u00adtons, Dahl\u2019s work is first and fore\u00admost remark\u00adable in its sheer quan\u00adti\u00adty. If White and Selden were engaged in \u201cretail,\u201d then Dahl was in \u201cwhole\u00adsale.\u201d Dahl\u2019s but\u00adton-mak\u00ading and undo\u00ading seemed to be an effort\u00adless affair, as if it hap\u00adpened with\u00adout a sec\u00adond thought, and you can find incred\u00adi\u00adbly inge\u00adnious but\u00adtons in every piece he cre\u00adates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Witch\u00ades\u201d is prob\u00ada\u00adbly the most well-known work. There are many minor plot twists in the sto\u00adry, but I will only talk about the most impor\u00adtant one.<\/p>\n

First, there\u2019s the tech\u00adnique of build\u00ading sus\u00adpense. The first half of the sto\u00adry repeat\u00aded\u00adly empha\u00adsizes and sets the stage for the witch\u2019s wicked\u00adness and ter\u00adror. Grand\u00adma is prac\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly Dahl\u2019s spokesper\u00adson, grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly peel\u00ading back the lay\u00aders of the \u201cwitch mys\u00adtery\u201d with a hazy, enig\u00admat\u00adic approach. Frankly, at first I thought it was just some\u00adthing pure\u00adly meant to scare chil\u00addren, but then the witch actu\u00adal\u00adly appears in the lit\u00adtle boy\u2019s life. The scene where the witch teas\u00ades him under the tree is cru\u00adcial. A mas\u00adter sto\u00adry\u00adteller does\u00adn\u2019t rush to the cli\u00admax; like a bird tuck\u00ading its wings before tak\u00ading flight, it cre\u00adates a sense of antic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion and sus\u00adpense. Then, in a com\u00adplete\u00adly unex\u00adpect\u00aded sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, the lit\u00adtle boy is sud\u00adden\u00adly caught up in the cen\u00adter of a witch\u00ades\u2019 gath\u00ader\u00ading. To demon\u00adstrate their pow\u00ader, the witch\u00ades give a live demon\u00adstra\u00adtion, turn\u00ading anoth\u00ader lit\u00adtle boy into a mouse on the spot.<\/p>\n

At this point, I thought the knot was taut enough; it was time to see how the lit\u00adtle boy would break free and untie it. But it was\u00adn\u2019t over yet. Just when we thought the boy was about to escape the clutch\u00ades of evil, a witch smelled the boy and turned him into a lit\u00adtle mouse!<\/p>\n

And there you have it, the but\u00adton is final\u00adly fin\u00adished. But this but\u00adton is tru\u00adly dread\u00adful. What can you do? What can a lit\u00adtle boy turned into a mouse pos\u00adsi\u00adbly do?<\/p>\n

Here, I\u2019m par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly remind\u00aded of Dahl\u2019s per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty; he was a guy who loved adven\u00adture. In his auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy, *Boy*, the rest\u00adless young man was orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly assigned by Shell to Egypt in North Africa\u2014a cov\u00adet\u00aded posi\u00adtion. But he thought Egypt was too civ\u00adi\u00adlized and not excit\u00ading enough, so he refused to go. As a result, his super\u00advi\u00adsor had to send him to the less devel\u00adoped Cen\u00adtral Africa, where he was over\u00adjoyed. He said, \u201cI want to go to that land with palm trees, coconut trees, coral reefs, lions, ele\u00adphants, and dead\u00adly snakes. A white hunter who lived in Mom\u00adbasa for ten years told me that if a black cobra bites me, I\u2019ll die with\u00adin an hour, writhing in agony and foam\u00ading at the mouth. I can\u2019t wait!\u201d See? That\u2019s the kind of guy he was!<\/p>\n

What else can we expect from this guy? He\u2019s going to give us the most excit\u00ading twist yet: a lit\u00adtle boy, turned into a mouse, faces an incred\u00adi\u00adbly pow\u00ader\u00adful group of world witch\u00ades, and he must save the world!<\/p>\n

The sub\u00adse\u00adquent unrav\u00adel\u00ading is tru\u00adly unbe\u00adliev\u00adable: the lit\u00adtle boy, trans\u00adformed into a rat, uses a poi\u00adson con\u00adcoct\u00aded by the witch\u00ades them\u00adselves to turn them into rats, lead\u00ading to their anni\u00adhi\u00adla\u00adtion. This tac\u00adtic, in the par\u00adlance of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Dev\u00adils*, is called \u201cusing their own meth\u00adods against them.\u201d Tru\u00adly, \u201cEast\u00adern Murong, West\u00adern Darl,\u201d per\u00adhaps even \u201cEng\u00adlish Murong\u201d?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, while *The Witch\u00ades* is high\u00adly praised by many crit\u00adics, I don\u2019t think its plot is the most inge\u00adnious. In terms of imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtive won\u00adder, *The BFG* sur\u00adpass\u00ades it. Let me briefly describe the plot: The BFG kid\u00adnaps a lit\u00adtle girl named Sophie to Giant Island, and the two become fast friends. Sophie hears that the evil giants on the island enjoy eat\u00ading chil\u00addren, and the brave girl decides to risk her life to save all the chil\u00addren in the world. But the BFG on Giant Island is just a small giant with lim\u00adit\u00aded abil\u00adi\u00adties; his lan\u00adguage skills are rudi\u00admen\u00adta\u00adry, and besides cap\u00adtur\u00ading and manip\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading dreams, he has no oth\u00ader remark\u00adable abil\u00adi\u00adties. Their only chance is to noti\u00adfy the British gov\u00adern\u00adment and ask for help. But who would believe them? More\u00adover, even a large army might not be able to sub\u00addue those giants. What to do?<\/p>\n

When I read these kinds of books, I have a habit of always think\u00ading about how to solve the mys\u00adtery first. That\u2019s part of the fun of read\u00ading mys\u00adtery nov\u00adels. If you\u2019re read\u00ading a detec\u00adtive nov\u00adel and don\u2019t first think about \u201cwho the mur\u00adder\u00ader is,\u201d or if some\u00adone walks up behind you and says, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you, so-and-so is the mur\u00adder\u00ader,\u201d I believe it will be quite bor\u00ading. So I won\u2019t reveal the mys\u00adtery yet, lest you throw a brick at me.<\/p>\n

I might as well tell you some more things that I par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly admire, let\u2019s treat it as an intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal game first.<\/p>\n

Actu\u00adal\u00adly, what I admire and am most moved by is Dahl\u2019s *Matil\u00adda*. Pub\u00adlished in 1988, Dahl passed away in 1990 at the age of 73. A 70-year-old man, already incred\u00adi\u00adbly insight\u00adful back then. Dahl lived those 70-plus years to the fullest. If you divide it into three parts, the first was adven\u00adture, the sec\u00adond was writ\u00ading detec\u00adtive nov\u00adels for adults, and the third was telling sto\u00adries to children\u2014each part was incred\u00adi\u00adbly bril\u00adliant. Look\u00ading back at myself, even liv\u00ading just one of those bril\u00adliant peri\u00adods would be enough to make me con\u00adtent.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This 70-year-old man poured his life\u2019s work into *Matil\u00adda*. His untamed spir\u00adit, sharp insight, mag\u00adnan\u00adi\u00admous atti\u00adtude towards life, rich emo\u00adtions, and espe\u00adcial\u00adly his aging yet mas\u00adter\u00adful tech\u00adnique, all unfold freely in this work. The knot in this sto\u00adry is arguably the most com\u00adplex in Dahl\u2019s works:<\/p>\n

Matil\u00adda is a child prodi\u00adgy, com\u00adplete\u00adly at odds with her fam\u00adi\u00adly atmos\u00adphere. She has a ter\u00adri\u00adble home; her par\u00adents and broth\u00ader are incred\u00adi\u00adbly vul\u00adgar, and her par\u00adents take plea\u00adsure in sup\u00adpress\u00ading and belit\u00adtling her. Things don\u2019t improve much after she enters school. The head\u00admas\u00adter is a sadis\u00adtic psy\u00adchopath, and the oth\u00ader teach\u00aders either don\u2019t under\u00adstand her or are ter\u00adri\u00adfied by his oppres\u00adsive behav\u00adior. The only light is her teacher, Miss Hen\u00adny, who is as warm as spring.<\/p>\n

Speak\u00ading of which, we must men\u00adtion Dahl\u2019s child\u00adhood school life; this sto\u00adry seems to be Dahl\u2019s deep\u00adest impres\u00adsion of school. A few years before writ\u00ading *Matil\u00adda*, Dahl had just fin\u00adished two auto\u00adbi\u00adogra\u00adphies. I sus\u00adpect that this old man prob\u00ada\u00adbly want\u00aded to find a kind of lib\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion from his child\u00adhood through Matil\u00adda\u2019s sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n

See, this but\u00adton was made with great dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty. About four-fifths of the sto\u00adry describes Matil\u00adda\u2019s predica\u00adment. She can\u00adnot grow up nor\u00admal\u00adly in her own fam\u00adi\u00adly; she faces sim\u00adi\u00adlar dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adties at school, where she, her class\u00admates, and her teach\u00aders are all oppressed by the prin\u00adci\u00adpal; her only beloved teacher is actu\u00adal\u00adly the prin\u00adci\u00adpal\u2019s niece, and one of the most oppressed by the prin\u00adci\u00adpal, strug\u00adgling with only mea\u00adger strength. But she learns a very strange anec\u00addote: Miss Trun\u00addle, the prin\u00adci\u00adpal, is very like\u00adly the mur\u00adder\u00ader of Miss Hen\u00adny\u2019s father, and thus seized Miss Hen\u00adny\u2019s inher\u00adi\u00adtance. This is the key to unrav\u00adel\u00ading all the con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtions in the sto\u00adry!<\/p>\n

But no one could help her and Miss Hen\u00adny. She was indeed a child prodi\u00adgy, but with only a tiny spe\u00adcial abil\u00adi\u00adty: the abil\u00adi\u00adty to manip\u00adu\u00adlate small objects over short dis\u00adtances with her mind, and even that was unre\u00adli\u00adable. How could she pos\u00adsi\u00adbly accom\u00adplish such a mas\u00adsive unrav\u00adel\u00ading task with such a lim\u00adit\u00aded super\u00adpow\u00ader? This was giv\u00ading the old man quite a headache.<\/p>\n

He actu\u00adal\u00adly solved it, and it was absolute\u00adly bril\u00adliant!<\/p>\n

Dahl wrote a chil\u00addren\u2019s sto\u00adry when he was 27, and after\u00adwards focused on writ\u00ading sto\u00adries for adults, espe\u00adcial\u00adly mys\u00adtery sto\u00adries. He even wrote a screen\u00adplay for the James Bond film series, \u201cYou Can Only Live Twice.\u201d Around the age of 45, after hav\u00ading his own chil\u00addren and being pres\u00adsured to tell sto\u00adries dai\u00adly, he start\u00aded writ\u00ading chil\u00addren\u2019s sto\u00adries again, becom\u00ading addict\u00aded and nev\u00ader return\u00ading to writ\u00ading for adults. It was\u00adn\u2019t that he found writ\u00ading for chil\u00addren easy; rather, he found it more excit\u00ading. Have you ever heard of a Chi\u00adnese writer with a sim\u00adi\u00adlar expe\u00adri\u00adence, who did\u00adn\u2019t turn back because writ\u00ading for chil\u00addren was more chal\u00adleng\u00ading? I think that\u2019s the dif\u00adfer\u00adence. Our writ\u00aders often take the oppo\u00adsite route, writ\u00ading for chil\u00addren first, then find\u00ading it unin\u00adter\u00adest\u00ading, and then turn\u00ading to the adult world. Of course, there are cer\u00adtain\u00adly many dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adties and envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal fac\u00adtors involved, but I won\u2019t go into those now.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take anoth\u00ader look at Dahl. Although his tal\u00adent was \u201cpour\u00ading out like a storm,\u201d it was\u00adn\u2019t as unre\u00adstrained as we might imag\u00adine. Writ\u00ading a sto\u00adry was a labor of love for him; he would typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly spend sev\u00ader\u00adal years craft\u00ading a book, and some\u00adtimes an idea would take years to devel\u00adop into a sto\u00adry. There\u2019s a dif\u00adfer\u00adence between writ\u00ading five sto\u00adries a year and writ\u00ading one sto\u00adry in five years. Besides, how many peo\u00adple in this world can have their tal\u00adent \u201cpour\u00ading out like a storm\u201d?<\/p>\n

It is said that Dahl con\u00adsid\u00adered the first page the hard\u00adest to write, and he would typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly spend a month writ\u00ading it. He knew his audi\u00adence was chil\u00addren, who were very dis\u00adcern\u00ading and would turn away if the sto\u00adry became even slight\u00adly unin\u00adter\u00adest\u00ading. He said, \u201cCon\u00adceiv\u00ading a vivid, fan\u00adtas\u00adti\u00adcal, and fresh plot is a dif\u00adfi\u00adcult task; I might have to spend a lot of time, even a year, to come up with one. I wan\u00adder around the house, the gar\u00adden, the vil\u00adlage, and the vil\u00adlage streets, search\u00ading again and again for that vivid, pecu\u00adliar new idea.\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t think of any of Dahl\u2019s works that, in terms of con\u00adcept alone, does\u00adn\u2019t qual\u00adi\u00adfy as \u201ca vivid, won\u00adder\u00adful\u00adly strange, and very fresh plot.\u201d This gives you an idea of how exhaust\u00aded he must have been.<\/p>\n

Even the most dis\u00adcern\u00ading crit\u00adics have not offered any neg\u00ada\u00adtive crit\u00adi\u00adcism of the sto\u00adry\u00adtelling tech\u00adniques in \u201cWorld Cham\u00adpi\u00adon Dan\u00adny\u201d.<\/p>\n

A young boy named Dan\u00adny lives with his father in the coun\u00adtry\u00adside. Although they are poor and his moth\u00ader has passed away, the father and son live hap\u00adpi\u00adly togeth\u00ader. How\u00adev\u00ader, by chance, Dan\u00adny dis\u00adcov\u00aders that his father has a dark secret: he is a poach\u00ader by trade! After his father\u2019s poach\u00ading attempt fails, Dan\u00adny risks his life to res\u00adcue him. From then on, father and son are unit\u00aded in their hatred of the evil for\u00adest own\u00ader and vow to fight him to the end.<\/p>\n

Poach\u00ading is gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adsid\u00adered immoral and shame\u00adful, but in this sto\u00adry, it\u2019s por\u00adtrayed as excep\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly bright, excit\u00ading, and cre\u00adative. This premise was already quite chal\u00adleng\u00ading. But Dahl push\u00ades it to the extreme, mak\u00ading this 9\u2011year-old boy the world cham\u00adpi\u00adon poach\u00ader, capa\u00adble of poach\u00ading 200 pheas\u00adants in a sin\u00adgle night, risk\u00ading dis\u00adgrace and even injury!<\/p>\n

Dahl was tru\u00adly a man of extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary courage. It is said that Dahl racked his brains to write this sto\u00adry, find\u00ading the most dif\u00adfi\u00adcult part to be choos\u00ading a suit\u00adable geo\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal set\u00adting. After much delib\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion, he chose a rur\u00adal dwelling to live in, where he com\u00adplet\u00aded his con\u00adcep\u00adtion and writ\u00ading. Thus, in this sto\u00adry, we not only read about inge\u00adnious knot-break\u00ading tech\u00adniques but also expe\u00adri\u00adence a rich, rus\u00adtic atmos\u00adphere. Par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly note\u00adwor\u00adthy is that this work does not rely on any super\u00adnat\u00adur\u00adal forces; it is essen\u00adtial\u00adly a real\u00adis\u00adtic work. This is a rare excep\u00adtion in Dahl\u2019s oeu\u00advre.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll dis\u00adcuss the solu\u00adtion to the plot hole in this sto\u00adry next time. First, I\u2019ll quote a pas\u00adsage Dahl wrote at the end of the book for chil\u00addren:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you grow up<\/p>\n

When you have your own child,<\/p>\n

Please remem\u00adber this:<\/p>\n

Life\u00adless par\u00adents are dull and unin\u00adter\u00adest\u00ading.<\/p>\n

What a child needs<\/p>\n

What is worth want\u00adi\u00adng<\/p>\n

They were bril\u00adliant and intel\u00adli\u00adgent par\u00adents.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think chil\u00addren need not only intel\u00adli\u00adgent par\u00adents, but also intel\u00adli\u00adgent uncles, aunts, grand\u00adfa\u00adthers, and grand\u00admoth\u00aders, espe\u00adcial\u00adly those uncles, aunts, grand\u00adfa\u00adthers, and grand\u00admoth\u00aders who tell them sto\u00adries. Oth\u00ader\u00adwise, how bor\u00ading child\u00adhood would be!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a break. To find out what hap\u00adpens next, stay tuned for the next episode.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Repub\u00adlish\u00ading an old arti\u00adcle: On the art of sto\u00adry\u00adtelling by Dahl and oth\u00ader chil\u00addren\u2019s book authors, from \u201cmak\u00ading but\u00adtons\u201d to \u201cunbut\u00adton\u00ading but\u00adtons\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12,1],"tags":[8,10],"class_list":["post-10967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-ajia-review","category-thoughts","tag-8","tag-10"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/\u5373\u5c06\u51fa\u7248\u7684\u8fbe\u5c14\u4f20\u8bb0.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10967"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10988,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10967\/revisions\/10988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}