The sequel to 'Boy', but not necessarily its equal (Going Solo - Roald Dahl)

Member Name: Starlight81

Product:	Going Solo - Roald Dahl
Date:	30/01/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fills you in on the details of Dahl's adult life, if you're interested

Disadvantages: Not written with the same panache as 'Boy'

If you've read 'Boy', the autobiography of Roald Dahls' childhood, then you may be disappointed by this sequel. It's still quite a good read, but isn't so full of the light-hearted, sickly stories typical of the author.

'Going Solo' begins with Roald leaving school and accepting a job working for the East African Shell Oil company, for which he must move to Dar es Salaam, in what is now Tanzania. There is a particularly memorable in which he comes face-to-face with a poisonous snake in this section of the book.

At the outbreak of World War Two, Roald voluntarily joins the RAF and signs up to become a fighter pilot. He is wounded in the Libyan desert, and the tale of his six-month long recuperation in a military hospital displays once again his love of the slightly macabre.

More follows his recuperation, but I feel I may have already given quite a lot away, so I won't tell you any more!

Published in 1986, 4 years before his death, this is certainly not one of his best books, but it's an interesting read if you're a fan.

Summary: Worth reading, but read his other books first