A real laugh (The Twits - Roald Dahl)

Member Name: pan

Product:	The Twits - Roald Dahl
Date:	05/03/02 (514 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Incredibly funny

Disadvantages: Not long enough!

The Twits is, in my humble opinion, one of Roald Dahl's funniest creations. My kids love this, and even after half a dozen readings it still makes them, and me, rock with laughter.

The Twits are a miserable old couple, they hate each other almost as much as they hate everybody else. They are revolting. Smelly. Nasty. Probably Daily Mail readers too.

The first couple of chapters describe the Twits with each other. The wormy spaghetti scene is superb and never fails to make me laugh. They are not what you'd call a loving couple, but their loathing for each other is expressed in ever more outlandish tricks on each other. I can't say more for fear of spoiling it.

Later, once we've seen how the Twits are with each other we see how they are outside their disgusting home. This is where we find out about bird pie and the monkeys in the cage.

In some respects this later part of the book reminded me of 'Fantastic Mr Fox', in that it's quite manic, inventive and very surreal. It's this bizarre humour and comic invention that makes Dahl so popular with children and adults.

Rest assured that such obnoxious people get their come-uppance Dahl-style.

Another point in the book's favour is that the illustrations, by Quentin Blake, give add to the vivid pictures Dahl creates.

Like I said, this is a real pleasure to read out loud (even if you haven't got any kids). It's a short book, but worth it's weight in gold.

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