And what else to represent this iconic book than this classic image of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka from the equally iconic 1971 film adaptation – used as a meme in popular culture

(6) ROALD DAHL –

CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

(1964)

“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination”

Roald Dahl earns special mention in my top literature because of his short stories for adults, but his adult work is eclipsed in popularity by his books or stories for children and it probably isn’t even close – Dahl has been called “one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century”.

His short stories for adults excel in that archetypal ingredient of short stories, the twist in the tale at the end of the story. For Dahl, that was usually of a dark or macabre nature, something which carried over into his children’s literature only with fantasy, arguably bordering on horror.

Dahl’s children’s books are known “for their unsentimental, macabre, often darkly comic mood, featuring villainous adult enemies of the child characters” as well as championing “the kindhearted” and featuring “an underlying warm sentiment”.

And most of them are classics of children’s fantasy, so much so that they could be the subject of their own top ten – James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Witches just to name a few.

However, there could only be one candidate for Dahl’s most iconic book for children and that is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Of course, a large part of that is the cult classic film adaptation in 1971, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – elevating the eccentric chocolate factory owner to the title instead of Charlie. Director Mel Stuart and even more so Gene Wilder portraying the titular character made Dahl’s book their own, at least in memetic popular culture. In fairness, Dahl’s writing career also extended to screenplays and hence he wrote the screenplay for the film, ensuring its faithfulness to the book.

Sadly, fewer people know of the book’s sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator in 1972, probably because it has never been adapted to film or television as far as I’m aware – and even more sadly, Dahl apparently planned a third book in the series but never finished it.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)