Dahl hat hier eine fantasiereiche und stellenweise auch düstere Geschichte über Verlust und Freundschaft geschrieben. Jedoch muss hat mir der Beginn des Buches wesentlich besser gefallen. Die Geschichte entwickelt sich spätestens mit dem Auftauchen der „Antagonisten“ in eine völlig wirre und zumindest für mich unbefriedigende Richtung. Die Lehre des Buches (und Kinderbücher haben m.E. meist eine solche) lautet für mich: Vollbringe etwas, wodurch du berühmt wirst, und dann bekommst du auch Freunde. Das greift mir zu kurz und vermittelt letzten Endes den falschen Eindruck.

I was surprised to find that James and the Giant Peach was the first Dahl children's book to be published. I'd always assumee it to be Danny the Champion of the World. What I'm guessing is that Danny was the first children's book he wrote, but wasn't punished until he'd become successful. My goal is to read them in publishers order you see. Memory is an interesting thing. I do remember reading this book as a child, but there is a whole section I didn't remember, which was about Cloud-men, which I found fascinating. You can tell this is an early Dahl, for though it has some whimsy, it wasn't fully formed here, it was only really at the end that you started to get the word play that Dahl is known for. But it's still a masterpiece all the same!