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Frequently Asked Questions
Before you send me an e–mail, please check here first to see if your question has already been answered. Thank you!
Table of Contents
General Questions
Dahl's Life
His Books
The Movies
Miscellaneous
All About Me and This Website
General Questions
Hey! Are you really Roald Dahl??
Uh–Uh. *shaking head* Sorry. My name's Kristine and I'm actually just a fan like you. Lots of people get confused though. Unfortunately it's impossible for me to be Roald Dahl... because Mr. Dahl passed away in 1990. For more information on his death, jump to this question. Oh, and if you want to know more about me, just skip to the end!
How come you don't have his books on–line?
Quite simply, because that would be illegal. If I put his stories on my website, people could read them for free. It would be the same as stealing books from a bookstore and distributing them to my friends. Authors write for a living, and when you don't pay for their work you're hurting their pocketbooks (and breaking copyright law). Now I know that some sites on the Internet do have electronic books, but nearly all of these texts are only legal because they are so old that the author's copyright laws have expired (which is why you can find on–line Shakespeare and not John Grisham). I respect Mr. Dahl as a writer and therefore I respect his copyright laws. I do have some excerpts from his work available, but these are legally allowed for purposes of demonstration (under Fair Use laws). I know this sucks when you've got a paper due the next day and the library's closed, but I really can't help you.
Will you send me x? [general information, reviews, story text, etc.]
*sigh* This one kinda makes me mad. If people would only take the time to actually look around my site, they'd find 95% of the information they need. For example, I don't have the time to send out Dahl's birth date when it's clearly visible on this page, my Dahl Biography page, and all the timelines pages. I also can't send you any reviews or critical essays, because obviously whatever I have has already been posted at the site. And as for story text, I think I conclusively covered that one in the question above. Basically, if you ask me to send you anything that you could've found on your own, don't expect a reply. I'm sorry to sound harsh, but a little common sense needs to be used.
How do I get permission to adapt/perform/film Dahl's work?
As I wrote on my Legal page, I don't represent the Dahl estate in any way nor do I have any authority to grant anyone permission to use his work. Here are the people to contact:
Will you send me e–mail addresses for Dahl's family?
Certainly! I'll even throw in their phone numbers too... NOT. Hello? Even if I did have contact information for the Dahl family, there's no way I could (or would) give it out to the general public. We should respect their privacy. If you still have letters or questions you'd like to address to them, though, I suggest you send them care of Dahl's publisher. You should be able to get the appropriate address from any Dahl book cover.
Will you help me with my homework?
Sure! I'll help you with it, but I will not do it for you. Since this seems to be such a popular request, I've made a Student Help page (and Homework F.A.Q.) that should answer most of your questions. This is where to go for possible topics and all research–related inquiries.
Can I print out something from your site to use in my report/presentation?
That's fine with me! As long as you give credit and don't claim anything as your own, you're welcome to use these resources for educational purposes. Most teachers like you to cite stuff like that, so e–mail me if you can't find a source listed for what you need.
Can I use one of your images on my website?
You're welcome to use any image except the ones that make up the "look & feel" of my site. That includes the logo, table corners, and any others that I've created myself. The ones you can use include book covers, pictures of Roald Dahl and pictures from the movies.
However, you may NOT link directly to images on my site. I'm not a big company with money to burn; I'm just a person with a limited budget. When your image tags point to my server, I have to pay for the bandwidth you're using. As far as I'm concerned, this is theft. So if you want to use one of my images, you need to save it on your own server and use it from there. I've configured my server to refuse any requests that don't come from an approved domain, and you may even get a big "THIEF!" image on your site. So please, please don't steal my bandwidth.
Where can I buy books/movies?
I don't sell anything; the goal of this site is not to make money. However, many loyal visitors have noticed the appearance of links to Amazon.com throughout the site. (If you'd like to learn more about this "Association," see this question). This site earns between 5–15% commission on any sales generated by such links, which all goes towards upkeep of the site. Since Amazon only sell new editions, though, I've created a Where to Buy page to help serious collectors track down valuable Dahl volumes. It's a good starting place for whatever you're looking for.
How much is a specific Dahl book worth?
I don't really keep track of such things myself, but there's a great service called 123pix.com where you can search for a specific book and it'll give you the average price based on a number of booksellers and auctions.
So what's your "unofficial club" all about?
Really it's more of a discussion group, I suppose. *grin* It's located at http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/roalddahlclub. There are over 150 members and we have a message board that we use to communicate (although I admit we're pretty lazy about posting). We also have a chat room, a list of links, and a photo album. If you're a Dahl–fan, go ahead and join!
How can I find out when your site is updated?
Simply sign up on the Mailing List page. I sent out a newsletter every month or so telling you about updates. I promise not to send you any spam or send out your address at all. See the Mailing List page for more information.
What's with the Amazon association?
Basically, it's a way to recoup some of my expenses. I
pay for the entire site hosting myself and it's a nice way to off-set some
of that. With Amazon,
every purchase you make through this site earns at least a 5% commission.
You don't even have to buy Roald Dahl books! If you'd like to support what
I'm doing, just use one of these links the next time you're purchasing
something online.
What is the Roald Dahl
Foundation?
From the Official Roald Dahl Website: "The RDF is a UK-based charity which offers a programme of grant-giving to charities, hospitals and individuals in the UK only. The help delivered by the RDF spreads far and wide. We support people in exactly the same way Roald Dahl did when he was alive, offering practical assistance to children and families in our three areas of interest: neurology, haematology and literacy. Since its creation in 1991, the Foundation has donated over £2.5 million in grants." For lots more information on the Foundation, including a list of grants awarded and an application form, see the Official Site.
Back to the Table of Contents
Dahl's Life
When/where was Roald Dahl born?
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Wales, U.K. on September 13, 1916. (Llandaff is a very small village just outside the capital city of Cardiff.)
What was his family like?
Roald's parents were named Harald and Sofie. [More to come on this later...]
Where did he go to school? What were his school years like?
[More to come on this later...]
Was he a good writer? Did he get good grades?
It might surprise you, but Roald Dahl was not a very promising writer in school. In fact, he wasn't much of a student at all. His grades were mostly average, but he got terrible reports for his writing! One teacher actually wrote in his report card: "I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper!"
What was his favorite book?
What did he want to be when he grew up?
Dahl once said that if he had been able to stay on at school "I'd have studied and become a doctor." Luckily for us he didn't!
Where did Dahl go after school?
[More to come on this later...]
What happened to him in World War II?
Once England declared war on Germany, Roald and all the other young British men in the colonies had to help contain German sympathizers. After that he officially joined the Royal Air Force and was trained to fly combat missions. The other men in his squadron gave him the nickname "Lofty" because he was so tall (and had difficulty squashing himself into the airplane cockpit!). Tragically of the twenty men in 80 Squadron, Dahl was one of only three to survive. This was even more remarkable considering Dahl himself suffered quite a bad crash in the Libyan Desert in 1940. Though reports of the accident differ (see "Shot Down Over Libya" Controversy), the results were definitely painful – Dahl suffered bad burns, a concussion, and his nose was entirely pushed in. You can read about these and other War experiences in Dahl's books Boy and Going Solo.
What were his favorite things?
Music: Beethoven
TV Show: the News
Smell: bacon frying
Food: caviar
Color: yellow
What were his hobbies?
His interests were wide and passionate, from racing greyhounds, to breeding homing budgies, medical inventions, orchids, onions, gambling, golf, wine, music, art, mushrooming and the history of chocolate. He was a collector, starting as a child with conkers and birds' eggs leading on to works of art, antiques and wine.
When/where/how did he die?
In 1990, Roald was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, Myelo-dysplastic anaemia. (For more information on this disorder, see this page or this page.) "I've been a bit off colour these last few months," he wrote in a newsletter to his young fans, "feeling sleepy when I shouldn't have been and without that lovely old bubbly energy that drives one to write books and drink gin and chase after girls." Roald died on November 23, 1990 at the age of 74 near his home in Oxfordshire, England.
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His Books
How did Dahl become an author? What was his first published work?
As a result of the injuries he sustained in a plane crash, Dahl was invalided out of the Royal Air Force in the middle of World War II. He was eventually sent to America for the British embassy position of Assistant Air Attaché (which he later claimed was a cover for various "spy" type activities). The handsome young fighter pilot made quite a splash in the States and even became somewhat of a minor celebrity. In 1942 he met the famous writer C.S. Forester, author of the "Captain Hornblower" series. Forester wanted to write an article about Dahl's wartime experiences and asked the young pilot to jot down some notes for him. Instead, Dahl wrote out a complete story of his own that Forestor quickly submitted to the Saturday Evening Post, saying: "I'm bowled over. Your piece is marvellous. It is the work of a gifted writer. I didn't touch a word of it!" "Shot Down Over Libya" was published in the Saturday Evening Post on August 1, 1942 and thus became Dahl's first published work as an author.
Where did he get his ideas for stories?
Dahl didn't believe that stories just appeared, but that you had to work hard to think of them! "You start with the germ of an idea," he once said, "...a tiny germ... a chocolate factory? ... a peach, a peach that goes on growing..." He would write all of these ideas in his beloved red exercise book. But if his exercise book wasn't handy he would scribble a note on anything to remind himself – even if he had to write in crayon or lipstick!
Dahl also drew on his own life quite a bit for inspiration. For example, Dahl's Norwegian heritage can clearly be seen as an influence in The Witches. His first book of short stories, Over to You: 10 Stories of Flyers and Flying, was certainly prompted by his experiences in the R.A.F. The characters and situations in the "Claud's Dog" series from Someone Like You were supposedly based on actual people in Dahl's village of Aylesbury.
Dahl also had no qualms about re–using ideas and characters (and even whole chunks of text!) if he thought he could make something new out of them. For example, one of the stories in Someone Like You was entitled "The Champion of the World" and was about two men who invent a new method of poaching pheasants. They dope the birds with raisins stuffed with sleeping pills and manage to steal nearly all of Mr. Victor Hazell's flock. Of course, Dahl later turned this adult story into a children's book by changing the two men to a father and a son, calling it Danny the Champion of the World. This story included a chapter in which Danny's marvelous father told him an amazing bedtime story about a big friendly giant who collects dreams and distributes them to sleeping children. A few years later, nine more giants and an orphan named Sophie were added to create the classic story The BFG!
What tips did Dahl give to become a good author?
- You should have a lively imagination.
- You should be able to write well. By this I mean you should be able to make a scene come alive in the reader's mind. Not everybody has this ability. It is a gift, and you either have it or you don't.
- You must have stamina. In other words, you must be able to stick to what you are doing and never give up, for hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and month after month.
I need a list of all his books... Could you send me one?
No! Sorry, but I thought we'd covered this one before. *grin* I don't have time to send people stuff that they could easily find at my website in two seconds. For the record, you can find a list of all the books Dahl wrote on my Books page. (For a chronological list, use the Timelines page and sort for "Books".)
How many languages have his books been translated into?
Where can I find Roald Dahl books in French?
A nice Dahl fan named Becca Taylor pointed out that the website http://www.alapage.com has lots of French editions of Dahl stories at reasonable prices.
Where can I find Roald Dahl books in Spanish?
Actually Amazon.com
has a great selection of Dahl's books in Spanish.
What's the name of the hero in "The Witches"?
Actually he doesn't have a name! No one in the book ever refers to him by name, nor does he himself as the narrator. I always sorta liked that; to me it meant that he could've been any kid. Of course, in the movie version they did give him a name: Luke. I wish they hadn't... What do you think?
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The Movies
Where can I get a copy of "The BFG"?
Unfortunately you're not going to be able to find this little gem in any old Wal–Mart or Blockbuster. A good starting point is my Where to Buy page; from there you can find links to a few places that specialize in hard–to–find movies. The best method, in my opinion, is just to go to eBay.com and enter a search for "dahl" and "bfg." This is how I got my tape for less than $5.00 and I highly recommend it. And NO, I won't make you a bootleg copy of it. You know how I feel about copyright laws. *grin*
UPDATED! I got a great e-mail from Ken Law, the Head of Marketing at Pearson Television Video. Ken informs me that a new DVD version of this film will be available in the UK from August 7, 2000. It sounds fantastic too! He also notes that the (UK) video will be re-packaged and re-released later in the year as well. So sorry to the Americans... but it sounds like British fans will soon be able to own this gem!
What's this I hear about a new Wonka movie?
The rumors have been confirmed – there is a new Wonka movie in the works! It's supposedly going to be based more on Dahl's original book than the 1971 film was and thus it'll be "closer to Dahl's vision." You can read all about it on the Wonka Remake page. Though this site is primarily devoted to Dahl and his books, I understand that lots of us are eager to hear all the rumors about this new film. I personally visit all the underground movie rumor sites pretty regularly anyway, so whatever I find will be immediately posted to the News page (and then archived on the Remake page).
Who do you think should play Willy Wonka?
None of the actors that I've heard mentioned so far (including Nicolas Cage and Jim Carrey). They just don't seem like the "wise old squirrel" from the story – they're too modern. Personally I'm rooting for an unknown actor, hopefully someone older that will embody Dahl's description of the character (as opposed to a big–name actor that would bring extra baggage into it). I'm open to hearing your opinions, though! (But NO Bill Murray! *grin*)
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Miscellaneous
Did Roald Dahl hate little kids?
This is one of the weirdest questions I get. I don't know who started this rumor, but it bothers me. I think it probably had its origins in Willy Wonka – not that Wonka hated kids either, mind you. But the fact that the movie (and book) basically glorified the act of bumping off little brats has led a lot of people to accuse Dahl of being a child–hater. The fact is, Roald Dahl identified with young people and most of his stories are actually about conspiring with children to triumph over adults. (James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and The BFG are all examples of this.) He loved good children, and his gentle treatment of James, Charlie, Danny, Sophie, and Matilda shows this. Additionally, Roald Dahl was a loving father (despite some unorthodox ways of parenting) and he was incredibly devastated when two of his children were tragically hurt (Olivia died of measles encephalitis and Theo's baby carriage was hit by a taxi). The thought of taking delight in the demise of young people must have been revolting to him. In fact, he helped invent a life–saving medical device for children like Theo and also started a foundation for children with rare blood diseases. Perhaps the biggest indicator of his true feelings towards his audience, though, was the fact that he personally answered almost every letter that was ever sent to him. Many adults today still treasure the postcard or letter that they received from Dahl as a child.
Someone told me that Roald Dahl was a racist/Anti–Semite. Is this true?
I seem to get these questions a lot, and here is a recent answer I sent to a teacher in Wisconsin.
"No, you're not the first person to notice this trait in Dahl's writing. Since the 70's critics have accused him of being racist, sexist, Anti-Semitic, subversive, and just about everything else you can think of. The first serious attack was raised against him for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which (in the original edition) had the Oompa-Loompas as black pygmies from Africa. Starting with the 1973 edition, these were replaced with the fantastical (white) Oompa-Loompas present in the story today. (The 1971 film bypassed the issue by making them orange.) I've got more information about this here.
In Roald Dahl: A Biography Jeremy Treglown notes that later in Dahl's life editors had to continually ask him to modify his stories for an increasingly politically-correct readership. The Fleshlumpeater in The BFG, for example, was originally even more of a black caricature than he is in the current version. The plot of Fantastic Mr. Fox was changed almost completely from Dahl's original draft, which glorified thievery (even more than the one we have now). And women have never fared well in Dahl's stories, from the horrid Aunts Sponge and Spiker from James and the Giant Peach to the freakish and evil Witches to the mannish and violent Trunchbull from Matilda.
So you're probably wondering the same thing I am: why do people continue to celebrate this man and his stories? There are a few responses. The primary one (and the ones that his editors used when "Charlie" was written) is simply that he was a product of a different time and environment and he can't be held entirely responsible for the beliefs he was raised with. An English boarding school at the beginning of the 20th century was not an easy place to survive in, let alone cultivate an appreciation for diversity. After school Dahl went to work in Africa for the Shell Oil Company, back when the British Empire was still strong and colonial attitudes were not as enlightened as they are today. He also suffered incredible tragedies in his life (the death of a daughter, a traumatizing injury to his son, and his wife's debilitating strokes) that destroyed his belief in God and led to many years of bitterness.
Of course, knowing why he thought the things he did doesn't really help when the kids are clamoring to hear stories you're uncomfortable reading. Personally, I've been doing this website for over three years and the more I learn about the man, the more ambivalent I feel towards him. But he was a very complicated individual, and there are some things that (for me) help to balance the scale. He was always very kind to children, and despite the fact that adults in his stories never fare well, the good kids are always treated with sensitivity and love (like Danny, Matilda, James, and Charlie). And after his infant son's accident, he worked with an engineer and a neurosurgeon to develop a better and cheaper shunt for children with hydroencephalitis. Once it was patented and approved, they released it to the world and many people still have it in their heads today. He also personally answered every fan letter he received, and in his writing hut still hang some of his favorite correspondence.
Basically, my rationale for this website is: when I read the books as a kid, I didn't pick up on any of the bad stuff. I laughed at the jokes and at seeing adults look ridiculous. (To be honest, though, as a white girl in Indiana I might not have been as attuned to racial issues as others.) It wasn't until I re-read the books as an adult that some of the text became distasteful to me. And the "myth of Dahl" that's been pushed since his death tends to gloss over a lot of this stuff. Publishers paint the guy as a kindly old grandpa and the champion of all underdogs. I just feel that kids need to know about his life and be able to form their own opinions of his work. I guess if you feel the books might introduce negative attitudes to your class, you should talk about it with them. Or, if they're not mature enough for that yet, do what you're doing and skip the "bad" parts until they can see why they're bad."
Basically, that's my opinion on this issue and I'd be happy to discuss it with you if you like.
I need to dress as Dahl for a presentation... What the heck should I wear?
Probably the easiest look to pull off is the one from the cover of Roald Dahl: A Biography. He seems to be wearing some sort of dark cotton trousers (khakis would work), along with a dark colored T–shirt. Easy peasy. Then all you need is a dark woolen scarf to wind around your neck, a straw hat, and a walking stick. The finishing touch is the shoes: sandals with holes in them. (Quentin Blake actually based the BFG's shoes on Dahl's Norwegian sandals.) A pair of Birkenstocks or regular sandals would be good enough. And there you go!
How do you pronounce "Roald"?
The correct Norwegian pronunciation is "Roo-all." Note that you do NOT say the final "d". In other words, when you say "Roald Dahl" correctly, it rhymes! (Liccy Dahl admitted, however, that she herself sometimes uses the Anglicized "Roe-ald" pronunciation.)
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All About Me and This Website
So if you're not Roald Dahl, who the heck are you?
First of all, I'm a girl. (You'd be surprised how many people assume otherwise.) My full name is Kristine Howard, but friends have been known to shorten it to Kris or even Howie. I'm a 26–year–old recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where I majored in Film, Television, and Theater. I'm an American but I'm currently living in Sydney, Australia. You can learn more about me here or here at my personal page.
How did this site come about? Where did you learn HTML?
When I started at Notre Dame in the fall of 1995, I had virtually no experience with the Internet at all. Suddenly I had an e-mail account and access to computers with very fast connections. As you might imagine, I was hooked. After suffering through one hellish semester working in the dining hall, I applied for a position in the Office of Information Technologies. I got hired and my job was to attend various departmental meetings, take the minutes, and post them to the Web. Since I needed to know at least a little HTML, my boss helped me get started on a personal home page so I could learn on my own. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I spent in the computer lab working on that cruddy page... (which I know makes me a total nerd, but so are you if you're reading this. :)
By sophomore year, I outgrew my obsession with manic backgrounds and R.E.M. links and decided to actually make a page with CONTENT. What could I do, I wondered, that hadn't been done before? Somehow I hit on the idea of making a tribute to Roald Dahl, my all–time favorite author. There was virtually no information available about him on the Web, and I figured I knew as much as anybody (and would be willing to learn more). So in 1996 I gathered up my list of links, some crude biographical information, and a handful of book covers culled from Amazon.com. The site was born.
In the last five years I've done countless redesigns (most recently in July 2001) and added LOTS more information. I've won awards, been mentioned in magazines/newspapers, and made friends all over the world. I devote a lot of time to this site and the positive feedback makes it all worthwhile. I hope you enjoy it!
Didn't this site used to be called something else?
Yep. Up until just recently this site was called "The Roald Dahl Home Page" and it was located at "roalddahl.org". In the spring of 2000 I was contacted by representatives of Roald Dahl's estate. It turns out that they're going to finally launch an official site! They were incredibly enthusiastic and grateful for all the work I'd put into my humble page. As a gesture of my good faith, I decided to turn over "roalddahl.org" to them. I also wanted to differentiate my site from theirs and make my aims clear. That's why I got a new name and domain: RoaldDahlFans.com.
UPDATE! The Official Roald Dahl Website is now live at http://www.roalddahl.com. Just to reiterate, roalddahl.com is operated by the Roald Dahl Foundation and has the stamp of approval from his family. They've graciously allowed me to continue this site, roalddahlfans.com, as a community site for Dahl fans. But I don't represent them, and they don't represent me. Got it?
What do you use to design/edit the site?
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