Review- English; 'De Weakens', known as the Witches', written by Royal Dahl, was written in 1983. Eve read this book in Dutch, because I was 12 years old at that time. 'The Witches' really made a big impression on me. Royal Dahl is such a wonderful writer! He knows how to act on children's imagination.
The book has also been filmed, in 1990. Some may say that they rather see the film, but I prefer the book. In books, you can use your own imagination. As soon as you see the film, your own imagination is gone, because from then the way the characters look and the environment they live in, is common round.The main character of the book, is also the narrator.
He lives with his grandmother, because his parent's had died in an accident. His grandmother is very wise, and always tells him stories. One day, she called him downstairs. As soon as he sat on her lap, she started to tell a story about witches, using her own experiences with these creatures.
After she told the story, the boy was really overwhelmed, but also triggered. After a lot of deliberating, they decide to 'open the hunting' on the witches! Together, they search for every single witch on the planet.They find out where the annual meeting of the witches is, and so they do some dangerous things. How does this all end up? Read the book and you'll find out! In my opinion, the book is a fascinating fantasy-stone, which shows the young reader that the good always overcomes the evil. And it's also written in a very funny way, only as Royal Dahl does. The only criticism I could have on this book, is that it's written for young children, about 7/8 years old, so it's not adequate for adults.
I would definitely recommend this book to Dutch students. If you have to read a book in English, read this! It's easy to understand and comical too.
