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Boy
- Tales of Childhood
- Narrated by: Dan Stevens
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Children's Audiobooks, Literature & Fiction
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This is the second part of Roald Dahl's remarkable life story, following on from Boy. When he grew up, Roald Dahl left England for Africa - and a series of dangerous adventures began. From tales of plane crashes to surviving snake bites, this is Roald Dahl's extraordinary life before becoming the world's number one storyteller."
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Danny thinks his dad is the most marvellous and exciting father any boy ever had - but Danny's dad has a very big secret. This secret leads them both into the strangest adventure of their lives, and a daring plot that makes Danny the champion of the world.
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What makes us innocent and how do we come to lose it? Featuring the autobiographical stories telling of Roald Dahl's boyhood and youth as well as four further tales of innocence betrayed, Dahl touches on the joys and horrors of growing up. Among other stories, you'll hear about the wager that destroys a girl's faith in her father, the landlady who has plans for her unsuspecting young guest and the commuter who is horrified to discover that a fellow passenger once bullied him at school.
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From Roald Dahl, the master of the sting in the tail, a newly collected audiobook of his darkest stories, read by Juliet Stevenson, Cillian Murphy, Adrian Scarborough, Tamsin Greig, Stephanie Beacham and Andrew Scott. 'There is a pleasure sure in being mad, which none but madmen know.' Our greatest fear is of losing control - of our lives, but, most of all, of ourselves. In these 10 unsettling tales of unexpected madness master storyteller Roald Dahl explores what happens when we let go our sanity.
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Okay
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The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
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The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, a classic Roald Dahl story, brought to life in an audiobook reading by House star Hugh Laurie. Billy dreams of turning a weird old wooden house into a wonderful sweet-shop. But a giraffe, a pelly, and a monkey already live inside! Soon they are friends, and when they meet the richest man in England, Billy's scrumptious-galumptious dream just might come true....
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Perfect
- By E. Parke on 20-04-15
Summary
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Boy by Roald Dahl, read by Dan Stevens.
Throughout his young days at school and just afterwards, a number of things happened to Roald Dahl, which made such a tremendous impression he never forgot them. Boy is the remarkable story of Roald Dahl's childhood; tales of exciting and strange things - some funny, some frightening, all true.
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What listeners say about Boy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mr Robin Pawsey
- 07-06-16
Great read, such an interesting childhood he had!
Loved this when I was aged 13, love it even more now at age 35! If you like his fiction, reading about his real life adventures will show you how and where he got such brilliantly captivating ideas. *****
6 people found this helpful
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- ruth
- 02-12-14
a perfect insight into the mind of Roald Dahl!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes! The story of Roald Dahl's early life is so well written and narrated.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Roald Dahl himself is a great combination of naughty and innocent, he tells his memories as if they happened yesterday, and almost as if they happened to someone else!
Have you listened to any of Dan Stevens’s other performances? How does this one compare?
I haven't heard any other performances by Dan Stevens.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I laughed a lot, and my husband felt a bit queasy at the medical stories, I don't remember crying as I listened, but certainly there were deep and thoughtful moments.
2 people found this helpful
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- Claire
- 24-05-17
One Singular Sensation
I just love Roald Dahl, don't you?!
I remember being read this as a child and being captivated, particularly by the sweet shop tale, and the caning - and then drawing pictures of the various personalities and adventures during Primary School lessons. Later, in Secondary School, we were 'assigned' this book to read and write an essay about, and maybe because of my earlier familiarity with it, I won the prize for best project (a lovely edition of the follow up, Going Solo, which I had not had read to me as a child - it was reserved for my brother - so I was pleased to get my own copy! I must thank the English supply teacher we had that term - no other teacher would have been so inspiring as to offer a prize or take such an interest in my interest in the subject matter - lovely lady, "so let us now praise teachers who today are all so fine, And yours in particular is totally divine"). In one way or another, it's a book which has followed me throughout life.
It doesn't seem to matter who's reading it; the devilish fun, the fascination, the spirit of the author always comes across - but I must give special mention to Dan Stevens who gives a perfect reading here (one of my top 3 narrators: haven't heard him give a duff performance on audible yet, and I've listened to a good number of his readings - a gifted voice actor), of a man looking back at his early years with a twinkle and a tinge of sadness and of glee: the Dahl blend of nostalgia is the only kind I care to plunge within! I often wonder how his stories must have shaped my outlook on the world and my taste in literature. You can't come away from this without feeling hopeful and inspired, and uplifted by your fellow man. I now aim to read the recently published book of letters between Dahl and his mother, Love from Boy: surely perfect follow-on reading.
6 people found this helpful
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- Emily
- 21-08-16
brilliant!!
thoroughly enjoyed it!! loved the stories from Roal Dahl'd past. laughed throughout the book. simply brilliant.
3 people found this helpful
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- Luke Temple
- 01-08-16
Dan Stevens is absolutely superb
I've read Boy many times since I was a boy but have never enjoyed it so much as when Stevens read it. He's fantastic and really brings Dahl's exceptional story to life. 10/10.
3 people found this helpful
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- Reece
- 15-07-16
Phenomenal
Absolutely amazing book so educational and learnt so much I've even learnt Ronald dhal has the same birthday as me and same future aspirations
2 people found this helpful
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- E.A.P.
- 05-04-15
This is EXTRAORDINARY ! ! !
How spellbinding this story is!!! I loved it! Can't wait to read more Roald Dahl's stories ! ! !
The performance doesn't 100% match my understanding of the story but I think everyone has their own understanding of the story and it is well performed in general!
2 people found this helpful
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- Jamie Sleeman
- 24-12-14
Would they allow this sort of tale in schools now?
A sad, funny and sometimes tragic wend through Roald Dahl's formative years.
It's easy to see how his upbringing influenced his writing for children in later life. Certain thingss overspill, including many plot points from The Witches, Danny the Champion of the World and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
This version is a LOT better than the previous audio version of this books, which was narrated by Andrew Sachs, which I found frankly irritating. (Sorry Andrew.)
I'd love to see the reactions of 21st century kids to the stories in this first autobiography.
2 people found this helpful
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- Leonty
- 27-01-22
Good moral
This book is very good it sort of tells people what happened in the 1900’s
But going solo explains more
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- Androu
- 14-11-21
great book brought to life in this performance
Such a great story, and performed superbly.
was absolutely riveted throughout the whole story.
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- Alexandra Bazhenova
- 26-06-18
A great read
I loved the story and Dan Stevens’s voice. Very emotional and heartwarming book, inspiring despite the sad moments.
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- Gustavo
- 19-12-16
Magnífico!!! Una delicia haberlo escuchado!!!
Gracias por publicarlo. Fue entretenido hasta el final. Hay más publicaciones del autor en audio libro?
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- Con
- 12-09-15
Fantastic
What a brilliant book! And very well read! I'm extremely impressed by this. Well done.