Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator.

Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator By Roald Dahl.

Charlie had won! Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory was his now, and his parents Mr and Mrs Bucket , his three bed-ridden grandparents and sprightly Grandfather Joe were on their way to take over the factory. Rich and joyful , they were travelling in yet another of
Willy Wonka's marvels, the Great Glass Lift - or Elevator, as he preferred to call it.

But all was not going quite according to plan, for the Elevator had left the building and was zooming higher and higher into the sky. The grandparents were getting nervous, and Willy Wonka himself was obviously not very happy about things. Zoom, zoom went the Elevator, faster and faster, higher and higher, until it gave a ghastly groan, turned over, and left them bubbling like balloons inside it.

"Did we go too far?" enquired Charlie, to break the eerie silence. "Too far?" cried Mr Wonka. "Of course we went too far. You know where we've gone, my friends? We've gone into orbit!"

They weren't the only ones. Near by was a spacecraft with three all-American astronauts and the staff of a luxury hotel aboard, and also in orbit a terrifying and intelligent breed of space monsters, the Vermicious Knids, which didn't think much of these human invaders ... What was Charlie to do to put things right?

.... from the inner page.

First Sentence: The last time we saw Charlie, he was riding high above his home town in the Great Glass Lift.

How had I failed to read this Roald Dahl novel when Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was, and still is, such a firm favourite of mine?

Though still with a moral to it, CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR is, in my opinion, far darker, much less witty and a far less enjoyable read then many other Roald Dahl books and, definitely less so than Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. In fact, I'm doubtful it would have even been published in this day and age due to the fact that the author seems to delight in poking fun at the accents of the Chinese Community.

It is however, readable and I'm sure will still appeal to youngsters who will, of course, delight in the silly rhymes, jokes and made-up words - not to mention the thought of their grand-parents taking 'Wonka-Vite'.

MY RATING: 2 out of a possible 5.