36. Going Solo
Rating: ☆☆☆
Recommended by:
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Humor
Info: 209 pages, published 1986
Format: Book
Summary
Going Solo is the autobiographical sequel of Boy, which is written by the world-famous author Roald Dahl (author of many famous children’s books including personal favorites Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr. Fox). It is about his life as a worker with the Shell Company in Africa and an RAF fighter pilot during World War II. Dahl hilariously recounts stories from his adventurous life as a young man, out on his own and ready to conquer the world.
Quotes
“A life is made up of a great number of small incidents and a small number of great ones.”
“What a fortunate fellow I am, I kept telling myself. Nobody has ever had such a lovely time as this!”
“I was already beginning to realize that the only way to conduct oneself in a situation where bombs rained down and bullets whizzed past, was to accept the dangers and all the consequences as calmly as possible. Fretting and sweating about it all was not going to help.”
“Mary Welland was certainly lovely. She was gentle and kind. She remained my friend all the time I was in hospital. But there is a world of difference falling in love with a voice and remaining in love with a person you can see. From the moment I opened my eyes, Mary became a human instead of a dream and my passion evaporated.”
My Take
While Going Solo feels a bit dated at times, it was a fun book to read and managed to capture the World War II era of the British Empire in Africa pretty well. Dahl has some amazing experiences which recounts in a highly readable and entertaining manner. On a side note, I have previously read several of Dahl’s short story collections and found them very enjoyable.
