Awful Auntie

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Apart from that I have no complaints. It's quite a brutal book in the Roald Dahl vein with multiple murders, some quite grisly. It is genuinely funny, genuinely interesting, and at the last, genuinely touching.

The revenge plan? It was fun, but was that toilet part necessary? It felt silly, unnecessary and quite disgusting to read it. Pee and poo "humour" isn't something I want to see in books. A wonderfully wordy opening scene (expect KS2 teachers to use this in Literacy lessons on descriptive language), setting the snowy scene in Saxby Hall.

Gibbon

It's more contained than other Walliams books. By this I mean, his usual zany humour just doesn't make as many appearances as it has in the past. There's a lot of exposition to get through, and it does make the book more serious as a result. There are also fewer settings and characters (it all takes place, like a stage play) in Saxby Hall and the grounds, with very few characters (which I felt it missed - other children, other adults). It's almost a two-hander - little girl versus evil aunt.

Someone bought Celyn this book in hardcover. It looks to be if not a fat book then at least not slender. Inside along with a font large enough to be seen from space, and frequent illustrations (no bad thing, though Celyn can't see them) there is one tactic used over and over to pad the thing out. The 'Raj' epilogue is wonderful. From the moment I realised the time period I knew we wouldn't be seeing Raj. And he's my favourite (recurring) character. The illustrations are still fantastic and I still really like them, and they are still another big reason why I still read these books. I'm glad that children love these books. David Walliams is helping keep libraries and bookshops busy with children requesting his titles, just as J. K. Rowling has done, this generation are enjoying their books and hopefully spring-boarding to other authors and titles that will fire their imaginations.When I started reading this book I didn’t expect the plot was so apprehensive, and I sensed the comparison with Roald Dahl books.

Den britiske komikeren David Walliams har de siste femten årene skrevet barnebøker og blitt veldig populær i sjangeren. Tante Grusom ble utgitt på norsk i 2016 og handler om lille Stella og hennes tante Alberta. Når Stellas foreldre dør på tragisk vis, arver Stella herregården Saxby. Tante Alberta, og hennes nærmeste fortrolige, uglen Wagner, vil ikke godta denne arverekken, og gjør alt de kan for å slå kloa i herregården. Stella må stå opp mot tanten, og får uventet hjelp fra slottets spøkelse. Dette er en humoristisk og absurd fortelling om en moden tolvåring og en barnslig tante, med innslag av alvorlige tema ispedd rare og morsomme detaljer. But I'm not going to give any author unconditional praise if it's not due. But I was disappointed by lots of things in this latest Walliams offering. Teta Alberta je zbilja grozna, i nema toga što bi tu njenu grozotu, zloću, gramzivost i sebeljublje umanjilo do kraja romana. Ona je grozna i točka. S njom tih 30-ih godina 20. st. živi mala Stella, koja će uskoro napuniti 13 godina i koja je nakon smrti svojih roditelja naslijedila imanje Saxby Hall. Alberta muči Stellu jer se želi dočepati bratove oporuke kako bi prisvojila Saxby Hall. I tu se zapravo odvija cijela radnja: Alberta muči Stellu, Stella želi pobjeći, pomaže joj duh Soot, pa jedni druge naganjaju i podvaljuju u čitavom romanu. Because that is also what the problem is with the books, they are over-the-top, overkill and trying way too hard to be funny. Trying to be funny is one thing, when it works, but this just feels like someone is trying to hard to make sure people laugh, trying to insert any silly situation or puns.This is the first book I’ve read written by David Williams. The characters are bizarre and yet dark humour is found all over. This is an admirable story were all the characters has their own importance. Stella was a great character, it wasn't her fault. She was the reason why I gave the book 2 stars at all. Even though her life is turned upside down, even with the loss she has suffered, she keeps on fighting. But she also shows emotion, we can see that she is terribly sad, and afraid. Yet, with the help of Soot, she continues her fight against her auntie and her auntie's evil plan. Even though she grew up in this big house, she wasn't that spoiled. Maybe it had to do with the fact her parents were practically poor, thanks to the awful auntie. Still it was refreshing to see a girl in a big mansion not being a total princess about everything.