I'll have to get off this nostalgia kick, it's getting in the way of photography... Just as a "challenge" I re-read "Danny the Champion of the World" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl recently.....and thoroughly enjoyed them. Yes, it brought back memories, but also, they're great stories. You all know about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, maybe you've also seen the films, but Danny is a brilliant story.
A mechanic and his son live in a caravan next to the workshop, scratching out an honest living off local and passing trade. As the son grows up, he realises that his father loves poaching, and catches him sneaking off one night. So the tale goes, and they describe many ingenious and clever (and Dahl-esque) methods of catching the pheasants - you may recall if you've read it that some of them involve horsehair and raisins - and how pleasurable it is to take a pheasant out of the forest belonging to the local nasty rich chap.
The story climaxes as the rich chap prepares for the annual shoot, that hundreds of the pheasant have been reared for. Danny and his father want to scotch the shoot (having rightfully developed a dislike of this guy during the book) and so they set about plotting to sabotage the whole thing by poaching all of the pheasant! Needless to say it is a success, but it's brilliant the way it all works out in the end.
I commend them both (and all of Dahl's stuff, I suppose!) to you, even if you're a "grownup". Enjoy! And yes, they were the original copies I had as a child....even seeing the illustrations brought some of my childhood back with a jolt. Great stuff.
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