The Twits (1980)

If I were a man with a beard, or a wife with a husband with a beard, by the time I got to page 5 of The Twits, that beard would have to go. Dahl's description of beards in general, and of the various refuse that made its home in Mr Twit's beard in particular, had me wincing, and Blake's illustrations made it that much worse. Yuck! Mrs. Twit doesn't fare much better. She's mean and hateful and cruel, a most terrible, horrible woman.
The Twits is more gross than dark, and pretty humorous. If I were going to read Dahl to a kid who might not go in for the darker, scarier stuff, this is the story I'd choose. ( )

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Not one of my favourite Roald Dahl books. I think, even as a kid, the Twits annoyed me too much to love it. ( )

No where is the phrase “they deserve each other” more appropriate than when it is applied to the Twits. Equally disgusting and disturbing, the Twits are mean to each other, and to everyone and everything they meet. This mean-spirited duo trick each other and delight in it. They grow meaner and uglier every day until . . . Well, you need to read the book to find out what comeuppance comes to the Twits. Author Roald Dahl does have an excellent way of portraying these nasty people. So good, in fact, I’d think twice before giving this book to an impressionable youngster. ( )

The Eejits is the Scots translation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits and is almost funnier than the original, at least for this nerdy reader. It’s always a fascinating exercise to read a book one is familiar with in a different language, and this book is no exception. I particularly enjoyed the part where Mrs. Twit puts worms in her husband’s spaghetti and he said “Hey, my spaghetti is shoogling!” Shoogly is one Scots word in my vocabulary, and I got a kick out of seeing a related word in print. ( )