George's Marvelous Medicine

Tongue just barely in cheek here. Eight-year-old George's grandma is horrible to him, especially when his parents aren't around, so one day when his dad is in the fields and his mom is at the grocery store, George decides to mix up his own medicine to replace Grandma's usual brown stuff. He proceeds to empty cans, bottles, and jars of all kind of inedible and poisonous substances from every room in the house into a big soup pot, gives it a stir and some heat, then pours a spoonful for his grandma...oh boy does it ever make a difference.

Grandma grows, Alice-style, till her head pokes through the roof; when George's father arrives home, he's less worried about his mother-in-law than about the potential to make enormous chickens, cows, show more pigs, and sheep. But will the second batch have the same effect as the first?

A fun sort of revenge story, as long as readers "don't try this at home."

*

Steam was shooting out of Grandma's mouth and nose and ears and whistling as it came.
"She'll feel better after she's let off a bit of steam," Mr. Kranky said. show less

Well this is a weird little book.

I know Dahl has written a few disturbing stories in his time, but this one has to be right up there with the disturbing-est of them. I’m not comfortable rating it at this time, mostly because it’s entirely possible that kids would like this book more than grownups. I don’t know what kid-me would have made of this, but grownup-me isn’t impressed.

Even the premise is wacky. There is a boy, George, who lives with his parents and his grandmother. The grandmother is old and sick, and because of this, she isn’t always very pleasant. (That seems fair . . . It’s hard to be cheerful when you don’t feel good.) One day, in a moment of either mischief or senility, she mentions that she has certain show more powers, and the boy gets a little bit scared of these alleged witchy powers that, as far as I can tell, she doesn’t even really have.

So he disposes of her medicine and replaces it with his own concoction, which, wouldn’t you know it, actually has real, non-alleged witchy powers.

Despite being super-gross and potentially lethal (I mean, come on, it’s got antifreeze in it, along with a bunch of other household chemicals), this potion actually puts her in a good mood. Unfortunately, it also alters her physically, and permanently. I won’t spoil too much here, except to say that things don’t end well for her, but nobody else seems to care. Well, the mom cares, a little bit, at first, but she gets over things speedily enough. Old people are a burden anyway. Hooray!

I mean, really? What on earth did I just read?

It’s too disturbing to be funny, it’s too bizarre to be scary, it’s too much of a downer to be whimsical, and the protagonists are too callous for me to enjoy the adventure. There’s one other thing, too. It may be that I’m reading too much into this, but I am irked at the unspoken implication that a woman who isn’t constantly cheerful isn’t worthy to live. Between this and The Witches, in which the magical forces preying on children are always female, I’m a bit disappointed. It’s hard to come to grips with the idea that this came from the same author who wrote such a wholesome adventure in James and the Giant Peach, and who gave us such a calm, dignified, and self-possessed heroine in Matilda. This just feels like a vindictive kid who takes his frustration out on an old, sick, feeble relative.

Again, I’m not exactly the target audience, and I recognize that my adult perspective may be hindering me from appreciating Dahl’s intent.

Still, wow. Not my cup of tea (er, I mean, medicine). show less

I'm going to rate this five stars because I think this is my favourite Roald Dahl book.

The thing that I love about Roald Dahl is how respectful he is of children. He writes in such a way that acknowledges a child's intelligence, their intuition and how perceptive they are. And I love, that in all of that, Dahl can pick apart an adult's expectations or perceptions of the world and show that in some cases, they are flawed, and adults aren't perfect. Roald Dahl writes in a way that is creative, without being condescending, and I think that is essential in a brilliant children's novel like this.

I love this book when I was a kid because I loved how cheeky George was, I loved the bizarre list of medicinal ingredients that he came up with. show more When I reread it a few years ago, I found that I still totally enjoyed it and giggled my way through it.

So, yeah, overall it was an excellent read, and I would read it again. c: show less

Well this is a weird little book.

I know Dahl has written a few disturbing stories in his time, but this one has to be right up there with the disturbing-est of them. I’m not comfortable rating it at this time, mostly because it’s entirely possible that kids would like this book more than grownups. I don’t know what kid-me would have made of this, but grownup-me isn’t impressed.

Even the premise is wacky. There is a boy, George, who lives with his parents and his grandmother. The grandmother is old and sick, and because of this, she isn’t always very pleasant. (That seems fair . . . It’s hard to be cheerful when you don’t feel good.) One day, in a moment of either mischief or senility, she mentions that she has certain show more powers, and the boy gets a little bit scared of these alleged witchy powers that, as far as I can tell, she doesn’t even really have.

So he disposes of her medicine and replaces it with his own concoction, which, wouldn’t you know it, actually has real, non-alleged witchy powers.

Despite being super-gross and potentially lethal (I mean, come on, it’s got antifreeze in it, along with a bunch of other household chemicals), this potion actually puts her in a good mood. Unfortunately, it also alters her physically, and permanently. I won’t spoil too much here, except to say that things don’t end well for her, but nobody else seems to care. Well, the mom cares, a little bit, at first, but she gets over things speedily enough. Old people are a burden anyway. Hooray!

I mean, really? What on earth did I just read?

It’s too disturbing to be funny, it’s too bizarre to be scary, it’s too much of a downer to be whimsical, and the protagonists are too callous for me to enjoy the adventure. There’s one other thing, too. It may be that I’m reading too much into this, but I am irked at the unspoken implication that a woman who isn’t constantly cheerful isn’t worthy to live. Between this and The Witches, in which the magical forces preying on children are always female, I’m a bit disappointed. It’s hard to come to grips with the idea that this came from the same author who wrote such a wholesome adventure in James and the Giant Peach, and who gave us such a calm, dignified, and self-possessed heroine in Matilda. This just feels like a vindictive kid who takes his frustration out on an old, sick, feeble relative.

Again, I’m not exactly the target audience, and I recognize that my adult perspective may be hindering me from appreciating Dahl’s intent.

Still, wow. Not my cup of tea (er, I mean, medicine). show less

This is one that Mr Bear chose for us to read together. His beloved Year One teacher (Mr M.) read it out to the class, so Mr Bear wanted to introduce me to it as well. And, amazingly, he didn't tell me what was going to happen as we read! There is hope for him yet.

A short amusing read, about George who invents a Marvellous Medicine to give to his ghastly grandmother, which turns out to have all sorts of unexpected side effects. Possibly it should be used as a cautionary tale (don't play with medicines!) but I doubt very much that was Mr Dahl's idea, and it just plays as an amusing revenge romp.

With some very fun side effects on some innocent chickens. PETA lovers, beware.

So Grandma is disabled and suffers from dwarfism and chronic pain. She scares George and he sets out to poison her. A deeply subversive novel that encourages children to play around with chemicals under the sink and perform experiments on animals. Great stuff.

George's Marvelous Medicine is a fun quick read that is simple yet captivating. In the beginning of the story George is fed up with his mean grandmother and decides to make a potion to replace the medicine she usually takes in hopes to make her nicer. With ingredients from all around the house, George's medicine gives his grandmother unexpected results. The potion causes his grandmother to grow to a monstrous size. This is an amazing story that's filled with tons of humor, mischief, and creativity. I appreciate Dahl's unique storytelling ability to combine fantastical elements with a mischievous streak that captivates readers.