Going Solo
Going Solo is a book by Roald Dahl, first published by Jonathan Cape in London in 1986. It is a continuation of his autobiography describing his childhood, Boy and detailed his travel to Africa and exploits as a World War II pilot.
Plot
The book started with Dahl's voyage to Africa in 1938, which was prompted by his desire to find adventure after finishing school.[1] He was on a boat heading towards Dar es Salaam for his new job working for Shell Oil. During this journey, he met various people[2] and described extraordinary events such as a lion carrying a woman in its mouth.
He eventually joined the war as a squadron pilot in the Royal Air Force, flying the Tiger Moth, Gloster Gladiator, and Hawker Hurricane. He was among the last Allied pilots to withdraw from Greece during the German invasion, taking part in the air for the Battle of Athens on 20 April 1941. In one of his accounts, he described a crash in the Western Desert, which fractured his skull and brought him several other problems such as temporarily being blinded during his days in Greece.[3] After the country fell to the Nazis, he went to the Middle East to fight Vichy French pilots after staying for a brief time in Alexandria, Egypt.
Analysis
In Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl (2010), Donald Sturrock claimed that there are disparities to the author's claims in the book, describing them as flights of pure fancy or compelling recreations of stories heard from others such as the accounts about exotic African animal adventures.[4] There was also the case of his encounter with a group of Germans, which he had orders to round up. Dahl wrote in Going Solo that its leader was killed by an African guard after thrusting a Luger pistol in his chest.[5] In Lucky Break (1977), a story published 10 years prior, the version of this story was less dramatic with the Germans quickly giving themselves up, allowing Dahl's group to march themselves to a camp in Dar es Salaam without much difficulty.[4]
References
- ^ "Going Solo by Roald Dahl". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
- ^ Kesh, Krazy (December 1, 2011). "Going Solo by Roald Dahl - review". the Guardian.
- ^ Kesh, Krazy (2011-12-01). "Going Solo by Roald Dahl - review". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
- ^ a b Sturrock, Donald (2010). Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 112, 117. ISBN 9781416550822.
- ^ Dahl, Roald (2012-02-02). Going Solo. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141965338.
- v
- t
- e
- The Gremlins (1943)
- James and the Giant Peach (1961)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
- The Magic Finger (1966)
- Fantastic Mr Fox (1970)
- Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972)
- Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)
- The Enormous Crocodile (1978)
- The Twits (1980)
- George's Marvellous Medicine (1981)
- The BFG (1982)
- The Witches (1983)
- The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985)
- Matilda (1988)
- Esio Trot (1990)
- The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (1991)
- The Minpins (1991)
- Revolting Rhymes (1982)
- Dirty Beasts (1983)
- Rhyme Stew (1989)
- Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen (1948)
- My Uncle Oswald (1979)
collections
- Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying (1946)
- Someone Like You (1953)
- Kiss Kiss (1960)
- Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl (1969)
- Switch Bitch (1974)
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1977)
- The Best of Roald Dahl (1978)
- Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
- More Tales of the Unexpected (1980)
- The Roald Dahl Omnibus (1986)
- Two Fables (1986)
- Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl (1989)
- The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl (1991)
- The Roald Dahl Treasury (1997)
- The Great Automatic Grammatizator (1998)
- Skin and Other Stories (2000)
- Roald Dahl: Collected Stories (2006)
- The Mildenhall Treasure (1946)
- Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984)
- Going Solo (1986)
- Measles: A Dangerous Illness (1986)
- Memories with Food at Gipsy House (1991)
- Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety (1991)
- My Year (1993)
- 36 Hours (1964)
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
- Danny, the Champion of the World (1989)
- The BFG (1989)
- Breaking Point (1989)
- The Witches (1990)
- Four Rooms (1995)
- James and the Giant Peach (1996)
- Matilda (1996)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
- Roald Dahl's Esio Trot (2015)
- The BFG (2016)
- Revolting Rhymes (2016)
- Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (2017)
- The Witches (2020)
- Matilda the Musical (2022)
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
- Wonka (2023)
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024)
- The Twits (2025)
- The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling (1966, unfinished)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
- The Night Digger (1971)
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
- The Honeys (1955)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (1998)
- Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka (2004)
- The Witches (2008)
- The Golden Ticket (2010)
- James and the Giant Peach (2010)
- Matilda (2010)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013)
- Fantastic Mr Fox (2016)
- The Witches (2023)
- Bibliography
- Short stories bibliography
- Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories (1983)
- Gipsy House
- Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
- Roald Dahl Children's Gallery
- Patricia Neal (wife)
- Olivia Dahl (daughter)
- Tessa Dahl (daughter)
- Ophelia Dahl (daughter)
- Lucy Dahl (daughter)
- Sophie Dahl (granddaughter)
- Phoebe Dahl (granddaughter)
- Felicity Dahl (second wife)
- Quentin Blake
- Wade-Dahl-Till valve
- Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse (2020)
- To Olivia (2021)
- Revision controversy