Boy
by Roald Dahl · first published 1984
53% recommend47% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dahl's childhood memoir offers a vivid, storytelling window into his early life and the experiences that shaped his later writing. It suits adults and readers curious about the author.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Boy is an autobiographical book by British writer Roald Dahl. This book describes his life from birth until leaving school, focusing on living conditions in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, the public school system at the time, and how his childhood experiences led him to writing as a career. It ends with his first job, working for Royal Dutch Shell. His autobiography continues in the book Going Solo. An expanded edition titled More About Boy was published in 2008, featuring the full original text and illustrations with additional stories, letters, and photographs. It presents humorous anecdote
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Also worth a look are Boy and Going Solo, Dahl's autobiographies of some of those events. Both excellent, aimed at adults, and a surprising little window into the forces that shaped Dahl-the-author.
on “Roald Dahl – the storyteller as benevolent sadist (2010)” ↗And my advice is to read and live! One of the reasons Roald Dahl was such a great writer is his life experiences. Read his books Boy and Solo.
on “GitHub Copilot, with “public code” blocked, emits my copyrighted code” ↗…family members who lived in Britain for years back in the day. They all describe the treatment of children in ways what would horrify Norwegians In which case, you *must* read Roald Dahl's autobiography 'Boy' (and the follow up, 'Going Solo'). He moved from Norway as a child into the English public school system, and a treatment that horrified his parents. Incidentally, the biographies are aimed at children…
on “Student photographs people with hidden spy cam in the 1890s (2018)” ↗Though he is probably more well known for his fiction, his memoirs (Boy, Going Solo) were my first reads of Dahl as a child. That man could tell a fantastic story within a chapter.
on “Roald Dahl – the storyteller as benevolent sadist (2010)” ↗…of "Turkish" delight (since there was a lot of curiosity re: the Middle East back then) seems like it might have been why Lewis chose that. Roald Dahl has a great bit on going to buy candy as a kid in "Boy" (http://dhunter.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/5/8/2958381/roald_dahl...) - which makes it sound much more of a magical experience than the jaded way I get m&ms at the corner store today. An aside: not to be…
on “C.S. Lewis's Greatest Fiction: Telling Kids They’d Like Turkish Delight (2015)” ↗As a child, Roald Dahl had a profound impact on me. His autobiographies Boy and Going Solo made me want to explore the world more.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…an ideal approach. Shying away from the difficulties of bringing up a child isn't something you should be doing. Besides, the best children's books are also fun for adults! (I raise you Roald Dahl's 'Boy' and Judith Kerr's 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea')
on “When Nothing Ever Goes Out of Print: Maintaining Backlist Ebooks (2016)” ↗Recommend Roald Dahl's "Boy" for a fascinating glimpse.
on “Knocker uppers: Waking up the workers in industrial Britain (2016)” ↗Roald Dahl's childhood biography Boy describes the incredible abuse he went through at Repton and an Old British primary school. Caning was a common punishment, love was never present, and fagging was an evil practice in which older boys…
on “Eton and All the Murder (2019)” ↗…stories" and the social structure of the school is basically that of a select British private school, complete with boarders and "houses" and so on. It really was like that in the 30s (see Roald Dahl's Boy, for another example, or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalky_%26_Co.). I think Swallows and Amazons is a little stretched from what would have been normal levels of parental contact, but not beyond…
on “Apollo 14 50th anniversary images find Alan Shepard's ball and how far he hit it” ↗…small thread of skin. My mother disentangled herself from the scrimmage and grabbed a handkerchief from her purse. She clapped the dangling nose back into place fast and held it there. — Roald Dahl, Boy (1984)
on “Odd and Unsafe Baby Car Seats from the Past” ↗Roald Dahl recounts this in his book 'Boy' > I have only one unpleasant memory of the summer holidays in Norway. We were in the grandparents’ house in Oslo and my mother said to me, “We are going to the doctor this afternoon. He wants to look…
on “Agonising surgery paved the way for anaesthetics” ↗…Ignore You. I found this longer than necessary but an excellent kick in the pants. Marcus Aurelius -- Meditations. Feels like a good "life reference" rather than a straight-through read. Roald Dahl -- Boy, Going Solo. These were fun when I first went through them years ago, and they still _are_ fun, but the lens through which I view live has become one increasingly allergic to entitlement, and boy, if…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…Bit of a background. Dahl going to school in the 30's got the chance to taste all these chocolates (Sweets/lollies) as a tester for Cadbury resulting in a sweet tooth. [0] These stories are told in "Boy" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Interesting facts: Dahl got the cane for putting a dead mouse in a jar of gobstoppers while at Cathedral School, Llandaff. Credited with creating the word,…
on “Why the 1930s were a golden age for chocolate (1996)” ↗There's a scene in Roald Dahl's autobiography part one, Boy, that describes the process of getting his adenoids removed without anaesthesia. Sounded terrifying enough that I'm glad we knock people out for that sort of surgery.
on “Long-term health risks after having adenoids or tonsils removed in childhood” ↗