
by Roald Dahl
Read by Taika Waititi and friends
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: It’s silly, but much like most of Roald Dahl books, mostly harmless.
I don’t know how I stumbled upon Taika Waititi (and friends) reading James and the Giant Peach, but it has been something that has utterly delighted me these past few weeks. It’s a silly story, one I’ve read maybe once (there’s a bit about the wicked aunts killing spiders I think about every time I deep clean, though), one I have usually dismissed as “lesser” Dahl.
But in Waititi’s hands, it was magical. He’s a gifted storyteller, and the people he’s assembled to help him are wonderful as well. Some are more memorable than others: Meryl Streep and Benedict Cumbertbatch as the aunts in Episode 2 were hilarious, Cate Blanchett as the Centipede in Episode 3 was absolutely perfect, and YoYo Ma as the grasshopper was simultaneously incredibly earnest and utterly endearing. I listened to three episodes every Friday, which was about an hour, and I was always charmed.
It’s still a silly story, with an utterly pedantic ending, but Waititi made it wonderful.
Thank you so much for posting about this. I didn’t know about it before, and I am thinking that I HAVE to listen to it!
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Very interesting book, thanks for sharing it’s audio.
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