I have a fond memory connected to The Boy who talked with Animals. It was Dahl’s first book that I read. I remember it was a summer’s day and I had to go to my school to submit something there. Otherwise it was a day off. I decided to climb on my bicycle and leave for school. My school is around 5 kilometres from where we live, and so it would take me around an hour to commute to there and do the work and return. I decided to listen to a short audiobook along the journey.
I
climbed the bike, plugged in earphones into my ears, played the book and
peddled.
It
was an impressionable tale: the story of a man staying in a seaside resort,
discovering that a massive tortoise has been washed ashore. Suddenly enters a
boy who cannot bear the sight of the men who have gathered around discussing
what to do with the tortoise – discussing options that do not include letting
the tortoise go back to the seas.
It’s
a magical tale, though a slow one, of a boy who vanishes with the turtle the
next day, with reports that he was seen climbing the tortoise’s shell and
leaving for the ocean.
It
was such a gripping tale that when I was halfway home, I found that there was
still a good fraction of it that was remaining to be listened – so even if it
was a hot day, I had to slow down my bicycle so that I could reach to the end –
and it was a good ending, rather.
It’s
a short thirty-forty minute read, and yes, I recommend it. Not only a
captivating story to be told over a crackling fire, but also an intrinsic,
beautiful mystery to wonder over.
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