My post today is about: Red Riding Hood - According to Roald Dahl
I am a bit of a fan of Roald Dahl. I really like his novels and short stories and a couple of years ago, a friend of mine who also likes Dahl introduced me to his poetry - in particular to his poetic versions of famous fairy-tales.
His versions are different, alright. Much more gory, as he himself put it, but in a humorous way, therefore his poem Red Riding Hood will probably not give you nightmares. It might make you arch your eyebrows, however, and laugh.
The Big Bad Wolf is listed as one of the greatest villains in fairy-tales. He is a symbol of nightmares and a warning to children (and adults, I like to believe) that strangers cannot be trusted just because they use nice words when talking to you. The wolf in Red Riding Hood is one mean creature - he eats Grandma and our heroine, Red Riding Hood.
In Dahl's version, the wolf is at the receiving end of his bad intentions and Red Riding Hood might is simply an innocent little girl. She walks around with a certain means of protection against bad people (i.e. gun) and let me put it this way - her actions would guarantee her a hostile memo from PETA.
This is an amusing retelling of Red Riding Hood that rhymes. You can read it HERE. I truly recommend that you do.
4 comments:
Lol, you got me all curious about this one now
I really like your conclusion re: PETA-made me laugh. I love Dahl so I bet I'll like his variation too.
+JMJ+
Oh, I know Dahl's version, but I hadn't known he had written it! Interesting.
Little Red Riding Hood seems so simple, but it has such depths, doesn't it? There are some very recent YA Paranormals which combine the idea of a girl in red with a werewolf lover/stalker, and Neal Shusterman wrote a Horror novel based on the fairytale as well. Oh, and I think that it is one of the most eroticised fairytales ever, too . . . but I'd rather dwell on Charles Dickens' memory of being totally convinced, when he was young, that if he could just find and marry Little Red Riding Hood, he would be happy for the rest of his life!
(At least I think it was Dickens . . . but why is my mind saying it might have been Robert Louis Stevenson???)
PS--This is one story I'd like to put in a Fairy Tale Face Off. =) But I think I'll wait until after I'm done with my Norman Rockwell Smackdown.
I love Dahl's Revolting Rhymes. I can still remember the first time I had the Red Riding Hood one read to me. It was Miss Dunleavy in Primary school. Great post as always.
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