Matilda (PMC) (Puffin Modern Classics) [ペーパーバック]

   マチルダは世にも不思議な天才少女。5歳半だというのに2ケタのかけ算は朝飯前、あのディケンズの小説も一気に読破してしまった。もっとすごいのは「超かしこい」ため先生に特別扱いされているにもかかわらず、同級生とも仲がいいことだ。

   でもそんなマチルダにも嫌なことはあった。まず第一にテレビばかり見ていて子どもはほったらかしの両親。次にマッチョで凶暴な女校長ザ・トランチブルだ。この校長は元ハンマー投げのチャンピオン。気に入らない生徒は次々と投げ飛ばす人間ブルドーザーみたいな怪物なのだ。でも幸いマチルダには彼ら大人に立ち向かえる天賦の才能があった。驚くべき知性と聖人のような忍耐力、そして根っからの仕返し好きな性格である。

   まず両親がつらくあたったら罰するという日々のゲームでウォームアップ。だが仕返しの本番は、大好きな担任のハニー先生をいじめる悪魔のようなトランチブルが相手だ。天才少女マチルダの勝利は目に見えている。それでもなお、このおはなしには次に何が起きるかまったくわからない魅力がある。マチルダが自分の「じつに奇妙な、えもいわれぬ感覚」に気づいたときに起きるどんでん返しとは…？

   ロアルド・ダールは創意に富んだ筋運びで最後まで読者を飽きさせないが、その一方で子どもの無垢な気持ちに耳を傾けることも忘れていない。マチルダがみんなから好かれる本当の理由、それは数々の才能もさることながら、彼女が本当に思いやりのある少女だからなのだ。 --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there's the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Mrs. ("The") Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.

She warms up with some practical jokes aimed at her hapless parents, but the true test comes when she rallies in defense of her teacher, the sweet Miss Honey, against the diabolical Trunchbull. There is never any doubt that Matilda will carry the day. Even so, this wonderful story is far from predictable--the big surprise comes when Matilda discovers a new, mysterious facet of her mental dexterity. Roald Dahl, while keeping the plot moving imaginatively, also has an unerring ear for emotional truth. The reader cares about Matilda because in addition to all her other gifts, she has real feelings. (Ages 9 to 12)
--このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Matilda is an extraordinarily gifted four-year-old whose parentsa crass, dishonest used-car dealer and a self-centered, blowsy bingo addictregard her as "nothing more than a scab." Life with her beastly parents is bearable only because Matilda teaches herself to read, finds the public library, and discovers literature. Also, Matilda loves using her lively intelligence to perpetrate daring acts of revenge on her father. This pastime she further develops when she enrolls in Crunchem Hall Primary School, whose headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, is "a fierce tyrannical monster . . . ." Adults may cringe at Dahl's excesses in describing the cruel Miss Trunchbull, as well as his reliance on overextended characterization at the expense of plot development. Children, however, with their keenly developed sense of justice, will relish the absolutes of stupidity, greed, evil and might versus intelligence, courage and goodness. They also will sail happily through the contrived, implausible ending. Dahl's phenomenal popularity among children speaks for his breathless storytelling charms; his fans won't be disappointed by Matilda. Blake's droll pen-and-ink sketches extend the exaggerated humor. Ages 9-11.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Matidlda es genial. Sin haver cumplido los cinco años ha leído ya a numerosos autores. Cuando llega al colegío se encuentra con la terrible señorita Trunchbull.
--このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.
--このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Roald Dahl, the best-loved of children's writers, was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. After school in England he went to work for Shell in Africa. He began to write after "a monumental bash on the head", sustained as an RAF pilot in World War II. Roald Dahl died in 1990. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。