My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week, hubby surprised me with a Roald Dahl box set and this was one of the books included. The cover's cute, the blurb intrigued me and it's quite short, so I picked it up today and read it in one sitting.
Mr Hoppy is a lonely man who lives in a concrete building above the widow Mrs Silver. He's secretly in love with her but she's only got eyes for her pet tortoise, Alfie.
The day Mrs Silver mentions to him that she wishes Alfie would grow bigger, a nefarious plan takes shape in Mr Hoppy's mind...
OMG. This book is pretty much an allegory for loneliness, and what an obsessed man is willing to do to get what he wants. It's not a nice thing and it's a shame he didn't get busted, but sometimes good people do shitty things. Sometimes, even the simplest of manipulations are harmful. And this guy, he wanted a particular someone so badly he was prepared to be terrible.
Mr Hoppy's plan to make Mrs Silver recite a magic spell of sorts so he can replace Alfie with one of the many tortoises he purchases is truly awful. It's conniving and mean.
Not to mention how shitty it is that Mrs Silver doesn't even notice poor Alfie's gone. BTW, I loved Alfie. He was adorable! During the whole time, I couldn't wait to find out what happened to him, and I was glad to see he had his own ending.
I also think it's important to read the Author's Note at the very beginning because after finishing the story, it puts everything into perspective.
This book might not be full of loveable characters, but I still enjoyed it. It's clever, in a very twisted way. Seriously, it's quite messed up when you think about it...
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