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Title: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Series: Charlie Bucket #2
Authors: Roald Dahl
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Childrens Fiction
Pages: 117
Words: 32K
| Synopsis: |
From Wikipedia.org
The story picks up where the previous book left off, with Charlie and family aboard the flying Great Glass Elevator after Willy Wonka has rewarded him with the ownership of his chocolate factory. The Elevator accidentally goes into orbit, and Mr. Wonka docks them at the Space Hotel USA. Their interception of the hotel is mistaken by approaching astronauts and hotel staff in a Commuter Capsule and listeners on Earth (including the President of the United States) as an act of space piracy and they are variously accused of being enemy agents, spies and aliens. Shortly after their arrival, they discover that the hotel has been overrun by dangerous, shape-changing alien monsters known as The Vermicious Knids. The Knids cannot resist showing off and reveal themselves by using the five hotel elevators (with one Knid in each of them) and spell out the word “SCRAM”, giving the group time to evacuate. As the group leaves, a Knid follows the Great Glass Elevator and tries to break it open, but to no avail, which results in the Knid receiving a bruise on its backside and hungering for payback.
Meanwhile, with the Great Glass Elevator’s passengers gone, the President allows the Commuter Capsule to dock with the Space Hotel. Upon entry by the astronauts and the Space Hotel staff, the Knids attack by eating fourteen of the staff, prompting an immediate evacuation by the rest of the group. The Great Glass Elevator comes back just in time to see the entire Knid infestation coming in on the attack, bashing the Commuter Capsule to the point where the retrorockets cannot be fired to initiate immediate reentry and the communication antenna cannot keep the astronauts in communication with the President. Charlie suggests towing the Commuter Capsule back to Earth, and, despite a last attempt by the Knids to tow the two craft away to their home planet Vermes, in the process the Knids are incinerated in Earth’s atmosphere. Mr. Wonka releases the Commuter Capsule, while the Elevator crashes down through the roof of the chocolate factory.
Back in the chocolate factory, three of Charlie’s grandparents refuse to leave their bed. Mr. Wonka gives them a rejuvenation formula called “Wonka-Vite”. They take much more than they need (4 pills instead of 1 or 2), subtracting 80 years (which reduces their age by 20 years per pill). Two become babies, but 78-year-old Grandma Georgina vanishes, having become “−2”. Charlie and Mr. Wonka journey to “Minusland”, where they track down Grandma Georgina’s spirit. As she has no physical presence, Mr. Wonka sprays her with the opposite of “Wonka-Vite” – “Vita-Wonk” – in order to age her again. Mr. Wonka admits that it is not an accurate way to age a person, but the spray is the only way to dose “minuses”. Upon leaving Minusland, they discover that Grandma Georgina is now 358 years old. Using cautious doses of Wonka-Vite and Vita-Wonk, the three grandparents are restored to their original ages.
Finally, the President of the United States invites the family and Mr. Wonka to the White House to thank them for their space rescue. The family and Wonka accept the invitation (including the grandparents who finally agree to get out of their beds) and prepare to leave.
| My Thoughts: |
When I read the Charlie Bucket books back in elementary, middle and high school, I always enjoyed The Great Glass Elevator more than Chocolate Factory. Back then I think it was because of the SF elements (space, spaceships, aliens, negative land, etc) in Elevator that simply weren’t in Factory. So when I read the duology this year (Chocolate Factory was read in January) I was expecting to like Elevator more once again. Imagine my surprise when I got done this book and realized that Chocolate Factory is not only the better book but also more enjoyable.
Part of that is that the premise to this book is beyond even ridiculous. It’s hilarious and I still love it, but it just hit me that it WAS ridiculous this time around and so my enjoyment was lessened. I wasn’t able to enter into the silliness like Dahl intended. The other thing that lessened my enjoyment was that the other 3 grandparents played a part in the story this time and they were stinkers. Made me shake my head and wonder how Charlie turned out so well.
Other than that, I enjoyed the ever living daylights out of this. Willy Wonka is a genius who is always in control no matter the circumstances and Charlie is a smart boy who THINKS before he reacts. More kids need examples like that in their entertainment.
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
Interesting how age changes one’s perspectives on these. I try to avoid going back to books I liked as a kid for that reason . . .
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I realize it is always a risk going back and for that very reason there are some things I have not revisited, but for some things I think it is worth it. And with me being so introspective, it helps me see myself better 🙂
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That does sound a bit silly but kids like silly stuff so there’s that. I’ve never read and of Dahl’s books, but I did like the Gene Wilder Chocolate Factory movie.
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Dahl definitely wrote for kids with these books. He had a gift.
Did you watch the reboot with Johnny Depp?
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No, didn’t want to sully my memory of the original 🙂
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How come your quote marks are upside down in my reader?
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You’re holding your tablet upside down.
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Aliens.
They abducted all the quote marks and probed them and then returned them without their memories. So they can’t remember which way they’re supposed to go, which is why you see them the way you do.
Which just goes to prove that wordpress.com are ALIENS. FACt!
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The Vermicious Knids! That’s what I remember about this book. They were great. I’m afraid I don’t remember much else, but fair dues to Dahl for taking the story in an entirely different direction – whatever about the book’s overall quality.
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Yeah, they were great. The illustrations were perfect too 😀
I just wish we’d gotten the final Charlie Bucket story. Well, this ended on a good note so I guess I’ll be satisfied with it 🙂
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Love this book! There isn’t much by Roald Dahl that I don’t like, except for some of his odd adult stories. You’re so right about Charlie too. Excellent review! 👍
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Yeah, Dahl’s adult stuff is weird in an unenjoyable way
Thankfully, his kids books more than make up for it 😀
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Ah, seems like I missed my window of opportunity to read it all those moons ago. I’ll still hold Chocolate Factory dear, though – certainly more than the adaptations…
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Eh, if you liked Chocolate Factory, give it another read and if you still like it, try Glass Elevator. It would probably take you less time to read it than to create one of your quizzes 😉
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Ha! Like Alex, I’m not sure if I really want to reread it, but would certainly be interesting.
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“THINKS before he reacts. More kids need examples like that in their entertainment.”
post-kids need more examples of that, too…
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Indeed….
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Haven’t actually read the sequel – glad you enjoyed it, even if Chocolate Factory was better this time around 😉
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I doubt many people have read the sequel. A lot of Dahl’s work seems to have flown under the radar too.
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I loved Chocolate Factory back in the day but I never went on to read Elevator. I have been curious to reread Chocolate Factory, though I’m not sure if I actually have a copy. Many of the books I read in elementary were either not my books or they didn’t last through all the various moves and years of growing older.
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Almost all of the books I read now are ebooks, so I have them as long as I have a laptop and a dropbox account 😀
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CLASSIC! But I’ve always loved Chocolate Factory more. Glad you finally see the light 😉
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Ha. Ha.
Aren’t you so funny? But really, I guess Factory is the better book. Dahl seemed to work best when everything was a new idea….
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I always wondered if this sequel was even worth anyone’s time. Glad to know that it’s quite fun despite everything!
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If one is a Dahl fan, this is definitely worth a read. Not sure I’d recommend it anymore to a just a casual reader though.
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