Do you think Roald Dahl was a disturbed person?

I don't want to believe that his imaginitive writing was anything to do with his personality or inner disturbances. I have to admit that I don't know much about Roald Dahl as a man, but as a writer he really made a difference to how I thought of books. I want to think that his books were made for real children. To make them laugh and enjoy books because I know I certainly did. He made books for children more interesting, because children of this age group need fun things to read I think my favorites were the Twits, the BFG and Matilda.

I was a huge fan of Roald Dahl as a child and - as a 35 year old - I still have have a copy of 'The Twits' and 'The BFG' sitting in the bookcase of my study. I think that the gory aspects of some of his books were the influence that his mother had on him when she told him stories as a child. She was Norwegian and told him about trolls and mythical Norwegian creatures and monsters; and instilled in him a love of storytelling. I suppose that he may also have been influenced by mental and/or emotional disturbences; to some degree, at least. His service during WWII was far from pleasant and I would be very surprised if it had not had some sort of affect on him. Roald Dahl experienced tragedies for the duration of his life; though, those who knew him suggest that he was always upbeat and used his negative experiences to create positive ones. Perhaps, then, it may be said that his books were indeed an outlet for some of his darkest moments.

I don't think he was disturbed. he recognised that children love to be a little bit scared by a story, and love to explore dark and disturbing themes through the safe media of fiction. they can look these fears in the eye, and come away knowing it can't hurt them. and as an author, he was an expert in pressing those buttons. even for adults, like in tales of the unexpected. I think the one about the tattoo and the one about royal jelly will always stay with me, with that little thrill of fear made safe.

Well having read many of the man's works when I was a child in school, I never thought anything of it. However, re-reading them as an adult, he might be a bit whacked in the head. Then again, really a lot of the best authors are not exactly all there. Plus there is a pretty fine line between insanity and creativity. There are times where that line does blur. Still you never really forget Dahl's books when you put them down. That is a trademark of a good author, no matter what the reasons. There are times where you wonder what he might have been thinking. Still, he can weave a tale and as I said, creativity and insanity is just going to bleed over time and time again. Still, when you read his books through adults eyes, you start picking up things that you might not have picked up as a child and are really glad that you did not. It is just like watching Disney movies as a child, you tend to see things on an entirely different level.

i hope not.I also love his books, I think his imagination is just very playful...And his stories also relate to real life, and reality isn't a pretty picture- so he also has reality in his stories. I think the eaten by monsters and others are just metaphors..

Not at all, I think that he was a truly great writer who really understood children and knew just what little monsters they can be!! I think that he is just the greatest chidrens writer ever, purer genius!! All my kids have loved his books we have every single one of them, they are very, very clever - yes gloriously gory at times - but in a way that really appeals to children.