50 Years of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This year marks the anniversary of one of the world’s most loved children’s books: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Written in 1964 by Roald Dahl, the book follows the fate of Charlie Bucket, a poor child who wants nothing more than to visit the famous Wonka chocolate factory.

One day he finds a Golden Ticket in a bar of chocolate. It is an invitation to tour the factory by the owner Willy Wonka. Four other children have already found the golden invitation. On the fateful day, they are greeted by the colourful and eccentric Wonka on the doorstep of the factory, set in a sleepy English town.

The factory itself is shrouded in mystery. Noone ever goes in nor out, yet millions of chocolate bars are churned out by little workers who can be seen from behind the closed windows.

I am not going to ruin the story for you, but it is worth reading as it is one of the classics of the genre.

In the half a century it has been in print, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has already been made into at least two major motion pictures. In the humble opinion of this writer, the original 1971 version with Gene Wilder is greatly superior to the 2005 adaptation with Johnny Depp – although this is a matter of personal opinion.

Have you read the book? What are your opinions?