Going Solo

In East Africa, Roald Dahl had a near-fatal encounter with a deadly black mamba, whose poison can kill you in about two seconds. Right after the war broke out Roald's servant, a descendant of warrior tribesman, decided to become a warrior himself and killed a civillian. Roald had to spirit him away before the murder was discovered. And just to show how dangerous flying with the RAF was, one day when Roald returned from a mission his tent-mate told him, "I boiled enough tea for two, just in case you happened to come back." He was eventually shot down, but survived. While recuperating in the hospital, he fell in love with his nurse.

Going Solo was, like all of Dahl's books, wonderful. I only wish he'd have written a third about his later adulthood. Pity he died before he could do that.


Very interesting book about roald dahls book   May 22, 2000
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

As a 17 year old boy who spent my childhood in Norway, with roalds books, I was really surprised when I found at that he wrote books for adults as well. This is the kind of book which it is hard to put down when youre reading, but unfortunately after sitting for hours in my stressless I was out of pages. This book continues the story begun in boy, where dahl tells us about his highlights in life, from the point where he worked for Shell until he has finished his service in the RAF, and he returns back to a war raged Brittain . I would just wish that roald had written more about his life because I found it very entertaining


A Great Autobiography   January 16, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

It's a pity that amazon.com descibes this book as "Reading level: Young adult," because it really should be classified among Dahl's adult literature, along with "Boy," "Switch Bitch." and my personal favorite, "My Uncle Oswald."

This is a beautifully written, exciting and fascinating story that will rivet the attention of readers of any age. I sent a copy to my uncle, a former Marine pilot during World War II now in his eighties, and he couldn't put it down.


the book was good, but it was alittle too long   June 14, 1999
5 out of 11 found this review helpful

Going Solo takes place between 1938-1941. The book details the narrator's life as a pilot in the Navy. When the book starts, the narrator tells about his great adventures from Africa to the Mediterranean. One of his many adventures occured, when he almost gets killed by one of the most dangerous snakes in Tanganyika, called the Green Mamba. Then later on in the story he starts his life as a pilot in 1939. dahl's first challenge was trying to learn how to fly a plane. This would usually consist of just the basic's, flying, and landing. After he had learned to master this skill it was on to the next. The narrator tells about the six months he went through constant flight training, in learning how to attack enemies in different situations. Towards the end of his training, Dahl crashes in the middle of the desert and is stranded. With no plane to fly, and his body badly injured, there was nothing he could do but just hope for someone to help him. An hour passed and Roald was put in the nearest hospital. The doctors told him he could never fly again, but Roald refused to accept that. With alot of recuperation he was able to meet up with his squadron and be ready to fly again. As soon as he got to Egypt, his capton leader said he was going up in battle against some of the best German pilots tomorrow morning. What do you think will happen when he has to battle the Germans? You better read this book to find out.