The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
0-7126-4991-3
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke is a children's story written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It was first published in 1991, after Dahl's death the previous year, by Century.[1]
The protagonist is a dyslexic vicar, the Reverend Lee, who has a unique and amusing form of dyslexia which means that he pronounces words backwards, not realising that it is affecting his sermons. Waterstones called it "a comic tale in the best Dahl tradition of craziness".[2]
Prior to the book, Dahl had been assisting with the British Dyslexia Association's Awareness Campaign.[3] The Vicar of Nibbleswicke was written to benefit the Dyslexia Institute in London (now Dyslexia Action), with Dahl and Blake donating their rights.[4]
Summary
The Reverend Robert Lee, the new vicar of Nibbleswicke, had, with the help of teachers at the Dyslexia Institute in London, overcome his childhood issues with reading and had become a success in his school and seminary. However, now in his first parish, his nerves cause him to suffer from a rare and acutely embarrassing condition: Back-to-Front Dyslexia, a fictional type of dyslexia that causes the subject to say the most important word (often being the verb) in a sentence backwards, creating comedic situations. For example, instead of saying knits, he will say stink; God would be dog etc. It affects only his speech, and he doesn't realize he's doing it, but the parishioners of Nibbleswicke are shocked and confused by his seemingly inappropriate comments, especially the church's most generous benefactor, Miss Arabella Prewt, who does not take kindly to being called 'Miss Twerp'. However, thanks to the local doctor, a cure is found (walking backwards everywhere for the rest of his life), and the mild-mannered vicar can resume normal service.
The book contains a reference to Dahl's previous novel Esio Trot, noting that its title is tortoise backwards—the doctor who diagnoses the Reverend’s new dyslexia claims that it is very common among tortoises who call themselves esio trots.[5]
Editions
- ISBN 0-14-034891-3 (paperback, 2004)
- ISBN 0-14-036837-X (paperback, 1994)
References
- ^ "The Vicar of Nibbleswicke". fantasticfiction.co.uk.
- ^ "The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (Paperback)". Waterstones. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ Solomon, Tom (2016). Roald Dahl's Marvellous Medicine. Liverpool University Press. p. 125.
- ^ "Home - Dyslexia Action". dyslexiaaction.org.uk.
- ^ Butts, Dennis; Briggs, Julia; Grenby, Matthew Orvillle (2008). Popular Children's Literature in Britain. Ashgate. p. 284.
- v
- t
- e
- The Gremlins (1943)
- James and the Giant Peach (1961)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
- The Magic Finger (1966)
- Fantastic Mr Fox (1970)
- Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972)
- Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)
- The Enormous Crocodile (1978)
- The Twits (1980)
- George's Marvellous Medicine (1981)
- The BFG (1982)
- The Witches (1983)
- The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985)
- Matilda (1988)
- Esio Trot (1990)
- The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (1991)
- The Minpins (1991)
- Revolting Rhymes (1982)
- Dirty Beasts (1983)
- Rhyme Stew (1989)
- Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen (1948)
- My Uncle Oswald (1979)
collections
- Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying (1946)
- Someone Like You (1953)
- Kiss Kiss (1960)
- Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl (1969)
- Switch Bitch (1974)
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1977)
- The Best of Roald Dahl (1978)
- Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
- More Tales of the Unexpected (1980)
- The Roald Dahl Omnibus (1986)
- Two Fables (1986)
- Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl (1989)
- The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl (1991)
- The Roald Dahl Treasury (1997)
- The Great Automatic Grammatizator (1998)
- Skin and Other Stories (2000)
- Roald Dahl: Collected Stories (2006)
- The Mildenhall Treasure (1946)
- Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984)
- Going Solo (1986)
- Measles: A Dangerous Illness (1986)
- Memories with Food at Gipsy House (1991)
- Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety (1991)
- My Year (1993)
- 36 Hours (1964)
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
- Danny, the Champion of the World (1989)
- The BFG (1989)
- Breaking Point (1989)
- The Witches (1990)
- Four Rooms (1995)
- James and the Giant Peach (1996)
- Matilda (1996)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
- Roald Dahl's Esio Trot (2015)
- The BFG (2016)
- Revolting Rhymes (2016)
- Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (2017)
- The Witches (2020)
- Matilda the Musical (2022)
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
- Wonka (2023)
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024)
- The Twits (2025)
- The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling (1966, unfinished)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
- The Night Digger (1971)
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
- The Honeys (1955)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (1998)
- Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka (2004)
- The Witches (2008)
- The Golden Ticket (2010)
- James and the Giant Peach (2010)
- Matilda (2010)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013)
- Fantastic Mr Fox (2016)
- The Witches (2023)
- Bibliography
- Short stories bibliography
- Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories (1983)
- Gipsy House
- Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
- Roald Dahl Children's Gallery
- Patricia Neal (wife)
- Olivia Dahl (daughter)
- Tessa Dahl (daughter)
- Ophelia Dahl (daughter)
- Lucy Dahl (daughter)
- Sophie Dahl (granddaughter)
- Phoebe Dahl (granddaughter)
- Felicity Dahl (second wife)
- Quentin Blake
- Wade-Dahl-Till valve
- Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse (2020)
- To Olivia (2021)
- Revision controversy