The Last Will and Testament of Roald Dahl
The overarching irony of this book is that while it is essentially a journal of the final calendar year in the life of Roald Dahl as he waited for the cancer he suffered to finally consume him, it never indulges in self-pity or self-pity sublimated into hatred of the world. It is actually a work of profound irony: a commitment to detailing a calendar year month by month with no guarantee the author would make it to see December.
Ambergris
The book kicks off with a catalog of things Dahl has collected over the years as a result of the privilege afforded him due to his celebrity and relative wealth. One of them is a large preserved piece of ambergris, which he describes as being an intestinal secretion of sperm whales that some beachcombers “often spend years combing the silver beaches in far-off Pacific Islands” in search of because of its value and peculiarity. Suffice to say that the irony lies in the probability that Dahl was not one of those who spend years looking for and which, it seems, does not hold an especially significant place within Dahl’s heart.
February
There is a certain degree of irony in the author’s characterization of February as an improvement over January relatively to climate conditions. While it is true from his experience that February is “the fiercest and bitterest month of all” it also comes with the guarantee that winter is closer to being over than at any point during January.
Easter
Dahl declares with the kind of authority usually reserved for rookie cops on their first night on the beat that April “is the month of Easter.” Ironically, the next-to-last Easter Dahl experienced took place in March and the first Easter after his death took place in March.
The Christmas That Wasn’t
The final words of this memoir are “I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a super holiday.” In a sadly ironic twist of fate, Dahl would pass away on November 23, just a month shy of being able to enjoy one last Christmas holiday of his own.
