Jayson’s Reviews > Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator > Status Update
Jayson
is 87% done
Notes:
(1) Charlie brings up Violet Beauregarde to Willy Wonka, which I believe is the only time—besides Charlie inheriting the chocolate factory—that something specific from the first book has been mentioned.
- To the extent that neither Wonka nor Charlie really resemble their original iterations, you'd be hard-pressed to call this a sequel at all.
(Continued in comments)
— Jul 29, 2026 12:05AM
Notes:
(1) Charlie brings up Violet Beauregarde to Willy Wonka, which I believe is the only time—besides Charlie inheriting the chocolate factory—that something specific from the first book has been mentioned.
- To the extent that neither Wonka nor Charlie really resemble their original iterations, you'd be hard-pressed to call this a sequel at all.
(Continued in comments)
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is 60% done
Notes:
(1) The only character that matters, so far at least, is Willy Wonka.
- The story is essentially him doing crazy things and everyone else just reacting to it all.
- Mr. and Mrs. Bucket are pretty much just NPCs at this point. Background figures (or more so scenery) trailing along, reminding us they're around by getting scared once in a while.
(Continued in comments)
— Jul 27, 2026 08:00PM
Notes:
(1) The only character that matters, so far at least, is Willy Wonka.
- The story is essentially him doing crazy things and everyone else just reacting to it all.
- Mr. and Mrs. Bucket are pretty much just NPCs at this point. Background figures (or more so scenery) trailing along, reminding us they're around by getting scared once in a while.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 33% done
Notes:
(1) Willy Wonka is almost like a totally different person here, more chaotically wacky than devilishly eccentric.
- He's still a character regarded with caution and suspicion, not entirely to be trusted. Though, unlike the first book—where he comes off as a kind of mysterious trickster—here it's just because he's nutty and seemingly reckless.
(Continued in comments)
— Jul 25, 2026 09:15PM
Notes:
(1) Willy Wonka is almost like a totally different person here, more chaotically wacky than devilishly eccentric.
- He's still a character regarded with caution and suspicion, not entirely to be trusted. Though, unlike the first book—where he comes off as a kind of mysterious trickster—here it's just because he's nutty and seemingly reckless.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is starting
Notes:
(1) If I'm certain about one thing regarding "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator," it's that the optimal (if not vital) time to read it is right after reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
- See, I chose to read "Matilda" instead, fully intending to come back, but never did... until now.
- Frankly, reading about some glass elevator no longer held any appeal.
— Jul 03, 2026 08:00PM
Notes:
(1) If I'm certain about one thing regarding "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator," it's that the optimal (if not vital) time to read it is right after reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
- See, I chose to read "Matilda" instead, fully intending to come back, but never did... until now.
- Frankly, reading about some glass elevator no longer held any appeal.
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Makes me wonder at the thought process behind this book.
TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "Makes me wonder at the thought process behind this book."Well, the movie had just come out, and I think there wasn't much of a thought process beyond churning out something quickly to capitalize on the buzz. It wouldn't surprise me if this was just two short stories stitched together, reworked and padded out into novel length. Frankly, that makes the most sense. It would explain all the filler.
Jayson wrote: "TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "Makes me wonder at the thought process behind this book."Well, the movie had just come out, and I think there wasn't much of a thought process beyond churni..."
Aah okay, yeah probably. .. didn’t care for the original movie 🎬 (mom liked it though) myself... just liked the guy who played Charlie's grandpa.
Wouldn't be surprised if his publishing company kept bugging him either.
TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "Aah okay, yeah probably. .. didn’t care for the original movie 🎬 (mom liked it though) myself... just liked the guy who played Charlie's grandpa.Wouldn't be surprised if his publishing company kept bugging him either."
I can't say I've ever seen it all the way through, just clips. I didn't bother with the remake.
Jayson wrote: "TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "Aah okay, yeah probably. .. didn’t care for the original movie 🎬 (mom liked it though) myself... just liked the guy who played Charlie's grandpa.Wouldn't be..."
I remember Gene Wilder as Wonka creeping me out as a kid.
TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "I remember Gene Wilder as Wonka creeping me out as a kid."Might be a lot to do with the character. Johnny Depp as Wonka was pretty creepy too.
Jayson wrote: "TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "I remember Gene Wilder as Wonka creeping me out as a kid."Might be a lot to do with the character. Johnny Depp as Wonka was pretty creepy too."
Probably 👍🏼
TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "Probably 👍🏼"
- For that matter, who is Charlie aside from a humble and deserving child amongst a bunch of self-entitled brats.
- There hasn't been any effort to reorient, redefine or add layers to either protagonist. Wonka's just a random chaos merchant and Charlie's little more than a fly on the wall.
- Frankly, bringing up Violet Beauregarde is the most interested I've been the whole book.
(2) We get at least a page—I don't know exactly since I have the eBook—where the three bedridden grandparents argue over how many Wonka-Vite pills they each get.
- This should have been a few sentences max!
- It's just more filler in this filler-ridden book.
(3) It's a fairly important plot point that the grandparents are all around eighty years old. Which is interesting, since they were described as ninety earlier in the book. It's a glaring continuity error.
- Even if ninety was just a guess based on how old they look, I'm pretty sure they were all described as ninety too by the narrator in the first book.
- So, unless "ninety" is just shorthand for old, we have a rare instance of an in-book retcon.
(4) The Oompa-Loompas come in to sing an awfully long song, for pages and pages, about a girl named Goldie who took too many laxatives.
- It's only tangentially related to the Wonka-Vite overdose plot.
- I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is yet more needless filler.
(5) Mr. Bucket: "What a lousy rotten bust-up this is! They tell me I'm going to the chocolate factory to have a good time and I finish up being a mother to my father-in-law."
- I hear you! I feel the exact same way about this book... except a lot of nonsense and filler instead of the mother part.
- Call me crazy, but I expect at least some original-story carryover in my sequels!
(6) "The Elevator was gathering speed. It twisted and swerved. It swung sharply to the left, then it went right, then left again, and it was heading downward all the time—down and down and down."
- In my commentary for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I wrote that I saw "a whole lot of J.K. Rowling in Dahl, who I can only guess was a major influence on her work."
- Well, I feel all the more strongly about that now. I mean, if the Great Glass Elevator wasn't the direct inspiration for the Ministry of Magic lifts in Harry Potter, I'd be flabbergasted!
- It's funny to think that if this book has any pop culture legacy at all, it's the magic elevators in Harry Potter.
(7) The President: "A FAMOUS SWORD SWALLOWER FROM AFGHANISTAN ... IS NOW TEACHING ME TO EAT MY WORDS (WHAT YOU DO IS YOU TAKE THE S OFF THE BEGINNING OF THE SWORD AND PUT IT ON THE END BEFORE YOU SWALLOW IT)."
- Interestingly, the President of the United States writes in all caps.
- Alternatively, it could just be a formatting choice. Though, when distinguished typographically, isn't correspondence usually represented in fiction with cursive font?
- You know that President Joke Book had to slip in one more corny punchline at the very end!
(8) It's an interesting contrast that the first book dealt in young people whereas this book deals in old people.
- In general, young people are more likely to be fun and interesting. I mean, how many really fun, adventurous romps are there about the elderly?
- The three bedridden grandparents are more or less interchangeable and mainly spend this book bickering with Wonka and each other.
(9) All in all, the second half of the book is much better than the first half, albeit still really lacking.
- Simply being at the chocolate factory gives the second half a massive edge. Setting can make all the difference.
- Though, the chocolate factory could just be any interesting backdrop since it's not really used as a chocolate factory, more so a generic indoor space—chocolate waterfall notwithstanding—to administer Wonka-Vite pills.
- The second half is also more character-focused, centered on Charlie and Wonka going on an adventure and things happening to the grandparents, as opposed to some blobby space aliens, an empty hotel, and a dimwit President. Frankly, the first half is entirely forgettable.
- Despite both blending into one another—there's a callback to the first story at the very end to wrap it all up—both halves constitute two very separate, very different, standalone tales.
- As I said before, the first half is literally a side quest and you could pretty much just start this sequel when the Great Glass Elevator crash lands at the chocolate factory.