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laurenhurley97's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
_johnson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
tcgarback's review against another edition
Too dated, basic, and problematic for me to invest my time in. I read the intro, the first 6 stories, and online summaries of 8 other stories.
When I was in the right mood, these stories were actually ethically stimulating because they’re all so problematic it’s like a game: will this story display vehement sexism, classism, racism, or a mix of all three? It sort of left me feeling challenged in an inspired way, which strengthened my feeling that I was reading a homework assignment.
But this mood didn’t last. I long interest one day in.
The collection does not have much sociopolitical or artistic merit by today’s standards, except as a window into the values and creative status quos of the first half of the 20th century, which is why this feels like something better off studied than cozied up with, unless you’re able to look past how poorly outdated almost every story is.
The introduction is super idiotic, to the point of being entertaining. Dahl shows off how deeply he has deluded himself into thinking he’s not a sexist pig. It’s quite fascinating. His worldview on literary criticism is also closed-minded and pompous.
When I was in the right mood, these stories were actually ethically stimulating because they’re all so problematic it’s like a game: will this story display vehement sexism, classism, racism, or a mix of all three? It sort of left me feeling challenged in an inspired way, which strengthened my feeling that I was reading a homework assignment.
But this mood didn’t last. I long interest one day in.
The collection does not have much sociopolitical or artistic merit by today’s standards, except as a window into the values and creative status quos of the first half of the 20th century, which is why this feels like something better off studied than cozied up with, unless you’re able to look past how poorly outdated almost every story is.
The introduction is super idiotic, to the point of being entertaining. Dahl shows off how deeply he has deluded himself into thinking he’s not a sexist pig. It’s quite fascinating. His worldview on literary criticism is also closed-minded and pompous.
micia_silvia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
senorbuthole's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
siobhanward's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
This was a cool collection with a big variety of stories and authors. Some stories were genuinely creepy, others a little confusing and some just ok. If you're reading this expecting "Roald Dahl-y vibes" you won't really get them, although he did curate the collection. Still a good read and really interesting to see which stories Dahl selected. I would have loved an intro to each story with his thoughts, but the overall intro was interesting.
breelight's review against another edition
3.0
#12 Book of Short Stories
this was hit or miss for me. I wanted to love every story but some just really dragged on.
this was hit or miss for me. I wanted to love every story but some just really dragged on.
wtfmofoable's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
fallwithyou_'s review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
there were a few stories that were really good, but the rest was generally boring and dull.
mx_manda's review against another edition
3.0
Do yourself a favor and skip Dahl’s weird, sexist introduction for this collection. It started off well-enough, explaining how this collection came to be, then went off on a long tangent about how women are terrible at the arts with the exception of ghost stories and children’s books; he then proceeded to include several terrible “ghost” stories by men that do not belong in this collection to prove his point...?
Overall, an OK body of work. A few stories really shine, a few do not belong (not ghost stories at all), and the rest are OK. Not great- but not terrible- spooky stories. Worth a read or borrow, and I found it a nice introduction to some new authors to check out.
Overall, an OK body of work. A few stories really shine, a few do not belong (not ghost stories at all), and the rest are OK. Not great- but not terrible- spooky stories. Worth a read or borrow, and I found it a nice introduction to some new authors to check out.