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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Amazing! I enjoyed every short story included in this collection, some more than others, obviously. It's a quick read, full of suspense and intrigue, and I can only recommend it.
Great stories. I could guess or nearly guess the ending of most of them, but still great fun to read.
I'd recommend reading this book in small doses if you can control yourself! As i was unable to control myself, i overdosed and fell into that feeling of repetition you get when you watch many episodes of a tv series in just a few sittings. The stories are very clever and still have resonance today even if I can't necessarily relate to some of the landed gentry and other British archetypes he represents. It's definitely surprising to read an adult work by a children's author.
This volume collects two books of Dahl's short stories for adults, and they are pretty much all corkers. I wasn't hugely familiar with his writing for adults, so came into this quite fresh, and I really enjoyed it. Each story is really well crafted and almost all of them have a really neat (often rather nasty) twist that turns the knife in a really pleasurable way for the reader (if often not for the protagonist).
I would say that the first book, [b:Tales of the Unexpected|394689|Tales of the Unexpected|Roald Dahl|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349086012s/394689.jpg|326019] is somewhat better than the second ([b:More Tales of the Unexpected|183381|More Tales Of The Unexpected|Roald Dahl|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348448619s/183381.jpg|27680957]), with more stories and more interesting twists but there are very few misses throughout this whole collection.
It's difficult to pick out highlights in the collection, but the first and last stories stand out for me. Taste is about an overconfident father who's willing to bet his daughter's hand in marriage over something he shouldn't. The Butler brings us very neatly back to a similar theme regarding palate. Other highlights include William and Mary, which is one of the very few stories in the collection that contains a fantastic element; the incredibly creepy Royal Jelly about a man trying to do the best for his newborn child; and The Landlady, whose titular lady is just too good to be true.
A marvellous collection, if you only know Dahl from his (also marvellous) children's fiction, these stories will make you look at him in a whole new light.
I would say that the first book, [b:Tales of the Unexpected|394689|Tales of the Unexpected|Roald Dahl|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1349086012s/394689.jpg|326019] is somewhat better than the second ([b:More Tales of the Unexpected|183381|More Tales Of The Unexpected|Roald Dahl|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348448619s/183381.jpg|27680957]), with more stories and more interesting twists but there are very few misses throughout this whole collection.
It's difficult to pick out highlights in the collection, but the first and last stories stand out for me. Taste is about an overconfident father who's willing to bet his daughter's hand in marriage over something he shouldn't. The Butler brings us very neatly back to a similar theme regarding palate. Other highlights include William and Mary, which is one of the very few stories in the collection that contains a fantastic element; the incredibly creepy Royal Jelly about a man trying to do the best for his newborn child; and The Landlady, whose titular lady is just too good to be true.
A marvellous collection, if you only know Dahl from his (also marvellous) children's fiction, these stories will make you look at him in a whole new light.