by Roald Dahl
published 1980
completed October 2010
I picked this up to fulfill the "All in the Family" part of the Take Another Chance Challenge hosted by Jenners of Life With Books. I read a book by Roald Dahl's granddaughter Sophie Dahl then I picked up one of his. This was my first experience with his short stories for adults.
I was slightly disappointed in this collection. It was fun to see Roald Dahl write for adults. These stories are full of quirky characters. There is no doubt that he is a great, imaginative writer, but there wasn't anything particularly memorable about these short stories. They were fun to read, but they didn't live up to my expectations of Roald Dahl that were formed as a child.
A bit of a tangent here, but his children's books are magical. I still vividly remember all of the books of his that I read. They made such an impression on me. Over the past years I've been reading them with my children and I have loved revisiting those stories. They have held up to my adult scrutiny, and I can say that I probably love them more now than I did as a child.
More Tales of the Unexpected was fun to read, but I don't know if you need to rush out and get it. It wouldn't be a book to purchase, but maybe to borrow or check out from the library. Now his children's books--go buy them all! They are fabulous! You will love them and if you have children, they will love them as well.
Interesting that his stuff for adults isn't as good as his stuff for kids, which have a very "adult" feel to them, I think.
ReplyDeleteJenners--His kid books do have a very adult feel but I love how the stories is still so accessible to kids, even if they miss some of the jokes.
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