The Complete Short Stories: Volume One

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The only hardcover edition of Roald Dahl’s stories for adults, the Collected Stories amply showcases his singular gifts as a fabulist and a born storyteller.•“An ingenious imagination, a fascination with odd and ordinary detail . . . are the first strengths of Dahl’s storytelling.”— NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW No voy a descubrir ahora que Dahl es un grandísimo escritor pero quizás sí os descubra que algunos de sus cuentos son aburridos y muchos se parecen. Ahora mismo, podria recordar con nitidez diez o quizás quince de los más de cuarenta que recoge el volumen, los demás están perdidos en una maraña de apuestas, timadores en busca de beneficio, objetos antiguos, botellas de vinos y bellas mujeres en peligro por el impulso sexual irrefrenable de hombres incapaces de contenerse. Entre todos ellos, me gustaría destacar el cuento más autobiográfico que aparece al final del libro, cuando estás a punto de hacer cumbre a sus mil páginas y ya no puedes más. En ese cuento, Dahl explica como llegó a ser escritor, como descubrió su amor por la literatura y cómo los azares de la vida y un anfitrión mal conversador le hicieron sentarse a escribir y descubrir que podía hacerlo y lo hacía bien. Es una delicia de historia. I can't get enough of Roald Dahl! I'm in the middle of too many books right now, but I couldn't resist when I came across this treasure at the library!

Description: Charles Dance leads the cast as the urbane Storyteller in dramatisations of five classic tales by Roald Dahl. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these dark comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings, and for their rogues gallery of crooks, cheats and schemers. Later known for his immortal children’s books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and The BFG, Dahl also had a genius for adult short fiction, which he wrote throughout his life. Whether fictionalizing his dramatic exploits as a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II or concocting the ingeniously plotted fables that were dramatized on television as Tales of the Unexpected, Dahl was brilliant at provoking in his readers the overwhelming desire to know what happens next—and at satisfying that desire in ways that feel both surprising and inevitable. Podría hablar de casi todos los cuentos, pero me dedicaré a establecer una línea común entre todos ellos. Si hay algo común en ellos es el factor inesperado. Las historias pueden ser más o menos fantasiosas en sus escenarios, pero en todas ellas existe un elemento inverosímil que se desarrolla con mayor o menor aceptación, si bien puede ser algo mágico o algo real pero poco probable. Los cuentos de Dahl son irresistibles de devorar a bocados precisamente por sus finales, en ocasiones sorprendentes y en otras demasiado abiertos... sin llegar nunca a defraudar. Jalea real: preocupado por su hija de meses, quien apenas toma la leche del biberón y está adelgazando peligrosamente, un apicultor decide alimentarla con jalea real, sin predecir las consecuencias There is just so much variety here. He might discuss bullying, innocence, naiveté, more satires of the rich and fabulous of English and American society, orphan life, pheasant hunting, furniture dealing, being swallowed whole…Detail is paramount to the success of most stories. But the sales pitch is one of the things at which Dahl excels. His characters, when they're not selling a product, are peddling an idea. He lapses into Wodehousian aplomb, relishing insane levels of detail in one of the masterpieces of the collection, called “Taste.” Other standouts include “The Ratcatcher, Mr. Hoddy, Madame Rosette, Galloping Foxley, William and Mary, Georgy Porgy, Pig, The Landlady, The Visitor, & The Last Act.” A few have the sensibility and charm of Twain, others are Rube Goldberg-level business schemes. Think of Wodehouse’s cat-ray factory system: (Breed cats and rats in large numbers. You feed the cats to the rats and the rats to the cats. Sell the cat skins for profit.) Vengeance is Mine, Inc.” is the first comedy of the business acumen variety in the book. A harebrained scheme turns out miraculously well, while capturing the spirit of industry which so easily consumes and encapsulates a whole history of human affairs. Information on identifying editions is from Richard Walker’s “Roald Dahl – A Guide to Collecting His First Editions”.

urn:lcp:collectedshortst0000roal:lcpdf:6441a7ec-9bc4-4e98-8569-9fd16f5a897b Foldoutcount 0 Identifier collectedshortst0000roal Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s2jwjgvxcgj Invoice 1652 Isbn 9780140158076 Metasource_catalog openlibrary Ocr tesseract 5.2.0-1-gc42a Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 1.0000 Ocr_module_version 0.0.18 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-NS-2000769 Openlibrary_editionThese are not fairy tales. 'Parable' and 'fable' might be words which describe the technique he employs here and there but any of his writerly choices are cast in a modern light. Combinations of outrageous description and stellar plots characterize the majority of the tales. Characters who transform into the things they are consumed by reminded me of The Witches and film adaptations of his children's books. Most of us know Roald Dahl to be a writer of some unsentimental books for children. This book of short stories is an interesting collection of some mind blowing stories with bizarre plots. As usual, the author has again managed to leave his readers in awe with stories that they will never forget. Tatuaje: un reputado pintor hizo una de sus primeras obras en la espalda de un hombre, acosado ahora por los grandes coleccionistas para obtener aquella valiosa pintura sobre su piel. I'm glad you liked it," the cook said. "But to be quite honest, I think that it was a bit of pig. In fact, I'm almost sure it was." His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach.

Evil children, vengeful spinsters, mad husbands, conniving wives, the murderous, the cunning, the smarmy, and the grand in every way - no matter his target, Dahl conceals and reveals with equal facility. His sly exuberance is always on display when it comes to the surprise endings. And there are plenty of those to go around.An ingenious imagination, a fascination with odd and ordinary detail . . . are the first strengths of Dahl’s storytelling.” If you like stories which blend plot, humorous writing and a vein of darkness, this is the collection for you.