Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
loqueleo (2015), 2 pages
Description
Introduces teenagers to the adult short stories of Roald Dahl.
User reviews
LibraryThing member heidilove
I loved this! Dahl's stories for the young adult audience let his dark side emerge a bit more, with a voice that is subtle and a hand that is deft. Well done.
LibraryThing member caerulius
Short stories by Roald Dahl, all of a reasonably creepy manner. Some are inappropriate for young children, so don't let the fact that he also wrote children's novels distract you. I'd say this is solid for the 9-13 range.
Some of the stories are quite good. Some, eh.
Some of the stories are quite good. Some, eh.
LibraryThing member Omrythea
Oh Roald Dahl, he lets it all hang out in this not-for-youngsters collection of short stories. He has such a compelling way to tell a story. Worth the read, but kinda disturbing at times...
LibraryThing member RebeccaAnn
What a delightful little collection of creepy stories! I adored this book and was hooked from the very beginning. My experience with Dahl as an author is limited, but I honestly wasn't expecting this to be that good. And I must admit, while none of the stories kept me up at night, a few certainly
The stories are as follows:
SKIN: A greedy group of art dealers want a piece of artwork that belongs to Drioli. This piece of art is all he really has left of both the artist (a friend from when he was younger) and his wife (who was the model). What's the catch? The piece of art is a tattoo on his back.
LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: A woman murders her husband and disposes of the murder weapon by literally feeding it to the investigating officers.
THE SOUND MACHINE: A man creates a machine that will allow him to hear the sounds made at so high a frequency they are inaudible to human ears. Unfortunately, he comes to the horrifying revelation that plant life can also feel when he hears the screams of roses from a bush that is being trimmed. Imagine what a wheat field during harvest must sound like?
AN AFRICAN STORY: The milk of a farmer's cow is being stolen in the middle of the night. When the owner stays up one night, he has quite a fright when he sees who, or should I say what, the culprit is. He then decides to use this to his advantage.
GALLOPING FOXLEY: William Perkins sees his school bully one day on the train. The story is a reminiscence of all the horrors Foxley, the bully, put Perkins through. The ending on this one left me a bit confused though.
THE WISH: Have you ever played the game as a child where you can't step on the floor because it's lava or snakes or something to that extent? What if you were right?
THE SURGEON: Not a creepy story, but definitely entertaining. Some kids break into the house of a surgeon while he is on vacation and ransack the place after drinking all of the alcohol. Afterwards, he comes to wish he hadn't swallowed that piece of half melted ice...
DIP IN THE POOL: On a cruise, the passengers aboard make bets as to how much distance the boat will travel in a day. When one man realizes that the boat is going to go farther than he reckoned, he goes to extreme lengths to slow it down.
CHAMPION OF THE WORLD: The funniest story in the book. Two hunters experience an unwelcome surprise when the drugged pheasants they illegally poached begin to wake up in the middle of the city...
BEWARE OF DOG: Perhaps the most confusing story in the book but once understood, you realize it's a masterpiece in deception. An English fighter pilot, on the brink of death to the untreated loss of a leg, abandons his plane. When he wakes up, he's in an English hospital...or is he? The nurse and doctors are acting a bit suspiciously.
MY LADY LOVE, MY DOVE: A snoopy couple decide to microphone the room of a husband and his wife when they stay for a visit. They learn an interesting secret about this couple's way of playing bridge, then decide to try it out for themselves.
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sent a nice little shiver down my spine.The stories are as follows:
SKIN: A greedy group of art dealers want a piece of artwork that belongs to Drioli. This piece of art is all he really has left of both the artist (a friend from when he was younger) and his wife (who was the model). What's the catch? The piece of art is a tattoo on his back.
LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: A woman murders her husband and disposes of the murder weapon by literally feeding it to the investigating officers.
THE SOUND MACHINE: A man creates a machine that will allow him to hear the sounds made at so high a frequency they are inaudible to human ears. Unfortunately, he comes to the horrifying revelation that plant life can also feel when he hears the screams of roses from a bush that is being trimmed. Imagine what a wheat field during harvest must sound like?
AN AFRICAN STORY: The milk of a farmer's cow is being stolen in the middle of the night. When the owner stays up one night, he has quite a fright when he sees who, or should I say what, the culprit is. He then decides to use this to his advantage.
GALLOPING FOXLEY: William Perkins sees his school bully one day on the train. The story is a reminiscence of all the horrors Foxley, the bully, put Perkins through. The ending on this one left me a bit confused though.
THE WISH: Have you ever played the game as a child where you can't step on the floor because it's lava or snakes or something to that extent? What if you were right?
THE SURGEON: Not a creepy story, but definitely entertaining. Some kids break into the house of a surgeon while he is on vacation and ransack the place after drinking all of the alcohol. Afterwards, he comes to wish he hadn't swallowed that piece of half melted ice...
DIP IN THE POOL: On a cruise, the passengers aboard make bets as to how much distance the boat will travel in a day. When one man realizes that the boat is going to go farther than he reckoned, he goes to extreme lengths to slow it down.
CHAMPION OF THE WORLD: The funniest story in the book. Two hunters experience an unwelcome surprise when the drugged pheasants they illegally poached begin to wake up in the middle of the city...
BEWARE OF DOG: Perhaps the most confusing story in the book but once understood, you realize it's a masterpiece in deception. An English fighter pilot, on the brink of death to the untreated loss of a leg, abandons his plane. When he wakes up, he's in an English hospital...or is he? The nurse and doctors are acting a bit suspiciously.
MY LADY LOVE, MY DOVE: A snoopy couple decide to microphone the room of a husband and his wife when they stay for a visit. They learn an interesting secret about this couple's way of playing bridge, then decide to try it out for themselves.
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LibraryThing member jgoitein
Dahl's collection of short stories are in the territory of the psychological thriller that captivates the reader through its unique and enthralling story lines and cast of characters. Great reading material for any age, but terrific for the reluctant reader in high school, especially boys, who can
There is no second guessing Dahl. He is an excellent story teller who, once having established the plot, verves into the realm of suspense and black humor. He sketches out his characters quickly through descriptive phrases and natural conversations between the characters and with themselves: all through a wonderful command and control of the English language. It is of no surprise why many of his books and stories have been made into films.
Students can easily build on their vocabulary when reading one of his stories as the language is very accessible, but includes a variety of descriptive terms more often used in adult literature. They can also study the themes of greed, murder and revenge explored in these tales. The emphasis is not so much on the dark, gory side of these themes, but the ways the characters work through their situations. which bring them to the acts of murder, greed or revenge. The stories in this collection are so rich and memorable that students will want to discuss and retell them to their friends as I did to mine after reading Skin and other stories.
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study the numerous male characters in Skin, An African Story, Beware of the Dog and The Champion of the World. His female characters are also rich for their cleverness and bold actions as seen in Lamb to the Slaughter and The Surgeon. Students will be introduced to a well crafted tale, as well as be able to appreciate a short, intense thriller with believable ideas and unexpected macabre twists at the end. There is no second guessing Dahl. He is an excellent story teller who, once having established the plot, verves into the realm of suspense and black humor. He sketches out his characters quickly through descriptive phrases and natural conversations between the characters and with themselves: all through a wonderful command and control of the English language. It is of no surprise why many of his books and stories have been made into films.
Students can easily build on their vocabulary when reading one of his stories as the language is very accessible, but includes a variety of descriptive terms more often used in adult literature. They can also study the themes of greed, murder and revenge explored in these tales. The emphasis is not so much on the dark, gory side of these themes, but the ways the characters work through their situations. which bring them to the acts of murder, greed or revenge. The stories in this collection are so rich and memorable that students will want to discuss and retell them to their friends as I did to mine after reading Skin and other stories.
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LibraryThing member beckylynn
A collection of short stories, so it was a 'hit or miss'. A few of them I was a little upset about wasting my time on (then quickly realized how short the story was and got over it) and others I found 'stuck' with me a little bit longer.
Dahl really like to pull out the "M. Night Shamalan' effect on
However, it didn't disappoint and was worth the 7$ I spent on it! This is a set of stories I would recommend to children in Middle School, not because of content, but because of the 'British' humor in it, most wouldn't comprehend the connections he makes.
Dahl really like to pull out the "M. Night Shamalan' effect on
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most of these stories. (Maybe this is where Shamalan learned how to perfect it as most of these stories were written in the 30's). Regardless, it was nice to see a new side of this beloved children's author. I never cared much for the BFG or The Chocolate Factory, so I was nervous about picking this up. However, it didn't disappoint and was worth the 7$ I spent on it! This is a set of stories I would recommend to children in Middle School, not because of content, but because of the 'British' humor in it, most wouldn't comprehend the connections he makes.
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LibraryThing member chicjohn
A brilliant selection from the master
LibraryThing member KatieCarella
This is a collection of adult short stories written by Dahl that was published in the early 2000s. I think I'll stick to The Witches. A bit too dark with abuse and some misogynist themes...
LibraryThing member jeffome
Wow! What great adult stories Dahl writes. This one is a bit of a cheat for me. I read earlier this year "Someone Like Me", another of Dahl's short story collections, and absolutely loved it. So, i pulled this one off the shelf to enjoy more only to find out that all of these but 4 were in the
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other collection. So, I read the 4 new ones and absolutely loved them, especially "An African Story" with "Champion of the World" and Beware of the Dog" close behind. They all have an element of 'slightly twisted' and can cause moments of uncomfortableness, which i guess is a good thing. I will definitely be reading all i can find. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Children's Favorites Awards (Selection — 2001)
Language
Original language
Spanish
ISBN
950465195X / 9789504651956