miércoles, 12 de marzo de 2014

The Best of Roald Dahl

THE BEST OF ROALD DAHL

by Julio Riverola – Second year advanced level


The Best Of Roald Dahl is a book which collects some of the best short stories of this English writer, approximately twenty of them.

A famous writer because of his stories for children, this book is absolutely dedicated to adults. In it, we can find very interesting stories, easy to read but always with an amazing and surprising ending. Furthermore, cruel and dark endings fill the book.

Dahl tells us about topics like betting with outlandish rewards. For example, in one of them, the gambling men bet their own fingers. Another of these stories shows us how a rich man bets his virgin daughter against an expert taster of wines who is invited by himself to a luxurious dinner.

Another topic that Dahl writes about is babies. Two examples of this: the first one, Royal Jelly, tells the story of the desperate parents of a child who can not get weight. Suddenly, the baby begins to get fat. The mother is happy at first but then is worried because of that incredible change. The father finally confesses that he is putting a magic substance in the baby’s bottle. Soon, the baby undergoes a metamorphosis. In the second example, which Dahl presents as a real story, he perfectly describes the successful birth of a child whose parents have lost all their three previous sons. Finally we can see that it is a happy birth for the family and a tragedy for the rest of the world.

Another interesting story tells us about an innocent and unlucky boy that wishes to become a famous cook. He is writing a book with hundreds of recipes without any kind of meat, because he has never eaten meat. The first time he goes to the city, he finally eats meat and he can make a very close visit to a slaughterhouse.

The last story I want to mention tells about a traveller who is hosted by a rich man in his palace in the middle of the desert. He tries to win the rich man’s extremely beautiful wife’s and daughter’s heart and finally he gets go to bed with a woman, but not one he wished.


To sum up, an enjoyable book that gives food for thought and perfect to devour story by story in sleepless nights.