This details his experiences as a fighter pilot in World War II, and provides a no holds barred narrative to the realities and tragedies he faced during his time in the Air Force. A large part of this volume is take up with another of his autobiographical chapters, called Going Solo. This volume of stories is influenced by Dahl’s experiences during the Second World War. I loved this story because it was so understated and apparently innocuous, but it packed a huge disturbing punch at the end! As she shows around the latest tenant, we as readers can sense that something is very amiss, but it is only when the action moves away to the other people in the house that we see exactly how menacing and shocking her actions are. An ordinary, apparently nice middle aged woman takes in young men as residents in her boarding house. The most unnerving story for me was The Landlady. However, Dahl’s skill in effortlessly leading us down one path before revealing the twist is a masterclass in the unexpected! Of course, this being a Roald Dahl story, there is a huge sense of tension as it looks like all is lost and that he will win the daughter. In Taste, a repugnant wine snob attends a dinner party, and in exchange for correctly guessing a bottle of wine, he wants to take the daughter of the host home. The rest of the book looks at tales of Innocence, and for me, although all of them are brilliant, there are two in particular which unnerved and shocked me slightly! This chapter ends with Roald Dahl heading off to East Africa, with the ominous foreboding of a Second World War not too far away. Some of his anecdotes made me laugh out loud – one where he puts a mouse in the gobstopper jar of a particularly cantankerous sweetshop owner called Mrs Pratchett, could just as easily be a scene in George’s Marvellous Medicine! His story is punctuated with photos and drawings, and far from this being a staid fact driven work, it feels very much like you are sitting down with your Granddad, as he tells you about his life. As we learn about Dahl’s childhood, right from the very start, every chapter in his life is an influence on his writing in later life. I have to admit that I knew little about the man behind the novels. It starts with an autobiographical chapter, Boy. This for me, was a perfect place to start on my Roald Dahl journey. Believe me, these are most definitely for the grown ups! So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when I was asked to review four of Roald Dahl’s glorious short story collections reissued by Penguin. The very notion that not only could someone own such a magical place, but that this world was one where children could visit and even own it was such an awe inspiring idea! His amazing books are timeless, imaginative and are for many children, the start of a long love affair with books and reading.įor me, it was Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. One of the truly great British authors that you know that everyone will have heard of.
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