Completely Unexpected Tales
by Roald Dahl
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Take a pinch of unease. Stir in a dollop of the macabre and the outrageous and mix it with wit, skill and very black humour. What do you have? Roald Dahl at his brilliant, hypnotising best. Here in one volume, Tales of the Unexpectedand More Tales of the Unexpected- a darkly bitter souffle with a sting at the centre. 'Roald Dahl is in the O. Henry mode, firmly buttonholing the reader, not allowing him or her to escape until the often earthy anecdote has been concluded with a resounding full show more stop.' Financial Times 'The writing is compelling and the twists in the tales are smoothly executed.' Time Out show lessTags
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Roald Dahl's 'Tales of the Unexpected' and 'More Tales of the Unexpected' are packaged together in this volume. It consists of 25 short stories (16 in 'Tales' and 9 in 'More Tales'), which are humorous, dark, sinister, macabre and delightful - sometimes all at once.
Dahl clearly had a very vivid imagination, and some of the stories are really incredibly clever. My personal favourite is Lamb to the Slaughter, which I feel duty bound not to spoil for anyone who has not read it yet! Suffice to say that I first read this story perhaps twenty years ago, and have never forgotten it. Reading it again - even when I knew the ending - was a pleasure. Others which I particularly enjoyed were Skin, Nunc Dimittis, Parson's Pleasure, William and Mary, show more The Sound Machine and Genesis and Catastrophe. Most of the stories contain an unexpected and in some cases absurd twist, but Genesis and Catastrophe in particular made me think twice. (Again, I feel that to give away any spoilers would be unfair to anyone who may read it in future.)
As with all short story collections, some did not work quite as well. However, there were no stories in this collection which left me disappointed. Definitely recommended. show less
Dahl clearly had a very vivid imagination, and some of the stories are really incredibly clever. My personal favourite is Lamb to the Slaughter, which I feel duty bound not to spoil for anyone who has not read it yet! Suffice to say that I first read this story perhaps twenty years ago, and have never forgotten it. Reading it again - even when I knew the ending - was a pleasure. Others which I particularly enjoyed were Skin, Nunc Dimittis, Parson's Pleasure, William and Mary, show more The Sound Machine and Genesis and Catastrophe. Most of the stories contain an unexpected and in some cases absurd twist, but Genesis and Catastrophe in particular made me think twice. (Again, I feel that to give away any spoilers would be unfair to anyone who may read it in future.)
As with all short story collections, some did not work quite as well. However, there were no stories in this collection which left me disappointed. Definitely recommended. show less
The first set of tales is masterful, well told, full of detail and with a (large) touch of sadism and some humour. The second collection is less surprising but still a joy to read.
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This volume combines the short story collections Tales of the Unexpected and More Tales of the Unexpected - I must have read the latter some time, but a lot of the stories in the former were new to me, eg the one with the disembodied brain which I think I would certainly have remembered. They are all real masterpieces, and actually reading them all at one go is probably not the best way to enjoy them - they are best piece by piece.
This volume combines the short story collections Tales of the Unexpected and More Tales of the Unexpected - I must have read the latter some time, but a lot of the stories in the former were new to me, eg the one with the disembodied brain which I think I would certainly have remembered. They are all real masterpieces, and actually reading them all at one go is probably not the best way to enjoy them - they are best piece by piece.
Lovely odd stories as only Roald Dahl can invent them.
Roald Dahl (1916-1990) geniet wereldfaam als grootmeester van het korte verhaal. In een net van bizarre vondsten en altijd tot de verbeelding sprekende personages houdt hij de aandacht gevangen. Pas in de laatste alinea's laat hij die los via een soms macabere, maar altijd verrassende clou, die de lezer sprakeloos achterlaat.
Voor het eerst zijn in deze uitgave alle verhalen van Roald Dahl bijeengebracht, ook de sprookjes, de fabels en ’ontzettende verhalen’, die voorheen verspreid waren uitgegeven. Als geen ander weet Dahl zijn lezer te hypnotiseren, zodat deze de meest fantastische situaties als werkelijkheid accepteert. Zijn scheppingen amuseren - vaak als sick-joke, waarbij de rillingen je over de rug lopen. Bijenhouders, show more predikanten, hospita's, stropers en tot wanhoop gedreven vrouwen van middelbare leeftijd vallen aan zijn pen ten prooi en vertonen een haast griezelige gelijkenis met mensen die wij kennen - en helaas maar al te vaak met onszelf. show less
Voor het eerst zijn in deze uitgave alle verhalen van Roald Dahl bijeengebracht, ook de sprookjes, de fabels en ’ontzettende verhalen’, die voorheen verspreid waren uitgegeven. Als geen ander weet Dahl zijn lezer te hypnotiseren, zodat deze de meest fantastische situaties als werkelijkheid accepteert. Zijn scheppingen amuseren - vaak als sick-joke, waarbij de rillingen je over de rug lopen. Bijenhouders, show more predikanten, hospita's, stropers en tot wanhoop gedreven vrouwen van middelbare leeftijd vallen aan zijn pen ten prooi en vertonen een haast griezelige gelijkenis met mensen die wij kennen - en helaas maar al te vaak met onszelf. show less
Nov 23, 2012German
Roald Dahl is een 'woordkunstenaar' zoals je ze maar zelden ziet. Hij weet een spanning te creëren en je op het verkeerde been te zetten om dan uiteindelijk een climax te bereiken die je absoluut niet had zien aankomen. Humor wordt afgewisseld met horror; waar eindigt het een en begint het ander?
Dec 14, 2013Dutch
1
Ten tijde van publicatie ongetwijfeld spectaculair origineel, inmiddels wat gedateerd.
Sep 29, 2012Dutch
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Roald (pronounced "Roo-aal") was born in Llandaff, South Wales. He had a relatively uneventful childhood and was educated at Repton School. During World War II he served as a fighter pilot and for a time was stationed in Washington, D.C.. Prompted by an interviewer, he turned an account of one of his war experiences into a short story that was show more accepted by the Saturday Evening Post, which were eventually collected in Over to You (1946). Dahl's stories are often described as horror tales or fantasies, but neither description does them justice. He has the ability to treat the horrible and ghastly with a light touch, sometimes even with a humorous one. His tales never become merely shocking or gruesome. His purpose is not to shock but to entertain, and much of the entertainment comes from the unusual twists in his plots, rather than from grizzly details. Dahl has also become famous as a writer of children's stories. In some circles, these works have cased great controversy. Critics have charged that Dahl's work is anti-Semitic and degrades women. Nevertheless, his work continues to be read: Charlie and Chocolate Factory (1964) was made into a successful movie, The BFG was made into a movie in July 2017, and his books of rhymes for children continue to be very popular. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Completely Unexpected Tales
- Original title
- Completely Unexpected Tales
- Original publication date
- 1991
- Related movies
- CBS Television Workshop: The Sound Machine (1952 | s1e6 | IMDb); Lux Video Theatre: The Taste (1952 | s2e32 | IMDb); The Philip Morris Playhouse: Taste (1954 | s1e18 | IMDb); Danger: A Dip in the Pool (1954 | s4e23 | IMDb); Star Tonight: Taste (1955 | s1e18 | IMDb); Cameo Theatre: Man from the South (1955 | s4e6 | IMDb) (show all 37); Suspicion: The Way Up to Heaven (1958 | s1e29 | IMDb); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat (1960 | s6e1 | IMDb); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Man from the South (1960 | s5e15 | IMDb); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Poison (1958 | s4e1 | IMDb); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Dip in the Pool (1958 | s3e35 | IMDb); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Lamb to Slaughter (1958 | s3e28 | IMDb); Thirty-Minute Theatre: Taste (1967 | s2e13 | IMDb); Thirty-Minute Theatre: Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat (1965 | s1e9 | IMDb); Thirty-Minute Theatre: Parson's Pleasure (1965 | s1e1 | IMDb); Teatterituokio: Maku (1967 | IMDb | "Taste"); Tales of the Unexpected: The Sound Machine (1981 | s4e1 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Mr Botibol's First Love (1980 | s2e13 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: The Umbrella Man (1980 | s2e11 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Georgy Porgy (1980 | s2e9 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Poison (1980 | s2e5 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: The Hitch-Hiker (1980 | s2e4 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Galloping Foxley (1980 | s2e3 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Skin (1980 | s2e2 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Royal Jelly (1980 | s2e1 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Parson's Pleasure (1980 | s3e6 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: The Way Up to Heaven (1979 | s1e9 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: A Dip in the Pool (1979 | s1e8 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Neck (1979 | s1e6 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: The Landlady (1979 | s1e5 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter (1979 | s1e4 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: William and Mary (1979 | s1e3 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat (1979 | s1e2 | IMDb); Tales of the Unexpected: Man from the South (1979 | s1e1 | IMDb); Way Out: William and Mary (1961 | s1e1 | IMDb); Genesis and Catastrophe (2000 | IMDb); Lamb to the Slaughter (2002 | IMDb)
- Disambiguation notice
- "Completely Unexpected Tales" is an omnibus containing "Tales of the Unexpected" and "More Tales of the Unexpected". Note that this is not the same as "The Complete Tales of the Unexpected and Other Stories" which is a ... (show all)different collection.
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