Skin and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl
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Introduces teenagers to the adult short stories of Roald Dahl.Tags
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I have never written a review for a group of short stories…so this is gonna be a challenge and a half…
Let’s try!
Most of you probably know Roald Dahl because of his children’s books – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, among others. What most people tend to not know is that he also had a wonderful career writing short stories, which were not as safe for younger children to read as one might expect from him.
My first encounter with Dahl’s short stories was a collection called Switch Bitch, which was compromised of four short stories about sex and adultery. I bought as many of his short story collections as I could after that, and this is the first that I’ve read of them.
Skin and other show more stories has eleven stories in it, all of them seemingly leading in one direction and then quickly veering off into another. There isn’t really a common theme in them except for appearances deceiving what’s really beneath every surface. In my opinion, the best ones were the title story, Skin, Lamb to the Slaughter and The Surgeon. The stories have no real common link between them, except that the first two deal with death in some shape or form. All three, however, take on a bit of a turn that I wasn’t expecting, and deliver Dahl’s witty, sometimes dry, humour in a wonderful way.
Dahl’s writing even manages to fluctuate from story to story, showing the mark of a true author. He doesn’t have just the one style of writing, and while you can pinpoint his obvious little quirks in language, he is also capable of changing voice from character to character very easily, making each short story unique with each new character he introduces.
Final rating: 5/5. Ideal for a light read cuddled up with a mug of hot chocolate, and a quick break from heavier literature, while still being a great read in its own right. show less
Let’s try!
Most of you probably know Roald Dahl because of his children’s books – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, among others. What most people tend to not know is that he also had a wonderful career writing short stories, which were not as safe for younger children to read as one might expect from him.
My first encounter with Dahl’s short stories was a collection called Switch Bitch, which was compromised of four short stories about sex and adultery. I bought as many of his short story collections as I could after that, and this is the first that I’ve read of them.
Skin and other show more stories has eleven stories in it, all of them seemingly leading in one direction and then quickly veering off into another. There isn’t really a common theme in them except for appearances deceiving what’s really beneath every surface. In my opinion, the best ones were the title story, Skin, Lamb to the Slaughter and The Surgeon. The stories have no real common link between them, except that the first two deal with death in some shape or form. All three, however, take on a bit of a turn that I wasn’t expecting, and deliver Dahl’s witty, sometimes dry, humour in a wonderful way.
Dahl’s writing even manages to fluctuate from story to story, showing the mark of a true author. He doesn’t have just the one style of writing, and while you can pinpoint his obvious little quirks in language, he is also capable of changing voice from character to character very easily, making each short story unique with each new character he introduces.
Final rating: 5/5. Ideal for a light read cuddled up with a mug of hot chocolate, and a quick break from heavier literature, while still being a great read in its own right. show less
How did I not know that Roald Dahl wrote "Lamb to the Slaughter?" How? How could I have failed to pick that up in highschool freshman English? In any case, it's a wonderful story, packed with other equally delightful, frightening and disturbing stories from a master storyteller.
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 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.
This is a high quality collection of shorts, not aimed specifically at children. The stand-out entry is Lamb to the Slaughter, which is a wicked delight. I was surprised to find a precursor to the kids' novel Danny, Champion of the World here. That was the only one I was exposed to as a child. Should I take them up, now?
This book was on the YA shelf, right next to [b:The Scorch Trials|7631105|The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)|James Dashner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320515213s/7631105.jpg|6574198] and I've always loved Roald Dahl (who wrote this book, not "Ronald" as it's currently mislabeled). I love that Dahl leaves out the really horrifying parts of these creepy little stories, leaving the worst to the reader's imagination. A few of the stories were rather forgettable, but most were pretty good. Overall, not my favorite Dahl, but decent.
Beloved children author Roald Dahl wrote a series of delightful, dark humour for teen readers and eleven of them are compiled in Skin and Other Stories.
Dahl once said, "The success to a short story is simple, it must have a beginning, a middle and an end. The reader must never want to put it down."
There is no reason to put down this book too early. A single story, if not the entire book, is short enough to finish in one sitting.
Take for instance, the story "Skin", where an old man finds that the tattoo on his back is worth well over a million pounds because the one who did it for him is now a famous painter. He received offers for it but how do you sell something that's etched into your skin?
Creative murder is the theme for "Lamb to show more the Slaughter". Mary Maloney didn't take the news that her husband is dumping her ver well, so she kills him... with a frozen leg of lamb that the police never found. Although they did have a very nice dinner while at the scene of the crime.
In "The Sound Machine", a man named Klausner invents a most remarkable machine. It can detect the sound of plants crying. That's probably enough to make anyone seem mad.
And the whimsy continues - a child who decided that certain colours in the carpet will certainly eat him, a surgeon who received a diamond as a gift and has to hide it somewhere, and so on.
A few of these stories start with a lot of preface before it gets to the point, which is usually rather short and turns the entire story around. Oh, the characters here don't usually do the morally right thing. They do something unexpected, if not blatantly wrong.
One could say Dahl has a sick mind, but the rest of us would love the irony. After the first couple of stories, I found myself already anticipating what kind of twist of he has in store next.
Some younger children will need some of the stories here explained to them, but teens and adults should enjoy it just fine.
(2006) show less
Dahl once said, "The success to a short story is simple, it must have a beginning, a middle and an end. The reader must never want to put it down."
There is no reason to put down this book too early. A single story, if not the entire book, is short enough to finish in one sitting.
Take for instance, the story "Skin", where an old man finds that the tattoo on his back is worth well over a million pounds because the one who did it for him is now a famous painter. He received offers for it but how do you sell something that's etched into your skin?
Creative murder is the theme for "Lamb to show more the Slaughter". Mary Maloney didn't take the news that her husband is dumping her ver well, so she kills him... with a frozen leg of lamb that the police never found. Although they did have a very nice dinner while at the scene of the crime.
In "The Sound Machine", a man named Klausner invents a most remarkable machine. It can detect the sound of plants crying. That's probably enough to make anyone seem mad.
And the whimsy continues - a child who decided that certain colours in the carpet will certainly eat him, a surgeon who received a diamond as a gift and has to hide it somewhere, and so on.
A few of these stories start with a lot of preface before it gets to the point, which is usually rather short and turns the entire story around. Oh, the characters here don't usually do the morally right thing. They do something unexpected, if not blatantly wrong.
One could say Dahl has a sick mind, but the rest of us would love the irony. After the first couple of stories, I found myself already anticipating what kind of twist of he has in store next.
Some younger children will need some of the stories here explained to them, but teens and adults should enjoy it just fine.
(2006) show less
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 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 show more 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. show less
There is no second guessing Dahl. He show more 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. show less
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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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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Skin and Other Stories
- Original title
- Skin and Other Stories
- First words
- That year -- 1946 -- winter was a long time going.
- Quotations
- Judson lifted his head quickly and looked up. As he did so he saw the Mamba and the Mamba saw him. There was a second, or perhaps two, when the snake stopped, drew back and raised the front part of its body in the air. Th... (show all)en the stroke. Just a flash of black and a slight thump as it took him in the chest. Judson screamed,.....until gradually it faded into nothingness and there was silence. An African Story. (p. 69)
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Arthur, I do wish you wouldn't argue with me all the time. That's exactly what we'll do. Now, go fetch a deck of cards; we'll start right away."
- Disambiguation notice*
- Skin - Lamb to the slaughter - The sound machine - An African story - Galloping Foxley - The wish - The surgeon - Dip in the pool - The champion of the world - Beware of the dog - My lady love, my dove
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Reviews
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- Languages
- English, French, Spanish
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 21
- ASINs
- 4