Title: Tales of The Unexpected
Writer: Roald Dahl
Publisher: Penguin Books (2008)
Pages: 282 p
From Bookmooch!
Roald Dahl was a master of storytelling. I fell in love with his children books, even though some of them were too dark for younger audience. So when I heard that Dahl also wrote adult short stories, I couldn’t help myself. I must read them!!
Tale of The Unexpected was consisted of 16 stories with lots of twists and surprising (sometimes even shocking!) endings. The stories had various themes, and I often wondered where did Dahl find his ideas? From everyday tidbits to unusual circumstances, Dahl expertly played with the tension (which was built bit by bit), exploding (and in some cases, hanging) climax, and the feeling that readers had to endure at the end of every story, the feeling of craving for more and more stories to come. Pure genius.
Some stories were quite hilarious, like one of my favorites, a story called Taste, about a man who had a bet with a wine expert. The man challenged the expert to guess the name and origin of the wine he served to his guests. And the ridiculous part was, the bet’s actually his own daughter, handed to the expert in marriage if the man lost the bet. It’s totally crazy, especially because Dahl successfully built the tension, with no clues left for the readers about what came at the end of the story.
Another favorite was Parson’s Pleasure, about a wicked antique dealer who tried to buy a valuable old furniture with cheap price from a farmer, by cheating him completely. This story had an ending that felt so real, so original, yet so unpredictable, leaving the readers’ jaw widely opened =)
With Dahl, you’ll never know how the story would end. The bad guy sometimes wins, making you felt sorry for the heroine. Sometimes he left us undecided with our feeling, whether we should cringe with irony or laugh out loud to his dark sense of humor. In few stories, you had sympathy with the bad guy, and Dahl played along nicely with that, until suddenly he brought the character into his doom. In some stories, Dahl showed his unique talent to create a very gothic plot. A great example was in the story called Landlady, where a young man was lured to stay in a nice guesthouse, with a mysterious and creepy landlady. I still have goosebumps thinking about it!
But the great thing is, what felt too gothic and dark in his children books, fits really well in this book. All in all, this is a true masterpiece, a treasure that makes me craving for more Dahl’s collection of brilliant stories. Luckily, there are so many books of his short stories collection, and you can even download some of them here. Enjoy!
yah, gak ada ilustrasi dari quentine blake nih
ahahaha iya may, yg ini lebih serius sih…Quentin Blake emang keren ya ilustrasinya =)
pernah baca karya Roald Dalh belum ya? kayaknya belum deh gak tahu gaya berceritanya dia, ini cerita dewasa pertama yang dia buat toh mb?
dia bikin banyak cerpen utk dewasa sih lis, aku ngga tau jg ini yg pertama atau bukan…
Aih kalau ngga ada ilustrasi yang biasa kayaknya buka buku Roald Dahl deh.
Selain yang diterbitkan ma Gramedia masih banyak kan yah karya Roald Dahl. Termasuk yang satu ini.
Aku jadi pengen baca yang lain.
iya banyak yg belum diterjemahin terutama yg cerpen2 kayak gini al, moga2 bakal diterjemahin juga nantinya
Wah, Roald bikin karya buat orang dewasa juga? Belum pernah baca euy. Jadi penasaran baca review ini
, ada versi e-booknya nggak ya? hehe
itu aku kasih link kalau mau download =D kayanya versi ebook lainnya juga banyak deh
Ada ga karya2 Roald Dahl yg diterjemahin ke bahasa Indonesia?
Penasaran semenarik apa gaya berceritanya
banyak kok yg diterjemahin gramed, malah ada boxsetnya segala =) cuman emang banyakan karya utk anak2…
@okeyzz : roald dahl versi indo byk kan? Mr. Fox, charlie & chocolate factory, dll.
Tapi yg buku ini emang belum
Penasaran juga baca karyanya Dahl yg ini. Baca reviewnya jd makin mupeng X)
hihihi ayoooo baca bareng Dahl utk BBI kayanya seru juga yaaa =)
Memang beliau luar biasa, bukunya senantiasa membuat saya terbengong-bengong dengan tokoh, alur maupun endingnya yang tidak biasa dan tak tertebak.
betul mi…suka deg2an sendiri padahal kadang ceritanya simpel, tapi penyampaiannya bikin merinding, hehe
kalau ngga salah, Roald Dahl menulis cerita2nya di penjara deh..
btw, aku rada2 deja vu sama cerita yang taruhan2 gitu deh mba, aku pernah baca juga kumpulan cerpen, salah satunya ada karya Roald Dahl judulnya “Man from the South”. Di sana, ada pemuda sama kakek2 yang taruhan juga.. tapi taruhannya ngeri deh.. >,< reviewku di sini http://bukunyasapi.blogspot.com/2010/04/spellbinders-in-suspense.html
naaaah itu ada juga kok na di buku ini! sumpah emang mengerikan yaa rada2 absurd ceritanya hahaha, tapi tipikal dahl banget deh =)
dahl emg spesial! memoirnya jg menyentuh deh, sekaligus tetep lucu! (boy dan going solo).
betuuul i luv dahl! aku belum baca boy dan going solo, pengen ah! =)