Tales of the unexpected; Roald Dahl

TITLE: TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
AUTHOR: ROALD DAHL
PLOT
In this book we can find sixteen short stories set in different places and environments (boats, luxurious
mansions, humble flats…) There are stories about men who wager their fingers, their daughter's hand or even
their lives by jumping overboard to win a bet. Stories about a jealous wife who, after murdering her husband,
manages to hide the murder weapon into the policemen stomachs, or about a jealous husband who cut his wife
neck in front of his astonished host.
WRITING STYLE
In most of the tales, Roald Dahl writes as a third person to get a bird's eye view of the situation. He uses a lot
of adjectives to describe characters, not only their physical appearance but also the emotional state.
He is really skilful at focusing reader's attention on some of the characters or on a certain situation and, when
they are totally gripped, he gives the story a twist and turns it into an amazing an unexpected ending.
CHARACTERS
There are hundreds of characters in this book. From the modest, loving wife who waits, peacefully sewing, for
her husband to come home, to the fascinating, beauty owner of an important Newspaper. From the beggar
whose only possession is a painting in his back, to the wealthy, middle-aged man of culture adored by his
many friends.
It doesn't worth trying to describe the most important ones because most of them play an important role in
their respective tales.
OVERALL IMPRESION
This is a very enjoyable book. The stories are so different from one another that you can feel that you are
reading a different book each fifteen or twenty pages.
Roald Dahl creates an intriguing atmosphere whit all those meticulous descriptions of the characters and
situations. This is fantastic if you are reading the book in your own language but if you are reading it in a
foreign language, sometimes, you feel you are not as much into the story as you should.
But, despite the language problems, if you enjoyed with giant peach, wicked witches or turtles that grew
astonishing in a balcony, you must read this book. You'll enjoy it like a child.
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