What a set of likeable, malleable and fun stories to read!

I remember I was asked to read this book during secondary school. I did not do it. I wasn’t much of a reader before. In fact, I did not like it at all. And hence why I wanted to reread some of the books I *actually* had to read in school. I am glad I did.

Roald Dahl has an impressive biography. There are so many things I did not know about him. In his book “Boy”, I already took notice of the many events in his life. But that book focused in his childhood years. In this set of compiled stories, there are three that allow you to gain more insight into the life of this marvellous man: “The Mildenhall Treasure”; “Lucky Break”; “A Piece of Cake”. Let me briefly comment on each of them.

“The Mildenhall Treasure” comes after a short chapter named “A Note About the Next Story”. In it, Dahl explains how he was making a decent amount out of his writing, handing two short stories a year. It usually took him four months to complete, and fortunately there were people both at home (which he meant the UK) and abroad (most likely the US) who actually bought them from him.

But the Mildenhall Treasure story was somewhat different, because Dahl was not creating a new piece of fiction. On the contrary, this story is as real as me. The author explains in the preceding chapter how he managed to interview Gordon Butcher, a ploughman who actually discovered a remarkable treasure of Roman silver, and how, under the promise of sharing his story to the author, would split the money equally with him in the event of being published.

And so it happened. The Saturday Evening Post magazine bought his short story and paid Dahl well. He sent exactly half of it to Mr. Butcher, whom responded: “… you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw your cheque. It was lovely. I want to thank you…” (page 53).

Apparently, this treasure can be found in the British Museum. I cannot wait to see it — I find this to be a perfect excuse to visit this place now!

“Lucky Break” is a wonderful account of the author’s path towards becoming a writer. In it he details his life decisions, and how it brought him to write his first short story: “A Piece of Cake”. But before that, Dahl narrates how in school he was miserably treated by teachers and older students. He also clearly explains how he was creatively blocked, since all his teachers would undermine his writing. Check some of his end-of-term reports during his youth:

Summer Term, 1930 (aged 14). English Composition. “I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper.”

Easter Term, 1931 (aged 15). English Composition. “A persistent muddler. Vocabulary negligible, sentences mal-constructed. He reminds me of a camel.”

Autumn Term, 1932 (aged 17). English Composition. “Consistently idle. Ideas limited” (page 188).

As he puts it, “Little wonder that it never entered my head to become a writer in those days” (ibid).

So thank God Mr. Dahl met C. S. Forester who said to him, after receiving his account of the events that happened to our hero during the Second World War as he served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a fighter pilot, that he was a writer.

After reading Dahl’s “A Piece of Cake” [which I think the title of the story was renamed to another if I am not mistaken], you may immediately understand the progress the author made from that non-fiction story to his work of fiction, such as “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”. He is certainly right in saying that he likes writing fiction the most, and this is when you come to understand that we have to know ourselves very well to become really good at something. Dahl’s personal biography is about that: self-discovery and self-love, and I simply loved how he intertwined the events of his life to explain his approach to the imaginary. Ain’t we all in the same boat?

Henry Sugar is the best of the bunch, closely followed by The Swan Some like The Boy Who Talked With Animals are promising but aren't that deep, and others aren't my genre in general.

Famoso por sus historias para niños (Matilda, Los Gremlins, Charlie y la fábrica de chocolates), el escritor Británico Roald Dahl escribió también cuentos para adultos. La producción disponible en castellano consta de cuatro libros que pueden encontrarse con relativa facilidad en Editorial Anagrama. El que hoy habremos de comentar es "Historias extraordinarias", volumen que consta de siete relatos de naturaleza muy diversa, tanto en procedencia, como en temática y estructura. El calificativo de "extraordinarios" no significa que estos sean los mejores cuentos del autor, pero sí los más atípicos.

Efectivamente, se trata de un volumen variopinto, con ficción, pasajes autobiográficos y algunas muestras de cuento fantástico. Si bien, el género puede variar, la forma de narrar siempre será simple y fácil de asimilar. La principal cualidad del autor es la prolífica imaginación que dota a la realidad de ese elemento mágico que tendemos a olvidar mientras vamos envejeciendo. En el mejor de los casos, Dahl logra posicionar su propia visión de la literatura fantástica, liberándose de la seriedad, la moral y la rigidez del realismo literario; en el peor de los casos, sus descripciones pueden ser un tanto redundantes y sobre-explicadas, y sus historias (al menos en este libro) demasiado heterogéneas. Por lo tanto, "Historias extraordinarias" puede llevarnos de la ilusión a la decepción, o en su defecto, del escepticismo al entusiasmo ferviente. Aquí todo es posible.

Algunos de los cuentos parecen estar basados en leyendas populares (como "El chico que hablaba con los animales") o en notas periodísticas (como "El tesoro de Mildenhall", único cuento de no-ficción que escribió Dahl en toda su vida). Estas obras cumplirán con la labor de hacernos pasar un buen rato, pero quizás no nos lleguen a deslumbrar. En cambio "El autoestopista" es un relato más interesante, cercano al realismo americano de nuestra época y que trata sobre un personaje bribón y sagaz cuya construcción psicológica no tiene nada que ver con la literatura para niños.

Por su parte, "El cisne" provoca una respuesta emocional muy significativa. Este cuento se ubica en el terreno argumental que más naturalmente se le da al escritor británico; es decir, la infancia y sus dificultades. La trama es la siguiente: dos pubertos idiotas procedentes de un estrato social marginado, se divierten a costa de un niño más pequeño, llegando a niveles de despreciable crueldad. Esta historia de bullyng extremo provoca gran indignación. De no ser por el atinado (y muy literario) desenlace, estaríamos hablando simplemente de un ardid melodramático y vulgar.

La joya del libro es "La maravillosa historia de Henry Sugar" cuento largo en forma de "muñecas rusas" (es decir, una historia dentro de otra; como las famosas matrioshkas). Trata sobre un hombre rico y ocioso que descubre el secreto para desarrollar los poderes espirituales de los yoguis hindúes. Sin embargo, sus intenciones no parecen ser muy nobles. Durante catorce capítulos, Dahl convence y emociona como en ningún otro cuento de este volumen. Por si fuera poco, la presunción de "veracidad" de la historia, permite al narrador proponer dos desenlaces diferentes (un final literario y un final verídico) y como suele suceder en estos casos, la ficción literaria supera a la realidad.

Por último, encontraremos los dos únicos relatos autobiográficos que Dahl escribió en vida, entre ellos "Pan comido", redactado en plena segunda guerra mundial, cuando el escritor aún se desempeñaba como aviador de la Fuerza Aérea Británica. En su primer esbozo, el autor narra el accidente aéreo que sufrió en una misión al norte de África. Curiosamente, este es el único ejemplo de modernismo que encontraremos en todo el libro, pues el narrador salta de la realidad a la inconsciencia, desarrollando el conocido recurso del dialogo interno.

"Racha de suerte" es lo más cercano a una autobiografía, pues tiene como objetivo explicarnos cómo es que Dahl se convirtió en escritor. Los fragmentos más interesantes son (usted adivinó) aquellos en los que habla de su infancia. Al leerlo uno podría conjeturar que ese grave problema que enfrentamos en la actualidad llamado bullying podría tener sus orígenes en el antiguo sistema educativo Inglés. Verá usted; en los internados de ese país (todavía en pleno siglo XX) "educar" significaba validar una cadena de palizas propinadas por los más fuertes en detrimento de los más débiles. El director inicia la cadena humillando al profesor; el profesor tiene la facultad de golpear a los alumnos y el alumno mayor tiene el derecho a golpear al alumno menor. Es posible que la organización represiva de los antiguos internados ingleses, persista hoy en día en forma de Bullying. Bueno, si no queremos concederle crédito a Dahl pues ahí está Charles Dickens para despejar nuestras dudas.

Como detalle curioso, el autor nos ofrece una muestra de su propia grafología, reproduciendo pequeños textos de su puño y letra, pertenecientes a su original cuaderno de apuntes.

"Historias extraordinarias" es un buen libro, pero quizás no el adecuado para iniciarse en la apreciación de este escritor, ya que no corresponde a una muestra verdaderamente representativa de sus trabajos más celebrados. Este libro es más bien un compendio de sus trabajos más originales y atípicos. Me parece además que el estilo del autor no es perfecto, quedando en desventaja frente a los grandes maestros del cuento fantástico. Sin embargo, es posible que en otras obras (me viene a la mente "Relatos de lo inesperado") podamos hacernos una mejor idea del genio narrativo de Roald Dahl.

knowing that wes anderson adapted henry sugar to film this year is sooooooo pleasing 2 me

I thought that this book was good

I enjoyed every story in that short collection, but my favourite has to be "The Boy Who Talked with Animals" - a story of empathy, sensitivity and care.

Interesting to read some “adult” stories from Roald Dahl. The last two are autobiographical and I had no idea that he was a pilot during WW2. The stories were interesting but nothing really jumped out and grabbed me.

Roald Dahl's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: and six more, is a collection of seven brilliant short stories. Andrew Scott narrates this audio, and I speak true when I say his voice along with Dahl's words produce a galvanic amalgam of magic intimacy for the ear and mind.

The seven stories are:
* The Boy Who Talked with Animals
* The Hitchhiker
* The Mildenhall Treasure
* The Swan
* The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
* Lucky Break
* A Piece of Cake.

These are all fine specimen. In "The Boy Who Talked with Animals," I became spellbound with the plight of the large old turtle on its back as crowds of people gathered close. Maybe it was the idea of a helpless animal being pulled up to the kitchens where the sharp knives waited, but I could sense the immediacy of the old sea turtle's predicament. As a gauge, this story is good and solid.

The three stories that stole my breath?
* The Mildenhall Treasure
* The Swan
* A Piece of Cake.

Out of these, "The Swan" is reason enough to read this collection. This story is haunting. It lingers in the mind and tied me into knots. Dahl made me taste the hot close breath of the train. It frightened me, and I'm a grown man. When you reach the duck and swan on the water, Dahl's description is heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

To all the folks at Penguin Audio, "Thank you." Thank you for getting this right." Thank you for not cluttering up the tracks with God Damn sentimental music that's supposed to tell me how and when to feel. Thank you for not mucking about with narrators trying to needlessly inject drama into stories that only require reading, not a performance. Thank you Penguin Audio for doing one of the best production jobs I've come across in a while. Sometimes the best ingredients are truly simple, a healthy appetite and a pinch of salt.

Re-read the main story but I read all of them as a kid. Was poking through the others and found this gem, from Lucky Break:

"Here are some of the qualities you should possess or should try to acquire if you wish to be fiction writer:

1. You should have a lively imagination.
2. You should be able to write well. By that I mean you should be able to make a scene come alive in the reader's mind. Not everybody has this ability. It is a gift, and you either have it or you don't.
3. You must have stamina. In other words, you must be able to stick to what you are doing and never give up, for hour after hour, day after day, week after week and month after month.
4. You must be a perfectionist. That means you must never be satisfied with what you have written until you have rewritten it again, making it as good as you possibly can.
5. You must have strong self-discipline. You are working alone. No one is employing you. No one is around to fire you if you don't turn up for work, or tick you off if you start slacking.
6. It helps a lot if you have a keen sense of humor. This is not essential when writing for grown-ups, but for children, it's vital.
7. You must have a degree of humility. The writer who thinks his work is marvelous is heading for trouble."

Ummm... I kinda don't get the point of these stories. They definitely weren't "of the macabre", they definitely weren't funny and the prose also didn't blow my mind. The one about how Dahl became a writer was quite an interesting one but apart from this... hard pass.

Dahl surely is the master of creative writing indeed; his imagination has no bounds neither does his portrayal of human behaviour.

These short stories are ideal for ‘People on the Go’.

The power within these fictitious tails of enchantment are intensified/spruced up with a dash of flare and a drop of creative writing; which really puts a summery smile on your face.

However there are few that struck me more effectively than others; “The Swan” for example, it was a heartbreaking, tragic story in comparison to “The Boy Who Talked with Animals”.

But the most magnetic, electrifying tale I found myself very draw to was, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”.
This tale was filled with thrills, chills, twists turns, anxiety, bedazzlement and so much more. I absolutely loved it.
But the most shocking part was when Dahl emerged and integrated himself within the story superbly; leaving the reader in disbelieve as they come to discover that everything they read up till this point was in actual fact FACTUAL!.
Furthermore unlike any other writer he actually placed his thoughts in-between the BOOK! rather than before. The absence of a ‘Preface’, ‘Forward’ or ‘NOTE:’ to give the reader a heads up is usually the standard procedure. But his rebellion is the very essence to why the read became more exciting for me; and the best part of it; is that, I was now a part of this mind-blowing secret.
Whether this is allowed in the world of literacy I am unsure of but I can guarantee that no literacy class in Oxford University would allow their students to conduct their writing craft in such a manner.

But suddenly my excitement ceased, when the book took an unexpected and unwelcomed turning point. What I thought was a fictitious book filled with mini fantasies and enchanting tales suddenly became the author’s autobiography in the last two chapters. This didn’t sit with me very well as it was randomly slotted into the novel.

Apparently, this is a Vietnamese version of the book I read in English.

I guess that's fine by me. Because it takes some effort to add a book in Goodreads, which I'm not willing to make.