Book Review: Completely Unexpected Tales by Roald Dahl

Completely Unexpected Tales by Roald Dahl
(my own photo)

Like so many other children, I read a lot of Roald Dahl when I was younger.  When I found this book I was immediately curious about it; would it be like the books I grew up with, or would it be something completely different?

It turned out to be a bit of both. While his stories do contain the fantastical elements of his children's books, they are definitely aimed at adults.

This book is a collection of short stories, and they are full of really dark humour, which I enjoy, but it also contained some really interesting premises and ideas.

They were nice, relaxing reading, and the stories covered varying themes and time periods. The stories were a good length; long enough to develop the characters and plot without being long-winded.

By calling the collection "Completely Unexpected Tales", it encouraged me to expect the unexpected.  I was always thinking ahead, and trying to figure out what the twist at the end was.  So, ironically enough, I managed to guess the twists in most of the stories, so they weren't really unexpected at all.

However, there is a unexpected surprise for all Harry Potter fans.

Chances of finding it in my imaginary bookstore:  75%