Promised myself a while back that I would root out a copy of Roald Dahl's short stories - and my big sister bought me a copy of his Tales of the Unexpected for Christmas.
With the car back in the garage for some tweaks to its recent repairs, the train journey from Liverpool to Southport has finally given me the time (and excuse) to be thoroughly anti-social and wedge my nose between the covers of a cracking good read.
Some of the stories were instantly recognisable from the re-runs of the Tales of the Unexpected anthology series on ITV3, particularly the fate of an arrogant wine taster, and a man who gets revenge on his gossiping girlfriend in an unusually artistic manner.
But my favourite tale from the 16 encased in this volume had to be Parson's Pleasure.
A sly antiques dealer disguises himself as a man of the cloth each Sunday and travels around farmhouses in southern England. He knows these homesteads are a rich source of antique furniture, with owners having little to no knowledge of the true value of their property. It isn't long before he's fleecing them of their heirlooms and making a handsome profit when he gts back to the smoke with his treasures.
On one visit, he needs all his cunning and guile to convince a father and son that the original Chippendale they have in their sitting room (and coated with white emulsion) is worth less than good firewood.
It's a perfect example of Dahl's taut, obscenely misanthropic storytelling. You know it's just a story, but when the inevitable ending becomes clear - about six or seven pages from the end - your heart sinks and you will it to be something different.
A classy collection of storytelling, if you're facing a long train, plane or automobile journey this weekend - it's worth getting a copy of this (you'll find Dahl anthologies in all good bookshops, etc) and the trip will probably fly by.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »