To bring you these pieces on writers and their books, I prowl the Web promiscuously, poking my nose into media garbage cans - old and salacious news articles about their lives - and pedantic prose about their professional prowess. So, what you will find below is an attempt at outright voyeurism, parading as an exercise in punditry. Or vice versa.
Roald Dahl's life and career read almost as engrossingly as any story of his. Not only was some ancestor of his gruesomely executed or something of the sort, one of his children met with a frightful and almost fatal accident at a tender age. It is the way these varied experiences hue his writings that bring us pleasure. And then there's his background as war pilot, and even as spy.
The storyteller weaves from the threads of experience. Tragedies Dahl encountered in the course of his life shaped his tales. More fascinating, however, is the fact that his celebrated inventiveness was not exclusive to words. To counter his son's medical condition, he is credited with creating a device to drain brain fluids, as you will read in the links given under Browse.
All authors are wordsmiths. Many even forge new terms. Dahl does that with delightful dexterity. There is much evidence in his creations of his engagement with language and its use. The best way to learn how this master of the craft wields his talent is to read his writings.
When I came across Roald Dahl for kids in my thirties, I had already read some of his short stories for adults, years earlier. Those were like dark chocolates - with absinthe fillings...
Televised versions of some of Roald Dahl's short stories on Youtube:
Great authors are generally prolific and Dahl has an output of nearly fifty published works including stories for children and adults, as well as some scripts and screenplays.
At roalddahlfans.com, you will find a fabulous annotated list of his stories.
Surely his years as pilot and in espionage lent colour to his tales:
Writers of worth have a way of sublimating the unpleasant by internalising experience and outputting excellence. Dahl engaged with the world around him to entertain us, lightening life's heavy load.
That's not all. The medical conditions of his family were grist to his mill but it is not fair to say that he exploited them. The regurgitations of those sad events in his words must surely have cheered up a lot of invalids around the world.
It is rather more than a pity that Roald Dahl is dead and gone but nothing of his is there for us, for free. Do we really do any good by fattening publishers, spouses or descendents of deceased authors? None of Dahl's surviving close family seem to have liked him so much, after all. Of course, there is my friend who says that it is, perhaps, good that he is not freely available. I do not agree - all that there is to be read should be accessible without cost to all. The human animal requires all existing information to grow in excellence as a species.
Roald Dahl's life and career read almost as engrossingly as any story of his. Not only was some ancestor of his gruesomely executed or something of the sort, one of his children met with a frightful and almost fatal accident at a tender age. It is the way these varied experiences hue his writings that bring us pleasure. And then there's his background as war pilot, and even as spy.
The storyteller weaves from the threads of experience. Tragedies Dahl encountered in the course of his life shaped his tales. More fascinating, however, is the fact that his celebrated inventiveness was not exclusive to words. To counter his son's medical condition, he is credited with creating a device to drain brain fluids, as you will read in the links given under Browse.
All authors are wordsmiths. Many even forge new terms. Dahl does that with delightful dexterity. There is much evidence in his creations of his engagement with language and its use. The best way to learn how this master of the craft wields his talent is to read his writings.
When I came across Roald Dahl for kids in my thirties, I had already read some of his short stories for adults, years earlier. Those were like dark chocolates - with absinthe fillings...
Read
Dahl's terse tense Poison is classic
As is the delectable Skin
Watch
Televised versions of some of Roald Dahl's short stories on Youtube:
Lamb to the Slaughter (1979)
There are a whole lot of them, there, titled Tales of the Unexpected.
The Man made Mythical Monsters
To some in his life, as is true for all of us, the man was a monster. Though it is true that there is a guide book for stroke patients that was made with his help, he was extremely harsh to his wife whom he nursed through her convalescence. The silver lining, here, was not only her rapid recovery (perhaps due to his bullying?) but the sparkle of some of his fantabulous vocabulary. It is claimed that his wife's garbled stroke induced speech stimulated some of that brilliant output of his.
It is reported that he had a bitter childhood. That could explain his nature in person as well as the warped weft of his creations. It is easy, in perspective, to make myths of molehills in a master's life. Perhaps it's better to try and enjoy the work before seeking to enhance it with dubious information about the person.
What is undeniable is that it is no myth that the man moulded many a marvellous monster!
It is reported that he had a bitter childhood. That could explain his nature in person as well as the warped weft of his creations. It is easy, in perspective, to make myths of molehills in a master's life. Perhaps it's better to try and enjoy the work before seeking to enhance it with dubious information about the person.
What is undeniable is that it is no myth that the man moulded many a marvellous monster!
Browse
At roalddahlfans.com, you will find a fabulous annotated list of his stories.
Surely his years as pilot and in espionage lent colour to his tales:
While his books mostly make us merry - albeit with macabre strokes, Dahl's own life is punctuated by tragedy:
That's not all. The medical conditions of his family were grist to his mill but it is not fair to say that he exploited them. The regurgitations of those sad events in his words must surely have cheered up a lot of invalids around the world.
However, this is not the only benefit he brought to the world. He used his marvellous genius to invent something to help his own child and that gadget now brings relief to other patients around the world.
This inventiveness is clear in his writings.
My Usual Sour Tippani:
While Dahl retains some popularity, the author we tackle tomorrow has suffered more gravely.
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