Roald Dahl

From Roald Dahl, the master of the sting in the tail, a newly collected book of his darkest stories. In war, are we at our heroic best or our cowardly worst? Featuring the autobiographical stories from Roald Dahl's time as a fighter pilot in the Second World War as well as seven other tales of conflict and strife, Dahl reveals the human side of our most inhumane activity. Among other stories, you'll read about the pilot shot down in the Libyan desert, the fighter plane that vanishes inside a mysterious thick white cloud and the soldier who returns from war but has been shockingly changed by his experiences. Roald Dahl reveals even more about the darker side of human nature in seven other centenary editions: Lust, Madness, Cruelty, Deception, Trickery, Innocence and Fear.

"It is a fact, and I verified it carefully later, that out of those sixteen, no fewer than thirteen were killed in the air within the next two years." - Roald Dahl 

It's not easy for an RAF pilot to survive WW2. What about a compelling storyteller that happened to be an RAF pilot who survived WW2? That's rare. 

I was already looking forward to reading "Going Solo" and was amazed by the backstory of Dahl's first published work "A Piece of Cake" from his autobiography "Boy". That's one of the reasons that got me interested in picking up this book right after finishing "Boy". "Going Solo" surely did not disappoint. 

I liked a couple of the other stories but I did not enjoy reading them as much as "Going Solo". It's truly fascinating to read about his story of becoming an RAF pilot, and narrating the fighter planes in action during WW2. 

I'm a little sad to have finished both of Dahl's autobiographies, I'm looking forward to finishing the rest of Dahl's Penguin collection of short stories that I've yet to read. 

Ash Hoe

"It is a fact, and I verified it carefully later, that out of those sixteen, no fewer than thirteen were killed in the air within the next two years." - Roald Dahl 

It's not easy for an RAF pilot to survive WW2. What about a compelling storyteller that happened to be an RAF pilot who survived WW2? That's rare. 

I was already looking forward to reading "Going Solo" and was amazed by the backstory of Dahl's first published work "A Piece of Cake" from his autobiography "Boy". That's one of the reasons that got me interested in picking up this book right after finishing "Boy". "Going Solo" surely did not disappoint. 

I liked a couple of the other stories but I did not enjoy reading them as much as "Going Solo". It's truly fascinating to read about his story of becoming an RAF pilot, and narrating the fighter planes in action during WW2. 

I'm a little sad to have finished both of Dahl's autobiographies, I'm looking forward to finishing the rest of Dahl's Penguin collection of short stories that I've yet to read. 

War

Reviews