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At only 127 pages More Tales of the
Unexpected doesn't offer as larger a slice of Dahl's fiction as it
predecessor does. The nine short stories that make up the pages
are:
Poison
This story is set in India.
Timber arrives home his friend Harry calls him into the bedroom. Harry
doesn't look too good. He isn't ill though, a deadly snake has found its
way underneath the covers with him. In fact the snake, a krait, is still
lying on the poor man's stomach.
The Sound Machine
Mr Klausner has
invented a very special machine. It allows him to hear sounds that are so
high pitched that they would never be, in ordinary circumstances, audible
to the human ear. Perhaps, though, there are things that it is best
to remain in ignorance about.
Georgy Porgy
George isn't
comfortable around women, but they seem always to be chasing him. Even the
fact that he is a man of the cloth doesn't seem to offer much protection
for him against their advances. Perhaps if George's mother had lived a
little longer than she did, things would have turned out differently for
him.
Genesis and Catastrophe
After
already having lost all three of her children within the last 18 months, a
mother prays that the child she has just given birth to will be stronger
than its siblings were.
The Hitch-hiker
It is sound advice
that one should never pick up hitch-hikers. This is the story of a man who
doesn't take that advice and the hitch-hiker that he picks up has a rather
unusual talent.
The Umbrella Man
This is the story
of a mother and daughter's encounter with an old man in the rain. The man
has a problem. He also has a particularly fine umbrella.
Mr Botibol
In the first Tales of the Unexpected book there
is a character called Mr Botibol (Dip in the Pool). Botibol is such an
unusual name that I thought that this story must surely be about the same
person, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The Mr Botibol in this
story is such an extremely strange looking man that it cannot be the same
person. Mr Botibol is, as well as being strange looking, a very unhappy
man. In the end he tries to find happiness in music, but in a rather
strange way.
Vengence Is Mine Inc
Not a story of
revenge, but, instead, a story of two people that come up with a rather
unusual idea to make some money.
The Butler
At less than 4 pages
long The Butler is the shortest story in the book. It is a highly
entertaining story though. Two things came to mind when I read this little
gem: taste is something that no amount of money can buy, and people should
be careful who they trust.
Out of these nine tales my two favourites are
The Umbrella Man and The Butler. Both are subtly amusing
and quite light-hearted reads.
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