Roald Dahl
January 11, 2005
I was perusing in the book store near work and discovered they had included actual English books in their English section. Previously, they had a bunch of books about learning English so you know none of them had any actual English in them. They did have some shitty manga that had been translated. I digress.
I found a book by my all-time favourite author, Roald Dahl. Not only had I found a book by him but it was a book that I had never read! The Umbrella Man is a compilation of short stories that was priced reasonably at 955 yen. I did not hesitate to pick it up. I don’t need to write how good this book is because every word written by this literary genius is amazingly wonderful. I’m halfway through it and it’s already replaced the book I was currently reading. His books were an essential part of my childhood.
By the age of 12, I was pretty sure I had found every book ever written by him (that was available in the elementary school library and three public libraries that I went to). I was aware of a few titles that I couldn’t find, such as the Revolting Rhymes and a book called something something Vicar. The point is, I thought I had a good idea of what he had written before his death in 1990.
Since one book’s been found, I’m sure there are plenty more stuff by him that I haven’t read. At his official site, there’s a big list of stuff I’ve never even heard of. I knew he had written some adult-oriented material (nothing gross but just not for kids). I think I’m going to have to start a Dahl collection in my bookcase. I’m pretty sure I still have about half a dozen of his books back in Vancouver somewhere.
