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.
January 11th, 2005 at 09:50
Hrm that’s a new one to me as well, never heard of that collection.
Lately, I’ve been wondering whatever happened to Donald J. Sobol, the guy who wrote the Encyclopedia Brown books. Did he die? Did he write any more books? Is Bugs Meany behind his disappearance?
January 11th, 2005 at 19:56
Dunno. I read the Encyclopedia books but wasn’t a big fan. I never understood why Bugs Meany just didn’t destroy Encyclopedia Brown and that butchy girl. He was the leader of The Tigers (or something like that). He’s in organized crime! He gets foiled by a nerd who operates out of his parents’ garage. That’s just sad
January 12th, 2005 at 05:44
Encyclopedia’s dad was the town police chief. That was probably more of a deterrent than being beat up by a 10 year old lesbian.
January 12th, 2005 at 06:01
A police chief who was letting kids do his job. I bet that guy was drunk all day.
January 12th, 2005 at 08:45
No, he was probably eating donuts all day and getting paid off by the Tigers.
January 12th, 2005 at 16:57
Where would the Tigers come up with that funding? They’re always stealing useless things like yo-yos and antique doorknobs and the like.
January 13th, 2005 at 04:05
Obviously you guys haven’t read vol. 69 “Encyclopedia Brown and the case of the missing key o’ yayo” (check urbandictionary.com for “yayo” and “key” if you’re not down with the urban lingo)
January 13th, 2005 at 09:45
Justin, have you ever tried a bit of yayo before?
January 13th, 2005 at 12:07
Nope, but I listen to enough Snoop to know
January 13th, 2005 at 19:54
Glad to see you’re keeping it real.
January 14th, 2005 at 06:45
Yayo is fun if you enjoy having a runny nose and tasting the most bitter, vile shit when snot runs down your throat.