The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl (1977)

Posted on 2022-05-12 by thelittleman

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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The World’s Most Scrumdiddlyumptious Storyteller

There probably aren’t too many adults out there in the Western world who haven’t experienced at one time or another the wacky imagination of Roald Dahl. Perhaps his most popular works of fiction, those about Charley and his Chocolate Factory, became ever more iconic films than were the books themselves. Who can’t picture Willy Wonka in his purple suit and hat? Bet you just did!

Growing up, I’d never read any of Dahl’s books, but I knew the film adaptations well. In fact, I recall being floored at age 13 by Disney’s adaptation of James and the Giant Peach, an animation style akin to The Nightmare before Christmas which just expanded my mind to the possibilities of what live-action-styled animation possessed (this was before computer-animated movies were any good, by the way).

Now that I’m old and have kids of my own, though, I thought I’d try out some of Dahl’s short stories with this book, one I’d never heard of before. This collection of 7 stories is for adults as much as kids, and I’m actually glad I didn’t read all of them aloud to my kids (especially “The Swan”).

As I like to do with other short-story collections, I’m sharing what initial thoughts I had about each tale immediately after I read it, story-by-story. Most were elegant accounts touched with a hint of magic, as you’ll see, and they each reminded me of why I love short stories so much. When handled correctly, they bring me into new worlds, for just a moment, worlds which need no further explanation than what the expert author provides. I feel like I’ve been there my whole life, yet before I know it, the story is over. I love getting lost in these things, and I love even more that I needn’t wait too long for the payoff. OK, enough chit-chat.

1. “The Boy Who Talked with Animals”
Even if I once read something of Dahl’s in passing years ago, I don’t recall it, so I’m calling this story my first-ever taste of a Roald Dahl story, an author I’ve long wanted to read. He writes this story from a first-person perspective, a Brit vacationing in Jamaica and witnessing an incredible event on the beach. A massive old sea turtle lies upside down on the beach, caught by a fisherman, sold to a hotel, and gawked at by a crowd of vacationers. As they discuss how tasty its steaks will be and how much his shell will go for, a child runs up shrieking for the reptile’s life. The onlookers are shocked by the animal’s docility when the child clings to its neck and whispers, but they’re not quite prepared for what happens then and the following day. The story felt almost plausibly true, as if Dahl hazily recalled an account of an island child somewhere in the papers a few decades before but had to use his imagination to fill in the blanks. An incredible imagination it was, and this story was a great way to start.

2. “The Hitchhiker”
Another tale told in the first-person, a glimpse into Dahl’s recent “memories.” Here he picks up a hitchhiker who convinces him to test the power of his BMW sportscar, much to the chagrin of the policeman who stops him going 120mph. Dahl’s real focus in this story is his own attempts at discovering the hitchhiker’s job, and the hitchhiker prefers to show him rather than tell him. “The secret of life,” he said, “is to become very very good at something’ that’s very very ‘ard to do.” (29) Again, this story was realism threaded with magic, an enjoyable foray into the author’s imagination.

3. “The Mildenhall Treasure”
As a metal detectorist, I found this short article intoxicating. Poor Mr. Butcher didn’t know what he had, and slimy old Mr. Ford nearly took it all. But this story—a true account that you can blimy well Google—wasn’t so much a treasure-hunting tale (as might be The Curse of Oak Island) as it was a right-place-right-time affair. But still, what a find! I imagine I’ll be seeing giant silver saucers and trays in my dreams tonight, and it put scenes from The Detectorists into better context for me (I’ve never been to Europe at all, let alone the British Isles). This is definitely my favorite story of the lot (bound to be) and an inspiring tale I’m sharing with my metal Detecting groups on Facebook.

4. “The Swan”
In all honesty, I hated this story. Well-written, sure, but gut-turning in its ferocity, it’s a miserable tale that makes you sort of hate humanity. I’ve never been bullied, and although I teased a few kids in school, I was generally one to come to the defense of someone getting picked on. This story of hooligans is so far out of my lived experience that it’s hard to accept as real, yet I know it is for many. People like this exist. Jerks like this really do torture others who are smaller and younger and weaker than themselves, and the bullied really do wish they could just fly away from it all. It’s a painful story and one that I’m glad is over.

5. “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”
This titular tale is the longest of the lot and supposedly a true story. Henry Sugar (a pseudonym) is a wealthy fella whose time is spent buying whatever he pleases and gambling his ridiculous wealth away with his just-as-snobbish friends. When perusing the library of a friend’s father one day, he comes across a hand-written account by a medical doctor in Bombay of an Indian fellow named Ihmrat Khan, a man who can see without using his eyes. Inspired by the account of this yogi, Henry commits years of his life to perfecting this art himself, this manipulation of the senses. Forgoing all his social contacts and activities, he trains himself to see through a deck of cards in order to know what’s coming next, so he can run the casinos and build his wealth even more. What he finds, however is that gambling no longer inspires him now that he knows he will win, and he gives up his gift as a waste of time. That is, until a policeman scolds him for his carelessness and inspires him toward a new and even nobler course. I read this story aloud to my kids (unsure if it would be a miserable a story as the last), and they loved every minute of it. This was a grand and memorable tale and has applications to life, namely using one’s gifts for the betterment of those in need. It’s a modern Robinhood tale with that hint of magic that marks a Roald Dahl story. Apparently, it’s also soon going to be a Wes Anderson film, so who can complain about that?

6. “Lucky Break: How I Became a Writer”
This story made me fall in love with Roald Dahl. Only his third nonfiction story ever (the other two are in this book as well), he recounts his childhood at boarding schools, which reminded me of the writings of C.S. Lewis. He shares his time following school, wandering the world and in the military in Africa, which somehow reminded me of Louis L’Amour’s own wanderings years. He also tells of his chance meeting with famed author C.S. Forester in DC which sparked Dahl’s own writing career. Overall, this was a fantastic account filled with insights into writing like the following quotes I underlined:

There are two distinct sides of a writer of fiction. First, there is the side he displays to the public, that of an ordinary person like anyone else, a person who does ordinary language. Second, there is the secret side, which comes out in him only after he has closed the door of his workroom and is completely alone. It is then that he slips into another world altogether, a world where his imagination takes over and he finds himself actually living in the places he is writing about at that moment. (196)

Good original plots are very hard to come by. You never know when a lovely idea is going to flit suddenly into your mind, but by golly, when it does come along, you grab it with both hands and hang on to it tight. The trick is to write it down at once, otherwise you’ll forget it. A good plot is like a dream. If you don’t write down your dream on paper the moment you wake up, the chances are you’ll forget it, and it’ll be gone forever. (203)

7. “A Piece of Cake” (first story, 1942)
This first story Roald Dahl ever wrote was one that was to be just the notes of an experience that C.S. Forrester would then adapt into a story for The Saturday Evening Post. Forrester recognized Dahl’s talent immediately and submitted the story as-is. The Post bought it, and so began Dahl’s writing career. This story of his, as a pilot being shot down by the Germans in Africa, was to give America a taste of the war into which they had recently entered. It’s dreamlike, the hallucinations of a man recovering in hospital. It’s raw and real and a fantastically unique glimpse into the experiences of war from a survivor’s hospital bed.

I’ve loved reading these stories by Roald Dahl, and my kids have loved listening to several of them too. I look forward to reading Someone Like You, which I’m pretty sure won’t have much in it fit for kids. But we’ll see.

©2022 E.T.

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