Someone Like You [Hardcover]

Roald Dahl (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Knopf, 1969 (1969)
• ASIN: B001FQ015C
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,310,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Llandaff, South Wales, and went to Repton School in England. His parents were Norwegian, so holidays were spent in Norway. As he explains in Boy, he turned down the idea of university in favor of a job that would take him to"a wonderful faraway place. In 1933 he joined the Shell Company, which sent him to Mombasa in East Africa. When World War II began in 1939 he became a fighter pilot and in 1942 was made assistant air attaché in Washington, where he started to write short stories. His first major success as a writer for children was in 1964. Thereafter his children's books brought him increasing popularity, and when he died children mourned the world over, particularly in Britain where he had lived for many years.The BFG is dedicated to the memory of Roald Dahls eldest daughter, Olivia, who died from measles when she was seven - the same age at which his sister had died (fron appendicitis) over forty years before. Quentin Blake, the first Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom, has illustrated most of Roald Dahl's children's books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the wait!, February 24, 2003

By 

jon mischke (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Someone Like You (Hardcover)

I read this book ten years ago on a trip to Spain (it was the only english book I could find at the place where I was staying). I forgot to write down the author or the title before leaving, and it killed me when I got home and I remembered all these wonderful stories almost word for word, but couldn't for the life of me find the book.

Well, after ten years of casually searching I finaly decided to buckle down, do some hard research (should say something about the book that it stayed in my head for ten years), and I ended up finding it. Who would've thought, classic children's story author Roald Dahl was capable of writing such twisted, engaging stories as those contained in "Someone Like You?"

Anyway... I love it, and I'm so glad I finally have it. Hopefully you'll enjoy it too!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Disturbing, Always Delightful Dahl, October 4, 2009

By 

BreitBooks (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Someone Like You (Paperback)

Since I was a ten year old book worm falling in love with Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, the BFG, Charlie... I have had but the greatest respect for a storyteller capable of such utterly captivating, magical, darkly delicious stories. As an adult, many years after the passing of a legendary author, it is a treasure to find a collection I didn't get my hands on when I was younger. May the strange, sometimes disturbing and very odd works of this author never get lost in the shuffle. I was fortunate enough to come upon a 1954 hardback version which is what my rating is based on. Overall majestic, captivating, this collection of schort stories is a treat to read. Highly recommended for any fans of Roald's other works.

A breakdown of the stories and applicable comments and summaries (without giving away any plot):

1)TASTE- 4/5. A famous gourmet and wine expert is a guest for dinner at the home of an eager man and his family. A satisfying twist ending sets the stage for the type of stories that are characteristic of Roald Dahl's short stories.

2)LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER- 5/5. A husband comes home from work and delivers some unpleasant news to his wife. Events unravel that include a dead body, whiskey, an investigation, and a hot home cooked meal. This is right up Alfred Hitchcock's alley (and turns out, it is!)

3)MAN FROM THE SOUTH- 5/5. An old man and a young boy place a hefty wager on a silly bet. This one had me gasping in suspense.

4)THE SOLDIER- 4/5. A definite Twilight Zone feel. A soldier dealing with some post-traumatic issues. Leaves the reader wondering what was real and what was not.

5)MY LADY LOVE, MY DOVE- 4/5. A little more freaky than some o the others, a pushover husband is convinced to wire a tap to their guest bedroom. A game of cards and an interesting ending leaves the reader wondering.

6)DIP IN THE POOL- 5/5. Genuinely funny in a twisted way, a man bets more than he bargained for when his bet isn't as sure as he thought it was.

7)GALLOPING FOXLEY- 2/5. Odd and disturbing. A man on a subway car recollects memories of physical abuse as a boy at boarding school. A satisfying ending, but too graphic and disturbing for my tastes.

8)SKIN- 5/5. A tattoo from a drunken night in younger years turns out to be nearly priceless when the man is in his older years and is offered a tempting proposition. My favorite ending of all the stories in this collection.

9)POISON- 3/5. A man fears there is a poisonous creature in his bed. Certainly not Dahl's best work. Entertaining, but lacking substance.

10)THE WISH- 3/5. A scab, a young boy's make believe game, a birthday, a wish, and Mom. Fascinating how Dahl can begin and end with scenes so seemingly unrelated to the middle and yet make it flow. Although it doesn't make sense in the conventional way, this story is intriguing and beautiful in Dahl's carefully constructed descriptions.

11)NECK- 3/5. A man is a guest in a large mansion with some eccentric characters. The reader is kept wondering how much about the characters we really know.

12)THE SOUND MACHINE- 4/5 The oddest by far of all the stories in this collection. A man creates a machine to hear high frequency sounds that are ordinarily out of human decibel range, including those made by nature.

13)NUNC DIMITTIS- 5/5. Personally my favorite story of this collection. A man is irked to find that a woman he had been dating said some unkindly things about him to his friends. He engages in an intricate plot for revenge. A delicious, lip-smacking ending!

14)THE GREAT AUTOMATIC GRAMMATISATOR- 5/5. A genius creates a machine that uses mathematical principles to create an automatic story generating machine. Dahl reveals a little of his own experience and point of view in this one. Very intriguing and expertly written.

15)CLAUD'S DOG: The Ratcatcher- 4/5. A ratcatcher shows a customer his methods of catching the rats, and a skin crawling outcome of a bet.

16)CLAUD'S DOG: Rummins-2/5. Bails of hay, a farmer, rats, a dog, and a mystery ending. Overall failed to captivate.

17)CLAUD'S DOG: Mr. Hoddy- 4/5. A man attempts to impress (much to her dismay), his girlfriend's father with a unique business plan.

18)CLAUD'S DOG: Mr. Feasley- 3/5. The longest of all the stories in this collection, but not the best. Many descriptions of animal abuse in dog racing. A competition, a trick, and a lesson.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories with a twist, July 27, 2000

By 

Owen Hughes (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Someone Like You (Hardcover)

Roald Dahl is of Norwegian parentage but grew up in England and wrote extensively in English. Over the years he has published a number of collections of short stories, a genre in which he excels. His stories are not always macabre, but they invariably have a twist, making them unforgettable many years later.

Some of them, it is true, may have you writhing slightly, but even so, you will appreciate the intention, as well as the finesse. There are so many good writers around, it's hard to get to them all, but it's worth finding "Someone Like You" for a number of reasons. First of all, you might like Dahl, in which case you'll be set for quite a while (as long as you can find his books). Secondly, he is a technical wizard (in one of his stories, concerning a wordsmith, he discusses some of the aspects of the very wizardry he practices) and you should have a look at that side of him. He should not be out of print - he deserves better. There's no doubt in my mind that we'll be reading Dahl for many years to come, if we've got any sense.