The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar (And Six More)

I was extremely thrilled to lay my hands on Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar (And Six More) some time ago, and began reading it immediately, leaving all the other books that I was reading aside. I am glad I read this book. I absolutely loved it. But then, Roald Dahl has never really disappointed. 🙂

This book does not strictly fit into the category of Roald Dahl’s books for children, though it can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. The back cover says the book is meant for the 10+ age group.

There are six stories in the book, in addition to the eponymous The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar, all of them beautiful and imaginative, and typically Dahl-esque.

• The Boy Who Talked With Animals is the story of a little boy who gets all het up on witnessing some fishermen catch a giant turtle on a beach and sell it to a hotel (to be cooked and served as lunch or dinner to the guests). The boy’s parents manage to buy the turtle from the fishermen and set it free, considering that their child is very sensitive about animals. The end of this story is lovely.
• The Hitch-hiker is the story of a well-to-do writer who offers a hitch-hiker a lift in his luxury car. They bond over the course of the journey, and the hitch-hiker tells the writer about the special talent that he possesses. A very interesting story.
• The Mildenhall Treasure is the story of a treasure found by two farmers in the English county of Suffolk in 1942. What is interesting is that it is a real-life story. Dahl met one of these farmers personally, and took notes on how they came about the treasure and what happened to it afterwards. This was my most favourite story in the entire collection.
• The Swan is the most twisted and disturbing story of the lot. It is about two school kids who decide to bully a timid classmate of theirs, and how the small kid stands up to all of it.
• The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar is the story of a man who decides to earn a fortune by looting the casinos of the world. It is sort of a modern-day Robin Hood story, and it very interesting to read.
• Lucky Break, again, is a real-life story. It is the tale of how Dahl got his lucky break as a writer. In the story, Dahl writes of how it was never his intention to become a writer (all thanks to the discouragement that he got from his school teachers), and how he got to writing his first story, and then went on writing (thank God for that!).
• A Piece Of Cake is the first story that Dahl wrote in his career as a writer. It is a real-life story about his experiences as a fighter pilot in World War II. This one is quite a disturbing read as well.

A lovely book, that I am sure everyone will enjoy. Grab it now!