My experience with Roald Dahl

I was introduced to Roald Dahl for the very first time by a very close friend of mine, Arjun. He had spoken about how Dahl had captivated him right from the first story he had begun with. Being very impressed I about this author I tried to take a pick at it and landed up getting a copy of his collection of short stories called “The wonderful story of Henry Sugar and Six More”.

Having read notable authors liked Sidney Sheldon, Fredrick Forsyth, Dan Brown etc, it was different coming across an author like Dahl. He is of a different league all together. 

First look:   On reading the first chapter, I realized that Dahl used simple English. He made the reader feel exactly what he wished to convey. He keeps you hooked to the story and you keep guessing as to what is going to happen next. In this particular story what held me through was the depth in which he had narrated the entire story.

Characterization: The characters were well portrayed and you would feel you must have met people with such characteristics atleast somewhere in your day to day life. For example when I read about Henry Sugar, I pictured him as a wealthy millionaire who spent his days gambling, someone very similar to what they show in movies. The way the story takes you from the beautiful European terrain to the streets of Bombay (Mumbai) is marvellous.

Imhrat Khan: Imhrat Khan is another character in the story that you would love. He reminded me of the circus artists, some of whom we must have come across as kids. The lesson that Henry learns by just reading an article on Imhrat Khan is worth a read.  Be prepared to be loomed by the Yogis in India and the powers that they possess. It kind of held me on as an Indian. I felt drawn to the story all the more. (You feel a sense of pridewhen you read something written about your country).The story of the Yogis in India was something new to me, something that reminded me of the character of Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid.

The Pre-Climax: I was impressed with the way Dahl writes about his plan to run to the climax of the story. He talks about a few possibilities that he could have chosen to end this work of fiction. He lists them out in bullet points and every point seems to be something that every reader would presume to have happened to Henry. But Raold ends his story with the truth. That was when I realized that this story was not a work of Fiction but it was a true story. Dahl plays around the reader’s mind by bringing him or her to a stage where he or she could define the end which as you think is not the climax to the story.

Lesson Learnt: The story of Henry Sugar teaches everyone one single lesson which is nothing but “Achievement of Inner Peace”. Henry Sugar achieved the mysterious powers to read through playing cards and win at gambling but the true peace that he achieved was when he through the money that he had earned  to the by standers outside his building.

Hold on this is not the end to it. What Henry Sugar then does is what you must read to find out.

I would surely rate this story as one of my favourite reads. I am sure you would want to try your hands on Roald Dahl’s other books and stories as well. 

Happy reading !!

 ***********************************************************************************************This post is written as a part of Write Tribe Pro Blogger. 

Well it's true that creativity takes a lot of courage.