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75th out of 1,192 books
—
891 voters
Kiss Kiss
by
Roald Dahl
In these wickedly anarchic stories, Dahl explores the dark, sinister side of the psyche: the cunning, sly, selfish part of human nature that makes for unexpected outcomes and horrifying conclusions.
Paperback, 231 pages
Published
October 26th 1987
by Penguin Books
(first published 1959)
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Though this books of Dahl's short stories is missing some of my favorites (like the one about the eavesdropping card-playing couples and the one with the frozen leg of lamb), it has many of Dahl's best. From a father who feeds his baby enormous quantities of royal jelly, to a nervous hyper-punctual housewife who exacts a seemingly innocent revenge on her passive aggressive husband, these stories are twisted, surprising and never overdone. The stories have just the sort of Professor Plum, crackli...more
Kas te teadsite, et Alfred Hitchcocki poolt kuulsaks filmitud ja hiljem Quentin Tarantino poolt filmis “Neli tuba” lausa kultuslikuks põlistatud lugu mehest, kes välgumihkli süttimise ja sõrmede maharaiumise peale kihla veab, on kirjutanud tuntud lastekirjanik Roald Dahl?
Jah. Kuigi Eesti lugejale on Roald Dahl senini olnud kindlasti rohkem tuntud kui suurepärane lastekirjanik, on tõeliselt tänuväärne, et nüüd on lugejani jõudnud ka esimene valimik Dahli täiskasvanutele kirjutatud jubejutte – nee...more
Jah. Kuigi Eesti lugejale on Roald Dahl senini olnud kindlasti rohkem tuntud kui suurepärane lastekirjanik, on tõeliselt tänuväärne, et nüüd on lugejani jõudnud ka esimene valimik Dahli täiskasvanutele kirjutatud jubejutte – nee...more
Roald Dahl is, needless to say, best known as the author of books for children. This collection of short stories is easy on the whizzpopping, frumpets, and strawbunkies, but his subtly sinister grown-up world is equally enthralling.
The beauty of Dahl's short stories is his innate talent for saying the most when he says nothing at all. Massive chunks of story line are told through every ellipsis, of which there are many. Rather than telling you exactly what is happening, Dahl creates the setting,...more
The beauty of Dahl's short stories is his innate talent for saying the most when he says nothing at all. Massive chunks of story line are told through every ellipsis, of which there are many. Rather than telling you exactly what is happening, Dahl creates the setting,...more
Roald Dahl is, undisputably, a great writer. It's nearly impossible to feel bored when reading his work, be it his memoir, children book, or adult short story. And Kiss Kiss just showed me another side of his writings.
I didn't look for the synopsis when I downloaded it, so knowing that it contains a story titled "William and Mary" I just thought that it would be a romantic anthology. Boy, was I wrong! The first story, "The Landlady", felt like an Edgar Allan Poe. Reading the next stories, "Willi...more
I didn't look for the synopsis when I downloaded it, so knowing that it contains a story titled "William and Mary" I just thought that it would be a romantic anthology. Boy, was I wrong! The first story, "The Landlady", felt like an Edgar Allan Poe. Reading the next stories, "Willi...more
Es gefällt!
Roald Dahl (ich bin der Meinung, dem Mann fehlt eindeutig ein "n") hat schon einen fiesen Humor. Es ist anstrengend, die Geschichten anzufangen, weil die erste Seite immer etwas träge daher kommt; doch bereits nach der ersten Story weiß man, wieso man es gelesen hat. Als Leser kann man sich da manchmal nur geschockt die Hand vor den Mund halten oder insgeheim schadenfroh in sich hineinlachen.
Für Erstleser ist das Buch mittelgut aufgebaut: Die Geschichten fangen stark an und werden zum...more
Roald Dahl (ich bin der Meinung, dem Mann fehlt eindeutig ein "n") hat schon einen fiesen Humor. Es ist anstrengend, die Geschichten anzufangen, weil die erste Seite immer etwas träge daher kommt; doch bereits nach der ersten Story weiß man, wieso man es gelesen hat. Als Leser kann man sich da manchmal nur geschockt die Hand vor den Mund halten oder insgeheim schadenfroh in sich hineinlachen.
Für Erstleser ist das Buch mittelgut aufgebaut: Die Geschichten fangen stark an und werden zum...more
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1959
For once, I thought the Goodreads summary hit the nail on the head:
"In these wickedly anarchic stories, Dahl explores the dark, sinister side of the psyche: the cunning, sly, selfish part of human nature that makes for unexpected outcomes and horrifying conclusions."
A LIbrary Thing reader: "Filled with black humor and irony, these stories tackle subjects from con-artists to cheating spouses to pheasant poachers. Most of the stories have surprise endings, usually involving the bad guy getting...more
For once, I thought the Goodreads summary hit the nail on the head:
"In these wickedly anarchic stories, Dahl explores the dark, sinister side of the psyche: the cunning, sly, selfish part of human nature that makes for unexpected outcomes and horrifying conclusions."
A LIbrary Thing reader: "Filled with black humor and irony, these stories tackle subjects from con-artists to cheating spouses to pheasant poachers. Most of the stories have surprise endings, usually involving the bad guy getting...more
There's a quiet zaniness that runs through the lot of these stories. Most of them are crisp, surprising and smoothly written at every turn. Dahl-licious one might say.
The Landlady >> "There is nothing more tantalizing than a thing which lingers just outside the borders of one's memory." A teenage boy finds himself assigned to Bath and decided to check into a Bed & Breakfast where he was welcomed by a nice (even if slightly dotty) old woman. He starts to wonder why no one else has...more
The Landlady >> "There is nothing more tantalizing than a thing which lingers just outside the borders of one's memory." A teenage boy finds himself assigned to Bath and decided to check into a Bed & Breakfast where he was welcomed by a nice (even if slightly dotty) old woman. He starts to wonder why no one else has...more
I found my copy of Roald Dahl's Kiss Kiss in a second hand bookshop in Kathmandu. I was looking for something to kill time while I rode atop a colourful and noisy bus towards the Southern part of the country. The book, although it's a skinny example, brought me hours of pleasure, watching how all kinds of extraordinary people got themselves in and out of all kinds of extraordinary trouble. Yes, watching - not reading. Dahl's magic is in that everything comes to life, because of the perfect balan...more
This was one of the first English language books I read in my teens, and I found it amazing! When going back to it later in my life, it was maybe not that amazing that I felt it was at 15 -thus the 4 stars only :-) But the concept is tempting, it leaves you wondering what really happened and I lived with that book for many many years, it was SO strongly affecting my mind. It even came to my real life: I found myself thinking in various situations what kind of continuation possibilities it would...more
As a lifelong lover of anything Dahl, I plunged happily in to the re-published version of this book, only to find a mixed bag of stories. Some of these are really brilliant (The Landlady), but others just feel a bit uninspired and staid. I can't help feeling that maybe the publisher should have selected a wider variety of stories as after a while it felt a bit like reading a variation on the same theme... I wish I could rate the stories individually because there really are some gems in here, b...more
Roald Dahl was recommended to me as one of the best writers of short stories by the tutor at the creative writing classes I recently attended, so I picked up this volume at the library. Without exception, every story in the volume is based on original, if unusual and macabre, ideas, which justify the well-known TV adaptation description of 'Tales of the Unexpected'. The reason I haven't rated the book higher, however, is that sometimes, I felt that the outcome of the story was obvious too soon,...more
This is a fun book of short stories for adults by Roald Dahl. Many of them originally appeared in the New Yorker. As with many compilations of stories, the author's themes became redundant by the end. Dahl's stories deal with cheating, greed, disobedience and the consequences of these actions. These themes are in many of Dahl's children's literature as well (the greedy kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the mean adults in Matilda do not meet happy ends). Some of Dahl's tales verge on...more
Jun 02, 2009
Urška
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Every adult or at least young adult who likes exploring and reading different kinds of stories.
Shelves:
favourites
Whoa! So great!
A collection of short stories by Roald Dahl. It consists 11 short stories, which show the darkest human side. Some of them need to be rosolved by yourself and if you can't figure them out (like me), this may be helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Kis...
Every sotry ends right when it gets the most interesting, so you are occupied with them for at least one more day. Like I said, I couldn't figure some of them out, so I checked on Wikipedia. I literally started crying when I...more
A collection of short stories by Roald Dahl. It consists 11 short stories, which show the darkest human side. Some of them need to be rosolved by yourself and if you can't figure them out (like me), this may be helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Kis...
Every sotry ends right when it gets the most interesting, so you are occupied with them for at least one more day. Like I said, I couldn't figure some of them out, so I checked on Wikipedia. I literally started crying when I...more
This book reminds me of the duality of reading fiction. It is not only about the characters being described, but also about the reader. Roald Dahl carries a surgeon's kit of tools for cutting away our self-righteous inclinations. He delivers a special kind of justice, the poetic kind. I enjoyed, even revelled, in seeing it happen. But it is never entirely comfortable. He makes us look at what we are. After reading this book, I am seriously considering becoming a vegetarian. Each story finds a ne...more
Love Roald Dahl. Two summers ago I tried to read every short he'd written, but I think I failed. Couldn't find them all, but I loved this book. I love shorts anyhow - a quick read in a day or an hour or less and if it's a good short, it leaves you thinking, wondering, figuring things out that he only implied. I recommend Dahl for readers who want something offbeat, quirky, weird, and yet you can relate to - it's like, this could happen if only...
Then you're off in that little weird world that Da...more
Then you're off in that little weird world that Da...more
My rating hovers between 2 and 3 depending on the story. This was my first reading of Dahl outside his popular children stories, and it was quite a change. His first story "The Landlord" smacked of Edgar Allan Poe. And I very much enjoyed "The Way Up to Heaven." In these stories, Dahl focuses on indirection, which leaves the reader to leave the story imagining what happened or what would happen. For others, the effect seemed too cute or contrived such as "Parson's Pleasure" or "Mrs. Bixby and th...more
Aug 07, 2012
Patrice Sartor
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
quirky-whacked,
stories-multiple
3.5 stars. This is a collection of many odd, slightly twisted stories. The endings are well done, unless you hate it when things are implied more than stated, or when things are left up to your imagination. I liked that part. I also liked the quirkiness of the stories. Still, I wasn't particularly moved by any of the characters or stories, and I failed to feel any connection with them too. That may be somewhat due to the short story nature, since there isn't time to really make a connection...or...more
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Kiss Kiss is a collection of short stories. Roald Dahl actually wrote quite a lot of them, although they tend to be overshadowed by his children’s novels. I am one of the biggest Dahl fans there is, the man was one of the best children’s writers the world has ever seen. The only thing I’ve read by him (apart from his entire catalogue of children’s books) is his autobiography, Boy and Going Solo, both of which I absolutely loved.
I bought this a couple of years ago, and I’m not sure why, but it re...more
I bought this a couple of years ago, and I’m not sure why, but it re...more
Roald Dahl (1916-1990) darf man getrost als den Meister der makaberen Kurzgeschichten bezeichnen. Sein sehr feiner schwarzer Humor, der die Ironie des Schicksals immer wunderbar hervorzaubert ist faszinierend. Sprachlich sind Dahls Geschichten ein Leckerbissen der besonderen Art, keine komplexe und dennoch eine sehr schöne Sprache. Auch stilistisch sind die Geschichten unterschiedlich gebaut und aus unterschiedlichen Erzählperspektiven wiedergegeben. Eine klare Empfehlung.
"Küsschen, Küsschen" be...more
"Küsschen, Küsschen" be...more
This is collection of some of Roald Dahl's short stories I bought several years ago while visiting a friend in Switzerland but never managed to complete.
The back states:
"ELEVEN DEVIOUS, SHOCKING STORIES FROM THE MASTER OF THE UNPREDICTABLE
What could go wrong when a wife pawns the mink coat that her lover gave her as a parting gift? What happens when a priceless piece of furniture is the subject of a deceitful bargain? Can a wronged woman take revenge on her dead husband?
In these dark, dangerous...more
The back states:
"ELEVEN DEVIOUS, SHOCKING STORIES FROM THE MASTER OF THE UNPREDICTABLE
What could go wrong when a wife pawns the mink coat that her lover gave her as a parting gift? What happens when a priceless piece of furniture is the subject of a deceitful bargain? Can a wronged woman take revenge on her dead husband?
In these dark, dangerous...more
Roald Dahl's adult writings have qualities that remind me of Picasso - you can appreciate and even exult in the genius, but you cannot like them. Maybe that's a good thing. If you liked some of the things in these stories, people around you would constantly be edging away to get out of your presence...
These are brilliant but hideous imaginings, and all the worse for being rooted in the seemingly banal and ordinary. I kind of hate them, but I'm also jealous that he had the ability to create them....more
These are brilliant but hideous imaginings, and all the worse for being rooted in the seemingly banal and ordinary. I kind of hate them, but I'm also jealous that he had the ability to create them....more
Normally, I completely hate horror, I hate being scared for no reason. But these stories are so normal at first before gradually progressing to the horrid moment of realization that you can't look away. I guess it's one of those cases where a genre is so well done, it supersedes the fact you don't like the genre. I'm probably never going to read it again, the one read gave me enough nightmares, but definitely great book. Pig and the Landlady stuck with me the longest.
In this collection of stories loosely themed around love, Dahl's twists and turns will surprise you and your guessing and imagining circuits might go into overdrive for the short duration of a tale.
Whether you read the chilling first story, "The Landlady," or the last, "Pig," or any of the goodness in between, you'll likely be glad you yourself do not live inside a Dahl story and end each one with a delectable shiver.
Highly recommended for adult readers.
Whether you read the chilling first story, "The Landlady," or the last, "Pig," or any of the goodness in between, you'll likely be glad you yourself do not live inside a Dahl story and end each one with a delectable shiver.
Highly recommended for adult readers.
Roald Dahl, what can be said. This collection of short stories is like opening a treasure chest. Each story is compactly written with nary a wasted word, ending in delicious twists that can have you laughing out loud or cheering.
He is like a sculptor in his work: you can see the rib lines where he has gone back and changed a word here or there for the right tempo and tone. As an instruction manual in how to write a short story, this one should be on your list.
He is like a sculptor in his work: you can see the rib lines where he has gone back and changed a word here or there for the right tempo and tone. As an instruction manual in how to write a short story, this one should be on your list.
Aug 10, 2011
Heather
added it
Fabulously horrible! - If you loved Dahl's kids books then you'll get the same kind of gloriously sick and twisted kick out of these bite-sized short stories. I do have to reccommend that you read them interspersed with something else, though - Dahl's karmic need to punish people with the consequences of their own misdeeds is a great structure for the stories, but it does wear a little thin after a few of them in a row. Definitely worth the read though!
Sometimes I feel Roald Dahl is one of those people who have mastered psychology better that those attending the top schools. He just knows what sends shivers down one's spine. Just when he shows the reader a glimmer of hope that the poor guy (reader) has figured the plot out, the door shuts on the fingers and the plot goes awry. Why do you torment us, Roald Dahl, and yet make us come back to you?
Aug 22, 2011
Carla Irène Anderson-Kisala
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Shelves:
read-in-2011,
the-poop-shelf
Vaguely Twilight Zone-ish in places, this collection of short stories is far too frequently marred by intense misogyny. There were a few moments when I had to walk away from the book as well because I was deeply repulsed by a story. Far, FAR from his best work, and knowing that Dahl was producing material of this nature whilst simultaneously producing much-loved children's books gives me pause. How will I ever be able to read them again without revisiting the memory of reading THIS unpleasant vo...more
Outstanding! It's been a long time since I've read such amazing short stories. Through many I found myself expelling air and finally breathing deeply at the last page because I'd been so pent up, holding my breath throughout the story. Great read. Looking forward to more adult Dahl.
well. that was some really dark humor.
i actually liked one story. (the one about a man wo pretended to be a priest to get all that expensive old furniture almost for free. and failed. at last. got what he deserved)
all the other stories were a little bit too cruel for me.
i actually liked one story. (the one about a man wo pretended to be a priest to get all that expensive old furniture almost for free. and failed. at last. got what he deserved)
all the other stories were a little bit too cruel for me.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiss Kiss | 4 | 21 | Mar 20, 2013 06:29am | |
| Which story is your favourite? And please tell me why. | 1 | 7 | Sep 21, 2012 07:50am |
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors.
Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as "A Piece of Cake". The story, about his wartime a...more
More about Roald Dahl...
Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as "A Piece of Cake". The story, about his wartime a...more
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