The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More [Paperback]

The non-fiction pieces here are wonderful. His first story, "A Piece of Cake," is here, along with an account of how Dahl became a writer. Entitled "Lucky Break," this story is really a short autobiography of the writer from his early school days through his war experiences. The sections outlining his years at one of England's public schools should be read by anyone who thinks American places of learning are terrible. English public schools, Dahl writes, are actually very private academies devoted to the total education of their pupils. During the writer's childhood, this meant harsh, rigid discipline of a type usually seen in the military. The brutality exhibited by teachers and elder classmates at the school is shocking: the older students routinely whipped younger pupils with switches, an activity mirrored by the teachers whenever students misbehaved. There are great, tension filled descriptions of the beatings endured by Dahl at the hands of these tormentors. The author advises that wearing thick pajamas and undergarments will protect one's posterior from the brunt of a switching administered by a fellow classmate, but nothing will save you from the headmaster's canes. Yikes! And to think the worst thing that happened to me in school involved losing my locker combination. School wasn't a total loss for the young author, however, as it was the place where he learned to love literature.

The centerpiece story, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar," is one of the best in the book. It's really two stories in one, about a wealthy but frivolous soul named Henry Sugar and his discovery of an unusual book in a friend's library. The book tells the story about a man in India who has learned to see through objects without the use of his eyes. Sugar gets the sudden inspiration to attain this ability and soon discovers that he is a natural at it, one of the rare people with the amazing gift to learn this art in just a few years. Henry's motivations are highly suspect at first: he wishes to use this newfound talent to cheat at the casino, thereby earning himself a fortune. But something rather odd occurs during his training process when Sugar soon discovers that he has little interest in accumulating money for selfish ends. He decides instead to use his gift to fund orphanages for the world's poor, and over the next several decades bilks casino after casino out of millions of dollars. Sugar soon becomes so well known to the owners of these gambling houses that he must assume disguises to keep the game going. Dahl writes the story in such a way that the reader becomes convinced Henry Sugar was a real, breathing person.

"The Swan" is another gem about a precocious child named Peter Watson who runs into two local tormentors, Ernie and Raymond, while out bird watching. The two goons march Watson around at the point of a gun for no other reason then alleviating their boredom on a weekend. They first tie Peter to the railroad tracks and trick him into believing he will be hit by a train. The final indignity occurs when Raymond and Ernie shoot a beautiful swan, tie its wings to Peter's arms, and force him to climb a tree so they can see him "fly." No spoilers here, but there is something magical and memorable about what happens next as Peter learns that he is one of those precious souls which all the bullies in the world will never triumph over. Along with "The Swan," you get "The Hitchhiker" and the less interesting "The Boy Who Talked With Animals."

"The Mildenhall Treasure" is an incredible story about an amazing discovery. On a cold winter morning, a farmer plowing another man's land stumbled upon the greatest cache of Roman silver ever found in Britain. Regrettably, Gordon Butcher didn't know what he had found because the silver had tarnished during its years in the ground. His boss did know what it was and took the stuff home where hid it for a few years before the authorities discovered it. The crux of the story centers on a British law that says the person who FINDS any treasure receives compensation for the full market value of the items. The Mildenhall plates, bowls, and spoons would have netted Butcher nearly a million pounds. By allowing his boss to walk off with the silver, Butcher received only one thousand pounds. In a way, this book is similar to the Mildenhall Treasure: a great find even if you have little idea of it at first glance. Roald Dahl's works are genius and everyone should read a few of them.