The Great Automatic Grammatizator And Other Stories
4 starsUndoubtfully a very good book.
I will give you my opinion on each of the stories I read, along with the ratings.
The Great Automatic Grammatizator 5 stars
This was one of my favourite stories in the book. It's about a machine capable of writing stories that fit the mould of one of the most popular American magazines. It actually works and does the job of a writer.
This, in my opinion, is a very creative idea, and the fact that the author managed to make the mechanics of it all feel convincing and not too unrealistic is what I admire the most in this tale.
Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat 4,5 stars
An amusing story about a man who manages to trick his unfaithful wife when she receives a very expensive mink coat from her lover and tries to conceal it from him.
The Butler 4 stars
This was a very short story about a British butler and his very ambitious American employer who believes himself to be an expert on wine. It was nice enough.
Man from the South 4 stars
Well, this story was very creepy. It is about a strange between a South American man and an American young man, which involves chopping off the little finger in the boy's left hand in case he loses. It was enjoyable to read.
The Landlady 3 stars
The idea of this story was very interesting, but in the end I felt like there was a lot missing. It was like a piece of text had been taken out. I believe that the reader needed a few explanations regarding the landlady and her other guests. These are in part given, but are not explicit enough to give the reader closure.
Parson's Pleasure 5 stars
I absolutely loved this story and how the luck turned against the "parson" who tricked the people he wished to buy an historic piece of furniture from. I actually talked to the book, saying: "No, this can't be happening" and smiling at it like a fool.
The Umbrella Man 4 stars
A tiny tale of a man who does something you won't know until the end of it. I quite liked it.
Katina 4,5 stars
This one was just sad and melancholic, very different from the stories that preceeded it. It was beautiful and deep and heart-felt, a tale brought to us from World War II.
The Way Up to Heaven 3,5 stars
A story about a woman who fears being late for things above all else, and whose husband enjoys torturing her because of it. I didn't love it, but it was also not a terrible story.
Royal Jelly 3 stars
My feelings regarding this story can be fully described by using two diferent expressions, which are: "Eww" and "WTF?". Who in their right mind gives a baby royal jelly? This miraculous product, given by bees to a particular larva to transform it into a queen bee, made a starving baby gain a huge amount of weight in less than a day! The father of the child's as nutty as a friggin' fruitcake!
Vengeance Is Mine Inc. 5 stars
Another favourite of mine and yet another mindblowing idea of Roald Dahl's. A company who satisfies a few wealthy people's desire for revenge against columnists who caluniated them is, from the way I see it, an amazing concept.
Taste 4 stars
It was a nice story, with a great twist at the end. However, that awfully long moment of blabbering about the science of wine was a bit dull.
Neck 4 stars
A tale focusing on a columnist who spends a weekend at the house of a well-known family. We understand that Lady Turton is unfaithful to her husband, Sir Basil, with the Coronel. One morning, the columnist is sitting with Sir Basil Turton on top of a hill facing his beautiful gardens decorated with numerous sculptures, when they notice a man and a woman taking pictures in front of one of them. The woman, who we discover is Lady Turton, decides to stick her head in a hole of the sculpture for the photograph. However, she finds she is stuck, and Sir Basil has to make a decision: should he use the axe or the saw to "cut" her out? Heheh.
