海角大神

Thanks to 鈥淭he BFG,鈥� director Steven Spielberg鈥檚 new film adaptation of a Roald Dahl story, grown-ups are getting a fresh reminder of Dahl鈥檚 power to charm youngsters 鈥� a talent the late Dahl displayed in such children鈥檚 tales as 鈥淐harlie and the Chocolate Factory鈥� and 鈥淛ames and the Giant Peach.鈥�

But why should kids have all the fun? Dahl was also a gifted writer for adults, and the summer reading season is a great time to connect 鈥� or reconnect 鈥� with Dahl鈥檚 stories for older bibliophiles.

Dahl (1916-1990) was an Englishman of Norwegian ancestry who fell into writing by accident. He鈥檇 been shot down while serving as a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II, yet lived to tell the tale. The novelist C.S. Forester wanted to write about Dahl鈥檚 experiences for the聽Saturday聽Evening Post and asked the young airman to jot down a few notes for him. Dahl鈥檚 narrative exhibited such literary talent that the magazine published them under his byline, and his career in letters took off. 鈥淎s I got into the way of it they became less and less realistic and more fictional,鈥� Dahl recalled of his stories, gathered into such collections as 鈥淥ver to You,鈥� 鈥淪omeone Like You,鈥� and 鈥淜iss Kiss.鈥�

Dahl had a long marriage to the actress Patricia Neal, helping her recover from a devastating stroke. The couple had other challenges. Their first child died at eight of a rare complication from measles, and their infant son was struck by a taxi, the injury causing water to gather on his brain. Dahl helped doctors develop a tool to drain the fluid, a gadget that would eventually become known as the Wade-Dahl-Till valve.

Through it all, Dahl kept writing, churning out prose in a small shed in the family garden. During the winter, he kept warm while crafting sentences by wrapping himself in a sleeping bag. Dahl鈥檚 children鈥檚 stories often indulge a dark sense of humor, and his stories for adults are typically even more macabre.聽聽In 鈥淟amb to the Slaughter,鈥� an iconic Dahl short story, a woman kills her husband with a leg of lamb, then cooks the weapon and feeds it to unsuspecting police.聽聽In 鈥淒ip in the Pool,鈥� a ship passenger devises a clever way to win a wager, yielding a deadly result in the bargain. It鈥檚 typical Dahl, horror served up with a wink. Profiling Dahl in 1976, the British journalist James Cameron asked himself how Dahl could work in the two dimensions of juvenile and adult literature.

鈥淭he answer, as I should have known,鈥� Cameron concluded, 鈥渋s that they are not two dimensions but one; a fairy story is a fairy story, whether the fairies be Good or Bad.鈥�

A good introduction to Dahl鈥檚 work for adults is 鈥淭he Best of Roald Dahl,鈥� which collects his most memorable short fiction. It鈥檚 a great beach book, although it can, even on a warm summer day, leave a reader chilled to the bone.

Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�