emily's Reviews > Someone Like You

Beautiful writing/language/composition of short stories. But the only story that I thought was decent was 'Neck' (but even so - I don't know if that's because I find it most tolerable out of all the rest?). The first one was particularly off-putting for me - the one about a wine snob(s) - gross and unpleasant, majorly self-conceited men going on and on about wine and more - but with no clear beginning or ending. I breezed through the middle without holding onto anything; the stories didn't affect me at all - and it made me think that this book was badly marketed.

Reading 'Someone Like You' made me wonder - whether if it's better to read/write a badly written book with great stories or a well-written book with disappointing stories? My mind turned into a wobbly mess of melting jelly reading the last few stories after 'Neck'. I do think it's a 'it's me, not you' kind of issue; I just don't think his stories are intense/shocking enough for my liking (which was what I wanted/expected when I picked this book up). I don't think it should be linked with words like 'macabre' or 'grotesque'.

Dahl's collection of stories are much too 'tame'/mild to be put into those categories. However, they do somewhat remind me of Shirley Jackson's work - which I'd struggled to like as well. So if you're a fan of Jackson's - high chances are that you'll appreciate Dahl's stories much more than I did. Still, it's a shame that this is my first introduction to Dahl. But because I do think Dahl writes beautifully, I'll probably give it another go - get my hands on some of the audiobooks of his other books narrated by Andrew Scott (can't go wrong with the 'hot priest').