TASTE AND OTHER TALES/a collection of reviews by the students of Liceo N. Copernico, Bologna (Italy)

“A SWIM” by Roald Dahl
A review by S.C.B.

The story I would like to review is called ‘A Swim’ . It is a short story, written by Roald
Dahl, who was a master of the short story and he quickly became one of the most
popular writers. The book is set on a boat in the month of January but we don’t
know when. It tells the story of a man, called Mr. Botibol, who is travelling across the
ocean on a large ship; each night the captain estimates the distance that they will
cover in 24 hours and a lot of passengers are used to making bets on the speed and
the distance covered by the ship. One day Mr. Botibol, since the sea is very rough,
decides to bet a huge amount of money saying that the ship would never have
covered a certain distance in 24 hours. However something will happen... and Mr.
Botibol has to immediately find a solution to fix the problem.
The story starts ​in medias res​, so in the middle of the story, there is no introduction
of the setting and characters, which is a peculiarity of short stories, the author
doesn’t describe the characters in details but we can understand what they are like
from their actions . The story is told by a third person narrator and the main themes
are greed, naivety and the lack of awareness of one’s limits. The ending of a short
story may be closed or open, in this case it is an open ending because we don’t know
the consequences, we can only imagine them. There is also a twist in the tale, a
surprise discovery at the end of the story, that shocks the reader. The main character
is a serious man, Mr. Botibol, he is married but his wife doesn’t take part in the story,
the others characters aren’t so relevant, apart from an old fat woman who will
change Mr Botibol’s life for the worse.
I enjoyed reading this book so I would recommend it to everyone, also to younger
readers, because it is interesting and involving.

“POISON” by Roald Dahl
A review by R. B.

The story is set in India during the time of British Rule. It’s around midnight and
Timber Woods, the narrator, arrives home, and he sees Harry Pope, his roommate, lying
in bed and acting strangely, as he is whispering and sweating Harry is struggling not to
move or cough.

He tells Timber that a “krait”, a snake,
crawled onto the bed and is now
sleeping under the sheet on his
stomach. Timber gets a knife from the
kitchen for cutting the skin and suck
out the poison, in case Harry gets
bitten, then they decide to call the
doctor. Doctor Ganderbai is, at first, a
little confused, but finally, after
understanding the situation, he
agrees to go there. Once he arrives, he
quickly decides that the first thing to
do is to inject Harry with some
snakebite serum. But after injecting
it, the doctor tells Timber that the
serum is by no means a guarantee of
safety. They decide to try to
anesthetize the snake. So Timber
goes to the doctor’s house to take the
chloroform and then heads back. Later on, the doctor asks him to help him remove
Harry's blanket to numb the snake, but when they take off the sheet...
Harry Pope has prejudices against the Doctor because of his race, and he is also very
frustrated about the krait, so he keeps yelling at the doctor. Despite Harry behaving in
this way, Timber continues to defend him, remaining kind to the doctor. From this we
can see how the two protagonists are the opposite of each other. We can see instead
that the doctor is a very calm person and that he doesn't allow himself to be touched by
Harry's bad words, but he remains very kind and takes care of him until the last
moment.
MY COMMENT​:
I think this is really a good story, full of suspense and tension that makes you want to
read it until the last page.While you read it, you may think that the main conflict is
between the men and the krait on Harry’s stomach. It’s only in the last few paragraphs,
though, that you realize that the “poison” is actually racism. Harry Pope is perfectly
willing to tolerate Dr. Ganderbai as long as his life is in danger, but as soon as Ganderbai
dares to question the white man, Harry lets his true colors show.

THE SOUND MACHINE - A REVIEW BY G.B.

The story I would like to review is “the Sound Machine” by R​ oald Dahl​, published in his
collection “The Complete Short Stories” in 1949.

The story is about a man called Klausner, who is obsessed with sounds. According to the
protagonist, there are many sounds that humans aren’t able to hear. To test his theory, he
creates a special and innovative machine that will allow people to hear unknown sounds.
Unfortunately, during his numerous experiments, he discovers something that he will never
forget.

The story is written in third person by an unknown narrator’s point of view. The narrator is
quite cryptic. From the beginning there’s an ongoing unanswered question because the
readers don’t understand if the protagonist really hears the sounds or if he simply imagines
them.

But, the main themes of the story are; obsession, instability, desire and determination. The
characters are described quite well. The doctor’s character is the opposite of the
protagonists. He is a compassionate, cooperative and a reliable man. He is the only friend
that Klausner has and despite the protagonist’s madness he tries to help him. As a result,
“The sound Machine” also talks about friendship and loyalty. Nobody is willing to stay by
Klausner’s side when he is devastated and has a nervous breakdown apart from his only
friend. However, Roald Dahl decided to leave the ending open to his readers. He lets them
free to guess or imagine the truth.

I would recommend this story to anyone, even readers who don’t usually enjoy Roald
Dahl’s books. I want to be honest, the first time I read this story I didn’t understand the
author’s message very well. So, I would also encourage people to read it twice or even
three times to completely appreciate it.

BIRTH AND FATE  

A review by G.D. 

The story I'm going to
review is B​ irth and
Fate, written by Roald
Dahl. The story is about
Mrs. Klara Hitler, a
young pious woman
newly arrived in town
with her husband, who
works at the local
customs house and is
always drunk. When the
story begins, Mrs. Hitler
has just given birth to a
healthy baby boy (her fourth baby); nevertheless, she is quite worried about the
health of the baby because each of her first three babies died soon after their
birth. She tells the story of her babies (Gustav ,Ida, and Otto) and the reason of
her worry to the doctor. Klara Hitler thinks ,deep down,that her husband killed
the babies because they were too small and weak. The doctor tries to calm the
nervous woman telling her that baby will survive as he looks fine. She decides to
name the fourth child Adolf, ​ a​ s the name is similar to her husband's name Alois.

MY COMMENT: I really enjoyed this story because of the topics covered: a
mother's love for her children and her devotion to them. Klara is described as a
very religious and sad woman; her husband is always drunk and he doesn't really
care about her and the babies.The story is set in the hospital where Klara has
given birth to the little Adolf and he is the only that survives. The thing in
common with all short stories in this collection is the twist in the tale,as only at
the end of this tale as it happens for all the others do we realise that the newborn
baby is no less than Adolf Hitler! fate wanted Adolf as the only survivor. The
message of the author is very clear... why did fate choose Adolf as a survivor? The
story has an open-ending and a question arises: would things have been different
if fate had made a different decision?

I personally liked the story because I love picturing different endings and I
admire Roald Dahl who in his stories can always tell the truth and makes us
reflect.

“BIRTH AND FATE”

A REVIEW BY A.A.

“Birth and Fate” is a short story written by R​ oald Dahl.​ It was first
published under the name of “A Fine Son” on the December 1959
issue of “Playboy”, and then renamed “Genesis and Catastrophe:
A True Story”, which is how it is best known as. It was included in
Roald Dahl’s 1962 book “K​ iss Kiss”​ and adapted into a ​TV series
episode in 1980​ and in a ​short film in 2000​.

The story begins immediately after a woman, Klara, has given
birth to her fourth child, a boy. She is very concerned about her
son’s health, because he is really small and she has already lost
her other three children, so the doctor tries to reassure her saying that he is positive she will have
a healthy child. The woman gives him some information about her dead children, named Otto,
Gustav and Ida, and about her alcoholic husband called Alois. After the doctor has asked her what
the son’s name will be, she replies Adolfus, in short Adolf, because it is similar to her husband’s
name. When Alois arrives, the doctor addresses him as “Mr. Hitler”. The husband comments on
the son’s size, describing him as “e​ ven smaller than Otto was”​ , and thus very weak, but the doctor
keeps telling the couple to give the boy a chance to live, as they are hopeless. The story ends as
Klara whispers to her husband: “​'He must live, Alois. He must, he must... Oh God, protect him
now…​'

This story is a little bit different from the others, mostly because of the lack of a “twist” at the very
end. In fact, while in the majority of Dahl’s story we are told a shocking revelation in the last final
lines, here we understand with time that the small and apparently weak newborn is actually the
future dictator A​ dolf Hitler,​ responsible for millions of deaths during the Second World War. The
reader comes to this conclusion gradually, first by hearing the boy’s name and then his last name;
however, the story isn’t finished yet, and the reader goes through the last pages knowing who the
main characters are praying for.

The themes of the story are hope, life and death. At first the reader
is meant to sympathize with the characters, particularly with Klara,
who shows all her love for her child in a very moving way; but
afterwards they see it with different eyes, finding themselves
wishing the boy had never been born at all. While in the majority of
the stories the reader wants the success of the main character and
for them to be happy, in here it’s the total opposite, as the couple’s
happiness would represent a catastrophe for the entire world. It’s a
story in which the reader isn’t made to side with the main
characters, but is actually against them.

There are four characters in the story: Ms. Hitler, Mr. Hitler, the
doctor and the barman’s wife. We don’t know much about this last

one, except that she’s come to help Klara give birth. She is over all a flat character without a
well-defined personality. Ms. Hitler is the most important character in the story, as she gives us
lots of information about herself, her husband and their children. She is a good, religious woman
who is really worried about her son’s future, thinking that the baby is not going to survive, and her

husband Alois supports her opinion. The doctor is also a very
important character, as a neutral, caring person whose goal is to
reassure the couple.

There is a third person external narrator, who tells the story in
an objective and neutral manner: the narration doesn’t change
during the story, the viewpoint is fixed and all the information
we get about the characters and the setting is given through
dialogue.

I personally loved this story and the way it plays out. I wasn’t
expecting a revelation this shocking at first, and it came as a
complete surprise to me. I think it is amazing how Dahl was able
to write such a compassionate and moving story that changes its
goal so gradually, through small little clues spread
throughout the first few pages instead of one line that changes
the reader’s vision about the story altogether. Dahl narrates in a very clever way, building such
sympathy with the main characters and then showing the truth, which is much harder to accept
now that you have come to like them. You are able to reconsider everything you have read, and
the fact that you know how it is going to end doesn’t spoil the experience, rather it makes it even
more enjoyable.

Here​ is another review on the story that you might like; ​here​ is a very interesting presentation.

Thank you for your attention and enjoy your reading!

A.A.

“Birth and Fate”

A review by M.E.

Birth and fate is one of the short stories of
the book “Taste and other tales” , which is a
collection of stories written by the Welsh
author Roald Dahl.He was born in Cardiff,
Wales, to Norwegian immigrant parents in
1916 and died in Oxford in 1990 at the age
of 74.Roald Dahl made himself a master of a
difficult form of literature,the short story.
Dahl’s stories for children are often as
strange and shocking as his stories for adults. The narration of the short story titled
“Birth and Fate” begins immediately after the birth of a baby boy. Firstly the doctor
tries to reassure Klara, the mother, that the child is healthy and he will survive, but due
to the death of her three previous children she had already lost all hope.Then the
doctor manages to convince Klara that her new son is all right and she decides to name
him Adolphus or Adolf for short.After that she gets to hold her little child and falls in
love with the beautiful boy but when her husband arrives and comments on the boy’s
small size, the doctor pleads with him to give his wife some needed support and finally
he kisses her and tries to comfort Klara. At the end of the story the woman says, crying
and praying, to her husband,Alois “He must live,Alois”.

MY COMMENT:

Personally, I think that the goal of the author, Roald Dahl, was to create a question in
the mind of the readers, maybe forced by the boy’s name or due to the bad father’s
attitude. For example when I finished reading, I wondered “who is really Adolphus?
Did he belong to a normal family or not?”In addition to this, it’s interesting to see how
an author could write a story about Hitler and his family without being afraid of
people’s judgements; for example I don’t understand how he was completely sure that
the public or the readers would understand the meaning , the irony and especially the
humour of his story. To conclude, I found this story interesting, strange but mostly
brilliant. I think it’s directed to a specific type of readers. As far as I am concerned, I
really appreciated it, given the fact that I like reading this sort of humour and irony;
but I also know that some people might get offended because I am aware that
someone doesn’t like talking about these historic facts with irony, because somebody
might interpret the story as too light-hearted, even if obviously the meaning is quite
different.

A SWIM 
A review by G.B. 

 
 
‘A swim’ is a short story written by Roald Dahl 
and we can find it in the little book ‘Taste and 
Other Tales’. It was firstly published in the edition 
of The New Yorker with the original name ‘Dip in 
the Pool’ and later it appeared in the collection 
‘Someone like you’. 
It talks about a man, Mr Botibol, who was on a 
cruise, at an unspecified time. One evening, at 
dinnertime, the big ship started to swing slowly, 
but after a few moments the oscillation got 
stronger and stronger. After that, Mr Botibol and 
other men decided to make a bet on the distance 
that the ship could have travelled​ u​ ntil the next 
day at 12, considering the horrible weather conditions. He was sure to win, in fact 
he bet all his money. The next morning, when he got up, he noticed that the sea 
was calm, maybe too calm and this was a problem for his money, because he 
thought that the weather wouldn’t get better. At this point he had an idea. He 
would make the ship slow down by diving into the sea and asking for someone to 
rescue him. 

 

In this way the ship crew​ w​ ould have had to save him from the water and​ ​therefore 
waste a lot of time, allowing him to the bet. He was ready to jump, but before that 
he had to find someone who could call for help. He saw an old woman, and he 
decided that she was o.k.  
So he jumped off the deck and in the meantime he called for help. 

 
The woman looked towards the sea and she saw a shadow, when a friend of hers 
came. The woman told her friend what had happened, but… 
 
The opening of this story starts with the introduction of the setting. We just know 
that this story took place during the month of January, but we are not told where. 
Then comes the introduction of the characters, presented through dialogues and 
actions. The short story is told by a third-person narrator, because the speaking 
voice is external and omniscient: it means that he knows everything about the 
events. The bet is the leitmotif, the central idea that allows the story to develop. I 
think that ‘A Swim’ has an open ending because we don’t know what happened to 
Mr. Botibol, since we can just imagine or make some assumptions.  
 
I liked this story, because Roald Dahl’s characters are always weird and do strange 
things. In fact his stories are always funny and full of surprises. I think that the 
writer can always amaze the reader thanks to his extravagant ideas. The thing that 
I like the most about his stories are the twists, because they are always 
unexpected. 
 

THE SOUND MACHINE - A review by E.G.

“The Sound Machine” is one of the many short stories of the
collection “Taste and other tales” by the Welsh-Norwegian
author Roald Dahl.

This story is set on a warm summer evening and is about a crazy
inventor, called Klausner, who thought that there were a lot of
noises that the human ear couldn't hear. So he decided to build a
sound machine, to be able to hear all these sounds. The only
person who knew about his invention was his Doctor, Scott. The
first time he tried his machine was when he heard roses
screaming, while his neighbour was cutting them. Therefore, the
following morning, he decided to try a bigger experiment by
testing his machine in a park next to his house. There, while he
was cutting a tree trunk with an axe, he heard the plant screaming. So he called his doctor because he
wanted him to listen to the tree shrieks, too. As soon as the doctor arrived Klausner started to cut the
trunk again, but suddenly the tree fell down straight on the sound machine, which broke down. Scott,
who was almost knocked down by the falling tree, said that he hadn’t heard anything. Then the crazy
man made the doctor put some iodine on the tree “wound” to let it “heal”. Later Scott took Klausner
home.

The story is narrated by a third person, unknown narrator, while the
themes are insanity and obsession. In fact the main character, Klausner,
is an inventor that seems to be crazy, as he’s sure to hear noises from
plants thanks to his invention. Also, he’s often visited by his doctor,
Scott, the only one who knows about the sound machine. The story has
an open ending, because we know that the doctor took Klausner home.
But we can’t be really sure if he was really crazy and the plant’s yells
were just a figment of his imagination or they were real, but the doctor
couldn’t listen to them before the tree fell down.

I really enjoyed this story because it explores the theme of madness,
showing us the point of view of a crazy man. I think that he couldn’t
really hear plants screaming, but that was just his imagination.
Probably he had an illness and his doctor often visited him, which
explains why he was the only one who knew about his project, maybe
he was the only person that Klausner trusted.

by E. G..

THE SOUND MACHINE - A review by E.G.

“The Sound Machine” is one of the many short stories of the
collection “Taste and other tales” by the Welsh-Norwegian
author Roald Dahl.

This story is set on a warm summer evening and is about a crazy
inventor, called Klausner, who thought that there were a lot of
noises that the human ear couldn't hear. So he decided to build a
sound machine, to be able to hear all these sounds. The only
person who knew about his invention was his Doctor, Scott. The
first time he tried his machine was when he heard roses
screaming, while his neighbour was cutting them. Therefore, the
following morning, he decided to try a bigger experiment by
testing his machine in a park next to his house. There, while he
was cutting a tree trunk with an axe, he heard the plant screaming. So he called his doctor because he
wanted him to listen to the tree shrieks, too. As soon as the doctor arrived Klausner started to cut the
trunk again, but suddenly the tree fell down straight on the sound machine, which broke down. Scott,
who was almost knocked down by the falling tree, said that he hadn’t heard anything. Then the crazy
man made the doctor put some iodine on the tree “wound” to let it “heal”. Later Scott took Klausner
home.

The story is narrated by a third person, unknown narrator, while the
themes are insanity and obsession. In fact the main character, Klausner,
is an inventor that seems to be crazy, as he’s sure to hear noises from
plants thanks to his invention. Also, he’s often visited by his doctor,
Scott, the only one who knows about the sound machine. The story has
an open ending, because we know that the doctor took Klausner home.
But we can’t be really sure if he was really crazy and the plant’s yells
were just a figment of his imagination or they were real, but the doctor
couldn’t listen to them before the tree fell down.

I really enjoyed this story because it explores the theme of madness,
showing us the point of view of a crazy man. I think that he couldn’t
really hear plants screaming, but that was just his imagination.
Probably he had an illness and his doctor often visited him, which
explains why he was the only one who knew about his project, maybe
he was the only person that Klausner trusted.

by E. G..

MRS BIXBY AND THE COLONEL’S COAT BY ROALD DAHL 
A review by A.L. 

 

The  story  tells  of  a  married  woman  that  has  an  affair  with  a 
Colonel.  Mrs  Bixby  travels​   to  Baltimore  to  visit  h​ er  old  aunt, 
although  that  is  just  an  excuse  for  her  to  see  a  man  she  has  an 
affair  with.  One  day  the  woman  receives  a  beautiful  mink  coat 
from  the  Colonel,  but  she  begins  thinking  of  a  story  she can tell 
her  husband about where she obtained it, but soon she discovers​  
that also her husband has his own plans. 

The story is a perfect example of what we mean when we say that 
“w​ hat goes around comes around”. I loved this story because ​it is 
different  from  the  other  stories  of  Roald  Dahl.  It  is  funnier  and 
also  educates  people  to  be  loyal.  In  the  end  we  can  clearly  see  a 
surprising  twist  that  leaves  the  reader  speechless.  The  author 
highlights  more  the  attitudes  of  the  characters,  to  make  people 
understand the message of the story. 
 
I’d  like  to  recommend  this  story  to  all  the  people  who  want  to 
have a laugh, even though this is not a very humorous story. The 
autor  doesn’t  destroy  principles  of  marriage,but  he  wants  to 
show  that  unfortunately  in  a  relationship  love  does  not always 
last.  A  cause  for  which  relationships  end  is  betrayal  ,as  in  this 
story, but Roald Dahl also teaches that even  the best liars can be 
taken in. 

 

THE LEG OF LAMB

THE PERFECT CRIME
A review by E.M.

This short story was written by Roald Dahl and it’s a crime story
about a married couple, Mary and Patrick Maloney.
It all happens one afternoon, when the husband comes home and
acts in a​ w​ eird and grumpy way.
Mary, who is pregnant, does everything for his best
until he tells her that he is going to leave her forever.
Here comes the twist in the tale; Mary has a
breakdown and kills her husband with a weird
weapon: a frozen leg of lamb.
Actually, this is a surprising way to kill someone also
because at the end of the story she finds a very
smart way to make this weapon disappear; she
makes soup for all the policemen so she has a
strong alibi to make them not even suspect her.
The thing I liked the most about the story was when she lied to the
policemen - as a matter of fact, while they were eating the soup,
she was laughing because they said that the weapon could have

been under their nose.
I didn’t like anything in particular about
this story but I would have enjoyed it
even more more if there had been
another surprise.
All things considered, this was an
excellent short story with a good
logicaI development; I would
recommend this story to everyone who loves black humor and irony
but also who wants to read a short story to enjoy their time without
getting bored like when you read a long and predictable book.

Here is the link of a short movie about the story:
https://youtu.be/3GezRAEmC9s

​ ​ “TASTE”
A review by R.D.

​The last story I read was Taste,written by Roald Dahl in 1945. 
This story is set in London at an unspecified time and it is about a special dinner.The 
characters in the story are Mike Schofield (the landlord),his wife and daughter,an 
unnamed narrator and his wife and a famous ​epicure​ called Richard Pratt. This man was 
famous for his love and knowledge of food and wine; for this reason,whenever Richard 

was at Mr Schofield’s house Mike and his wife prepared a very 
special meal for him,and this time,was to be no exception.
When Richard Pratt came to Mr.Schofield’s house there was always 
a betting game as Richard and Mike loved showing their knowledge 
of wines. Mike asked Richard to name his most famous wine and to 
guess its age. But this time,there was something special in that 
game.  
Richard asked for Mike’s daughter if he should guess the name of 
that special wine. If he was wrong,he would have given his two 
houses. Mike was incredulous but at the end he accepted the bet. 
Incredibly, Richard guessed the name of the claret but there was 
something wrong… 
This is a book about betting,which is not a good thing, and also 
about stubbornness; as a matter of fact Mike was so sure that 
Richard would not guess the name of the wine,that he bet his daughter. 
I recommend this story to all the people that like the books with a t​ wist​ and the surprise 
endings. I liked it very much and I will read this book many more times. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-SFjZooYPM t​ his is a short film about “Taste”

“Taste”- A review by I.F.

I have read the book “Taste and other Tales” by Roald Dahl for my English lesson at
school.
“Taste” is a story that talks about a bet during a dinner in London at Mike Schofield’s
house. There are six guests and among them also a man called Richard Pratt, who is
famous for his love of food and wine. Mike and Richard decide to bet on the name
and origin of the wine they are tasting. The bet is high: if Richard wins, he will marry
Mike’s daughter; if Mike wins, he will get Richard’s houses. Richard wins the bet but
the reader discovers that he does it using deception.
The moral of the story is that human beings can be so greedy that they can behave
unfairly just to get what they want, but also that the truth comes always to light,
and often in a very unexpected way. The part of the story I liked the most is the
twist in the tale at the end, the surprising moment in which the reader understands
how Richard Pratt wins the bet.

The Way up to Heaven, Roald Dahl - by Reb. B.  

 

Roald Dahl’s short story “The Way Up to Heaven” first 
appeared in The New Yorker on February 27, 1954 and was 
included in his collection Kiss Kiss in 1960. It could be classified 
as a crime story, given its very macabre plot.  
 
The short story is about a lady named Mrs. Foster, who lives 
with her husband in a six-floor apartment in New York and has 
a "pathological fear of missing a train, a plane, a boat, or even a 
theatre curtain", and her husband, who most of the time plays 
with this weakness. Mrs. Foster is now going to visit their 
daughter and grandchildren in Paris for six weeks, while Mr. 
Foster will stay at his club. He goes to the airport to see her off 
but he keeps her waiting so long that she is afraid she will miss 
her flight. Once at the airport, however, Mrs. Foster finds that 
the flight has been cancelled because of the fog, so she goes 
back home, forced by her husband, who insists that she must 
drop him off at the club on her way to the airport the next 
morning, even if she doesn’t agree.  
However, the next day, just as they are about to leave, Mr. Foster stops the driver because he 
can’t find the little gift he has bought for his daughter, so he goes into the house to look for it. 
He commands his wife to stay in the car, but while he is in the apartment, Mrs. Foster finds the 
gift wedged down in the crack of the seat, as if someone had put it there on purpose. Feeling 

quite nervous, she goes back into the house to tell him 
they should hurry, but as soon as she reaches the 
locked door, she hears some strange noises and she 
decides to leave for the airport. But six weeks laters, as 
soon as she comes home, she realises that something 
went wrong…  
 
The most important characters in this story are Mrs. 
and Mr. Foster. The other characters in the short story 
play secondary roles, and they only help to better set 
the action in motion and explain what the main characters are like. 
Mr. Foster is described as an unsympathetic man who enjoys playing with his wife's emotions, 
particularly in relation to her fear of being late and it seem he enjoys tormenting her.  
Mrs. Foster is initially described as a woman who is controlled by her husband. However, as the 
story progresses she reveals a new side of herself, and by the end she has clearly taken back 
the power in a quite dramatic way.  
 
This story deals with many themes and only after reading the 
story the reader realises that control is the main one: Mrs. 
Foster seems to be under the complete control of her 
husband and she is heavily reliant on him. This is important 
since Dahl is suggesting that many women, at that time, were 

under the control of their husbands and they couldn’t have a voice of their own. Though Mrs. 
Foster could easily travel to the airport on her own, she feels forced to wait for Mr. Foster, 
because she is afraid of what he might say or do if she doesn’t wait for him. Finally Mrs. Foster 
achieves her freedom only when she decides to leave for the airport without her husband and 
stay alone for six weeks in Paris. 
Another theme that Dahl treats is cruelty: as a matter of fact, Mr. Foster acts very nastily 
towards his wife, because for years he deliberately stokes Mrs. Foster’s fear of being late, 
although it seems that she is fully aware of the fact that he teases her. In 
fact, at the end of the story, she will have her revenge. 
 
The Way Up to Heaven​ is notable both for its irony and for the surprising 
conclusion; even the title itself introduces the first of many ironic 
elements. The conclusion of the story is hinted at in several parts of the 
story, including Mrs. Foster’s recognition of her husband’s deliberate 
cruelty, her desire to live in Paris permanently, and her lack of regret 
when her six-week visit comes to an end. 
 
I enjoyed very much reading this story because intriguing and creepy 
stories are my cup of tea, but above all because I didn’t expect Mrs. 
Foster would have shown such a vindictive and dark nature. I hated it when Mr. Foster wanted 
to make his wife be late on purpose because his behaviour was cruel and nasty, and if the same 
thing happened to me, I would probably kill him too. In the end I think it’s the story I loved the 
most because you understand what a woman can do when she’s angry and wants her revenge.  
 

 

 
This is a short video which sums up the story clearly and quickly 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwU9RRp_jSY

POISON -by ROALD DAHL - A review by M.P.V.

GENRE: Thriller
PLOT:
Timber Woods is the narrator of the story . When he came back home, he found his partner
Harry Pope who was lying in bed and acting strangely .
Timber asked Harry what was happening and he answered that a krait ( a little poisonous
snake) was sleeping under his pijamas. Timber did not know what to do so he decided to
take a knife from the kitchen in case that the snake had bitten his partner, then Harry told
him to call the doctor . When Doctor Gardenbai arrived home, he injected Harry some
snakebite serum. Timber and Harry were anxious and scared because they did not know
what was the best thing to do .
After that The Doctor decided to anesthetize the snake with chloroform .
What will happen ? Will the doctor catch the krait? You have to read the story to know it .

COMMENT:
I found this story really interesting and strange at the same time. We have to imagine the
ending and we do not really know if Harry was lying or not.
Timber seems to be a really good friend and a polite person , so I think that he is my
favourite character in the story .
Doctor Gardenbai is a calm person; whenever he helps Harry, he always tries to find the
best solutions for him.
Harry does not seem to be a good man, he is not polite and I think that he is a bit vulnerable.
I did not understand at all the message of the story but I think that the principal themes are
fear and anxiety.
I would have preferred a different ending: an happy ending with more explanations because
it is not so clear.

​Taste and Other Tales  

Roald Dahl 

 

 

“Poison”, A Review by A.V. 

 
 
I  would  like  to  review  one  of  the  short  stories  collected  in  the 
book  entitled  “Taste  and  Other  Tales”  written  by  the  British 
writer  and  screenwriter  Roald  Dahl,  which  is  really  particular 
and  interesting,  as  it  captivates the reader from the first line to 
the last.  
“Poison” is the last story you can read in this collection and was 
first  published  in  1950.  It  became  quite  famous  and  fully 
represents the author's writing style: he was indeed a master of 
this difficult ​literary genre. 
 
It  is  set  in  India  during  the  time  of the British rule and the first 
person  narrator  of  the  story  is  an  Englishman  called  Timber 
Woods, who lives with his friend Harry Pope. 
One  day  he  arrives at home late at night and discovers a really 

frightening  situation.  Even  if  it  is  already  midnight,  Harry  is  still  awake  in  bed,  but  also 
motionless,  sweating  and  in  panic.  He  claims  to  have  a  poisonous  krait  on  his stomach, 
underneath the sheet, and wants Timber to call the doctor. The local Indian doctor, whose 
name  is  Ganderbai,  arrives  as  soon  as  possible  and  through  various  methods  tries  to 
brush it off safely, but in the end something unexpected happens and Harry proves to be 
a mean and more venomous person than the snake itself.  
 
Following the storyline we understand that the only characters we can read about are the 
two Englishmen and the Indian doctor and we soon realize that each one is different from 
the others. 
Timber  seems  to  be  indeed  very  polite  and  unselfish.  He  takes  care  of  his  friend  and 
proves to be a really kind person, feeling gratitude towards the doctor for his help.  
On  the  other  hand,  Harry  is  completely  different,  as  he  turns  out  to  be  a really bad and 
self-seeking person. Throughout the events we gradually discover his personality, thanks 
to details such as the fact that he never talks to 
the Indian man or that he always ​acts in a wary 
and rude way. 
Genderbai  is  instead  perhaps  the  most  difficult 
character  to  define.  He  is  certainly  very 
intelligent,  practical  in  his  job  and  helpful 
towards  the  two  men, but I think his attitude is 
mainly  due  to  their  influence.  Great  Britain had 
in  fact  a  huge  influence  in  ​that  ​period  and  the 
doctor  is  one  of  the  many  Indians  that 
witnessed the power of British rule between the 
19​th​ and 20t​ h​ century. 
 

Personally  I  can  say  that  I  really  enjoyed  reading  this  short  story  and  that it is the one I 
have  appreciated  the  most,  as  it  contains  an  important  message  and  it  is  developed 
starting  from  a  particular  and  very  complicated  theme.  “Poison”  enthralled  me  a  lot 
because  it  is  probably  one  of  the  most  difficult  stories  to  understand.  It  deals  with  the 
problem  of  racism,  rooted  in  every  society,  but  without  revealing  it  from  the  first  lines. 
Only  the  final  twist  allows  indeed  the  reader  to  really  think  about  it  and  it  lets  him 
understand that the plot is not trivial, but instead very effective.  
Eventually, I think that also the choice of the title is really clever: the whole story is about a 
deeply poisonous snake, but in the ending, if we reflect, we can understand that the true 
poison is not the one of the animal, but a far more dangerous type. 
I would definitely recommend it. 
 
  
 

 
Interesting facts 
 

Do  you  know  that  this  short  story  has  also  inspired 
the  well-known  Alfred  Hitchcock  and  that  in 1958 it 
was  turned  into  an  episode  of  A​ lfred  Hitchcock 
Presents, d​ eveloped by the director himself? 
Obviously it does not fully respect the plot written by 
Roald  Dahl,  but  here  is  the  link  to  watch  it: 
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x70ppqk 
 
 

 
Roald  Dahl,  the  author  of  this story, is best known 
for  the  1964  children’s  book  C​ harlie  and  the 
Chocolate Factory​, but during his life he has written 
a  lot  of  other  short  stories  similar  to  this  one  and 
many  other  books for both children and adults. His 
life has been quite particular and it has influenced a 
lot his writing style. What do you know about him?  
Let’s find out:  
https://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/about 
 

 

The Way Up to Heaven 
A review by S.Z. 

TITLE:​ Short story “The way up to heaven” from the
book “Taste and other Tales”
AUTHOR​: Roald Dahl
MAIN​ C​ HARACTERS​: Mr and Mrs Foster
SET IN:​ New York City

PLOT​:
This short story talks about a sad couple, Mr and Mrs
Foster; the woman has always had a strong fear of
missing a train, a plane ora a boat. She has always
been a perfect and loving wife to Mr Foster - besides being a bit too nervous about
that- in fact every time they had to catch a plane or a boat she would start being
really anxious. One day, Mrs Foster had to go visit her daughter in Paris without her
husband. When they were about to leave for the airport, Mr Foster did everything to
make her wife feel even more anxious, as he always used to do that. When she
finally managed to catch the plane on time, she suddenly stopped being anxious.
At the end of her trip, once she came back home, she found out that Mr Foster had
got stuck in the elevator while she was in Paris, and
that caused his death.
MY PERSONAL COMMENT:
I think that this short story is very addictive because
while you read the story you start feeling nervous too,
just like Mrs Foster. On the other hand, this story is
also a bit dark and creepy because you would never
expect things to turn out that way. “The Way Up to
Heaven” reflects perfectly Roald Dahl’s style because
it doesn’t specifically tell you that Mr Foster died, in
fact we don’t know the causes of his death- we just
have to use our imagination and that is what I liked
the most. Even though the story is the same for everybody, as far as I see it the way
I think it may end could still be different from someone else’s. In the end I think this
story is one of the most interesting stories of the book because it’s not boring but not
too creepy either.
LINKS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwU9RRp_jSY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQEMz6oGhZQ