The Swan

An excellent portrayal of the cruel and potentially violent reality of interactions with abused and uneducated males.

May we all be so firm when facing evil as little Peter is. But seriously, this is an intense little story and I did not enjoy reading it.

It's a story about sadism and cruelty, nothing more. The fact that these sadistic acts are perpetrated by a 15-year-old boy and his equally-evil friend (children!) makes this story even more disturbing. Yes, Ernie was brought up to be that way, but that still does not excuse his trigger happiness to Leggi tutto

I can understand the complaints about the shallowness of characters. They were all bad or all good. It was a short story. So some liberties to be had. But the symbolism was magic. Breathtaking. Strength and resilience. Peter is a literal angel. It is violent. But man. I was there. I felt him cut thr Leggi tutto

This is a re-read for me, this is one of my all time fave stories. It is heartbreaking, and to anyone that has ever been bullied, is an accurate portrayal of cruelty that humans (even children) are capable of.

A dark, twisted short story about the evils of bullying & bad parenting. Some of the behavior & language used in this story strikes an unnerving cord. This is a side of Dahl I've haven't experienced yet. A story that you don't like enjoying. "Some people, when they have taken too much and have been dri Leggi tutto

I watched a man with rlly blue eyes read this one on screen! I am unconquerable though

Ok I saw the film on Netflix and while I was lightly familiar with some of the other stories in the film collection I did not know this one. And I honestly can’t put my finger on it but I am blown away by this short story. It’s just incredible and I highly recommend it. again I’m not even totally su Leggi tutto

A gruesome story, recommended by the Incomparable podcast on a recent episode about Roald Dahl. Near a small English village two young proto-psychopaths kill birds and torment an torture a nerdy classmate. Dark and violent as is much of Dahl's work, rather dated in its language but still affecting,

I'm sorry, WHAT!!?? What a horrific little story about bullying and the loss of innocence! Anyone who knows me knows how precious birds are to my heart and this story was HARD. I kinda wanna curl up and cry now. I read this after watching the Wes Anderson adaptation of the story and it was basically Leggi tutto