{"id":3587,"date":"2020-12-10T15:07:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T15:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=3587"},"modified":"2021-03-25T21:09:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T21:09:48","slug":"desert-island-julie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/desert-island-julie\/","title":{"rendered":"Books for a Desert Island: Julie’s Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cover<\/a>Usually, when I tell someone that I love to read, I can anticipate (and dread) their next question: \u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite book?\u201d I have read many books at many ages, and they all mean something to me. The answer changes depending on my mood\u2013\u2013if I\u2019m feeling funny, I\u2019ll answer with Douglass Adam\u2019s <\/span>The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy. <\/span><\/i>If I\u2019m feeling nostalgic, the answer may be Cornelia Funke\u2019s <\/span>Inkheart<\/span><\/i>. If I\u2019m feeling mysterious, I could offer Emil Ferris\u2019 <\/span>My Favorite Thing is Monsters. <\/span><\/i>But the one piece of literature I can read over and over again, finding new entertainment each time, are short stories by Roald Dahl. This could be considered cheating, but the book I would take with me to a deserted island is actually an anthology of stories, <\/span>The Best of Roald Dahl<\/span><\/i><\/a>, first published in 1978<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/i>I grew up reading Roald Dahl\u2019s books for children. They were whimsical, but something about them unsettled me. His stories for adults share the imagination and dark undercurrents of his stories for children, but they lack the whimsy and telltale \u201chappy endings.\u201d In fact, they are rooted in realism. His stories are layered. Each time you read and reread them, you discover something new. In high school, I analyzed his story \u201cThe Way Up to Heaven,\u201d for a Language Arts exam. On the surface, it\u2019s an odd tale about a husband and wife on their way to visit their daughter for the first time in years. But after digging a little deeper, it becomes clear that this is actually a macabre tale of vengeance. All of Dahl\u2019s stories are like this. They are always worth a second read, or a look-over with a fine-toothed comb. Often drawing from Dahl\u2019s experience <\/span>serving in World War II<\/span><\/a>, they are filled with dark satire, irony, and twists you just don\u2019t see coming. These stories bring unexpected characters and situations to be unravelled.<\/span><\/p>\n

If I was unfortunate enough to find myself stranded on a deserted island, I would want Dahl\u2019s tales to keep me company. I have had the book for nearly six years and I never grow tired of rereading his stories. And finding myself in such an unlucky situation, I just might be able to commiserate with his characters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read Joyce Carol Oates\u2019 review of Dahl\u2019s works <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. You can also read a few of his works online, such as one about <\/span>a pregnant woman whose husband is leaving her<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>a morbid bet<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>an injured pilot<\/span><\/a> suspicious of his caretakers. <\/span><\/p>\n

More in the series<\/p>\n