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A review by dullshimmer
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
5.0
Fantastic Mr. Fox is remarkable in a few regards when it comes to a Roald Dahl book for me. It is the first book I've read of his that has an anthropomorphic main character. Often, his books have a kid as a main character, but here it is Mr. Fox. It's also my favorite of Dahl's shorter stories.
Basically, the story is about Mr. Fox and his family. Mr. Fox steals food from three rather unsavory farmers nearby. They get fed up with the Fox and vow to kill him if it is the last thing they do. I mean they really go nuclear trying to get them digging up a whole hill with big mechanical shovels and everything.
Now as you can tell the story isn't particularly interested in realism. Most farmers don't go off digging up hills with shovels to find a family of foxes and if they did the foxes probably wouldn't really be able to out dig them. This isn't the enjoyable part of the story though. I guess I liked it because it felt a bit Robin Hoodish and an underdog story. Mr. Fox and family are stealing from the three farmers, but they are presented as both well off and rather nasty men so you can't help but cheer on Mr. Fox and family as they escape them and wind up victorious.
I wound up really enjoying this little book. It was a simple enough story that it worked as a short story, but was also an enjoyable little tale. Sure it's a bit light and fluffy and not very realistic, but I enjoyed it. It is my favorite short story from Dahl so far, by quite a good margin.
Basically, the story is about Mr. Fox and his family. Mr. Fox steals food from three rather unsavory farmers nearby. They get fed up with the Fox and vow to kill him if it is the last thing they do. I mean they really go nuclear trying to get them digging up a whole hill with big mechanical shovels and everything.
Now as you can tell the story isn't particularly interested in realism. Most farmers don't go off digging up hills with shovels to find a family of foxes and if they did the foxes probably wouldn't really be able to out dig them. This isn't the enjoyable part of the story though. I guess I liked it because it felt a bit Robin Hoodish and an underdog story. Mr. Fox and family are stealing from the three farmers, but they are presented as both well off and rather nasty men so you can't help but cheer on Mr. Fox and family as they escape them and wind up victorious.
I wound up really enjoying this little book. It was a simple enough story that it worked as a short story, but was also an enjoyable little tale. Sure it's a bit light and fluffy and not very realistic, but I enjoyed it. It is my favorite short story from Dahl so far, by quite a good margin.