My Uncle Oswald

Those who only knew Dahl as a writer of funny short stories and haunting children's books, should look here. This is one of his more lengthy stories, although it doesn't have much more than 200 pages. His witty and capricious style hasn't changed either: this is a book as funny as you'll seldom read them. It's not for the young ones though, chiefly because of its main subject: sex. It's not quite of the sort you meet in most books, though: the story is rather a caricature of all existing sexual paradigms. The story's main person, Oswald Cornelius (who is called `uncle' because the whole story is quoted from his `diaries' by a nephew), is, according to Dahl, "the greatest rogue, bounder, connoisseur, bon vivant and fornicator of all time". He seems to get every lady, not regarding age or whatever else, into bed with utmost ease. This gentleman comes across a lot of absolutely ridiculous adventures that are all described in this wicked book. This story takes place around 1912, when Oswald is barely seventeen. In spite of his young age, he is already a great diplomat and communicator. When he hears about a mysterious African beetle that, when stamped to powder, highly increases a man's potency, he's the first to go on expedition to Africa and get hold of some of these beetles. He accomplishes his mission and gets back to Europe where he sells his `high-potency pills' at exorbitant prices to noble people from all over the world. But then he realizes there's much more (money) to get. Oswald then develops an ultimately ridiculous plan. Take a look at the cover if you're curious about it, I'd say. Anyway, to execute this plan he needs help. He picks out two people as his sidekicks: a chemist called A.R. Woresley and his schoolmate Yasmin Howcomely, "a girl absolutely soaked in sex" as Dahl describes it. And off they go on their mission... While Oswald is presented as a great bon vivant in the beginning, I have to say that his person changes significantly during the story. At the outset he's an audacious boy who fears nobody and even dares to challenge older ladies, but during the second part of the story Oswald is mainly a witness of Yasmin's actions. He has become a businessman who lets others do the work for him. And as with real businessmen, not everything goes as planned... But in the end any kind of character development doesn't matter all that much, for this novel is just a very humorous story that made me laugh as I'd seldom had before with any book. The way Dahl tackles the subject is simply incredibly funny. You're really in for a (hopefully positive) shock if you haven't read anything like this before. I can absolutely recommend this book for anyone who likes a very lucid and deliciously weird story.

When I read this book I...knew little about the act of procreation (besides what I had seen in pictures). Dahl exhibits here not a realistic, but an idealistic view of sexuality. Too often, sex is used to demean the woman and to obtain power. My Uncle Oswald makes a mockery of such values and shows what sex could be without the foolish inhibitions of society.Oswald is a young man at the time of this tale, and is beginning to discover the pleasures that women can provide. What struck me about him was that although he had a rule never to sleep with a woman more than once, he was remarkably equalitarian in his relations with a partner. When he meets the beautiful Yasmin Howcomely, she becomes an equal partner in his ventures. They sleep together twice, but there are no regrets that the relationship does not continue. Oswald never "uses" a woman for pleasure, he merely enjoys the company they give, never forcing more than is desire by the woman.This book may seem nothing more than a romp through a sexual, historical world filled with geniuses and ridiculous plot twists (it is set in the early 1900's). But looking closer, the reader will notice that it is a brilliant satire of views dearly held by the common man, everything from inherited traits to drug use. And all this is told by one of the most beloved children's writers of our century. Who would have guessed?

This is the best novel I have ever read. I can't begin to express the genius of this book. Although it seems to be only a simple tale of fornication and insane money making schemes, it is definitely far more than that. This book touched me on a deeper level than anyone could imagine it would. Oswald's conversations with his father made me understand a great amount of the world. One theme brought back time and again by Oswald is the idea that most people take themselves, and the world, too seriously. This is one of the basic beliefs that I have held for many years. Oswald goes about his life with a vitality I could never have imagined. Even when he loses all his money, it only takes him a short time before he is in as high spirits as before. This book will make anyone laugh, a few times I could not stop laughing for half an hour about one part. The only possible fault in the book is it's length, but the greatness of what he did write makes up for that a hundred-fold.

My Uncle Oswald has always been one of the best, funniest, and most-cherished books I have ever read. My sister recommended it to me at the library years ago, and I just recently ordered a copy to have myself, and have read it twice through! It could be read repeatedly and not become tiresome! I have also purchased Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life and Switch Bitch. Boy and Going Solo are next on my list. Roald Dahl has become one of my heroes! I just wish he was still alive and writing!

It is, however, an uproariously funny yarn that takes in virtually all the major figures of Europe at the turn of the last century; it will test your historical knowledge. It is also hilariously vulgar. If I found either of my daughters reading it, I would look the other way. It is that good a book. Highly recommended.