Author | Roald Dahl |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Fantasy novel, Satire |
Publisher | Scribner's (United States) Collins (UK) |
Publication date | 1948 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardback) |
Pages | 244 pp |
Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen is a 1948 book by Roald Dahl, his first adult novel. Dahl began writing it after editor Maxwell Perkins expressed an interest in publishing a novel-length book if Dahl were to write it. [1] The book was a critical failure, [2] although it is historically noteworthy as one of the first novels about nuclear war to be published after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [3] The story is a darker take on the same premise as Dahl's first book for children, The Gremlins .
In 1943, RAF pilot Peternip discovers a gremlin or miniature being, drilling holes on the wing of his aircraft, so he sets off with his squadron to unearth the story behind them. Many years ago gremlins were the rulers of the world, but they were forced underground by the spread of humanity and have spent the time since then planning their revenge. They briefly emerge during the Battle of Britain, but the experience makes them decide that humankind would destroy themselves without their intervention. The gremlins wait until the time is right - after World War III and World War IV decimate the earth, they emerge and take over the world. The story ends with the gremlins, unable to exist in a world without humans, disappearing too; finally, only the worm remains.
Sometime Never was met with mostly negative reviews, [2] but did receive some praise from the Glasgow Herald and The Saturday Review . [4] [5]
The work was first published by Scribner's in the United States in 1948 under the title Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen. The UK edition, entitled simply Sometime Never, was published by Collins in 1949. The final chapter of the UK version was revised slightly to elaborate on the ultimate disappearance of the Gremlins. [6]
As of 2024 [update] , the work has never been reprinted in English, although a Dutch translation (Ooit en te nimmer) has run through several editions. [7]
Roald Dahl was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. He has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
A gremlin is a mischievous fictional creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft, and later in other machinery, processes, and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. Stories about them and references to them as the causes of especially inexplicable technical and mental problems of pilots were especially popular during and after World War II.
Matilda is a 1988 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was published by Jonathan Cape. The story features Matilda Wormwood, a precocious child with an uncaring mother and father, and her time in a school run by the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull.
Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984) is an autobiography written by British writer Roald Dahl. This book describes his life from early childhood until leaving school, focusing on living conditions in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, the public school system at the time, and how his childhood experiences led him to writing children's books as a career. It concludes with his first job, working for Royal Dutch Shell. His life story continues in the book Going Solo.
James and the Giant Peach is a children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of it over the years, done by Michael Simeon, Emma Chichester Clark, Lane Smith and Quentin Blake. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1996 which was directed by Henry Selick, and a musical in 2010.
Kiss Kiss is a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl, first published in 1960 by Alfred A. Knopf. Most of the constituent stories had been previously published elsewhere.
"The Visitor" is a 1965 short story by British writer Roald Dahl, centred on the fictional Uncle Oswald and the lurid adventures he describes in his elaborate diaries. In this story, set in 1946, Oswald has amorous designs on his Syrian host's wife and teenage daughter, with unfortunate and unexpected consequences.
Switch Bitch (1974) is a book of adult short stories by British writer Roald Dahl. Four stories, originally published in Playboy between 1965 and 1974, are collected. They are linked by themes of rape by deception: in each one, some major act of cunning, cruelty, or hedonism underpins the sexuality.
The Gremlins is a children's novel written by British author Roald Dahl and published in 1943. In writing the book, Dahl draws on his own experience as a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War. The story's principal character Gus, an RAF pilot, has his Hawker Hurricane destroyed over the English Channel by a gremlin—mischievous creatures who were part of RAF folklore. As they parachute into the water, Gus convinces the gremlins to join forces against a common enemy: Hitler and the Nazis. It was Dahl's first book and was written for Walt Disney Productions, in anticipation of a feature-length animated film that was never made.
Fifinella was a female gremlin designed by Walt Disney for a proposed film from Roald Dahl's book The Gremlins. During World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) asked permission to use the image as their official mascot, and the Disney Company granted them the rights.
Roald Dahl: Collected Stories is a hardcover edition of short-stories by Roald Dahl for adults. It was published in the US in October 2006 by Random House as part of the Everyman Library. It includes all Roald Dahl's stories in chronological order as established by Dahl's biographer, Jeremy Treglown, in consultation with the Dahl estate. A few of the short stories were not published chronologically in book form, but appeared later, collected in More Tales of the Unexpected (1980). The collection contains all of the short stories published in the following collections:
John Traill Christie was headmaster of Repton School (1932–37) and Westminster School (1937–50), before becoming Principal of Jesus College, Oxford (1949–67).
"The Last Act" is a 1966 short story by Roald Dahl, described by its author as an attempt to write about "murder by fucking." It was first published in the January 1966 issue of Playboy, having been rejected by The New Yorker because of its disturbing content. It was later included in the collection Switch Bitch, published in 1974 by Michael Joseph Ltd.
Jeremy Treglown is a biographer, cultural historian, critic, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick. He was editor of The Times Literary Supplement through the 1980s and chair of the Arvon Foundation, 2017–22.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a media franchise based on the 1964 novel of the same name by British author Roald Dahl. It includes two books, three live-action theatrical films, three video games and miscellaneous other properties, such as touring musicals and theatrical adaptations, various merchandise and defunct amusement park ride.
Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was a British author and scriptwriter, and "the most popular writer of children's books since Enid Blyton", according to Philip Howard, the literary editor of The Times.
Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory: The Complete Story of Willy Wonka, the Golden Ticket, and Roald Dahl's Most Famous Creation is a 2014 non-fiction book by Lucy Mangan. It was released at the same time as the 50th anniversary edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and looks at the origin and history of that story.
Gipsy House is a house in the village of Great Missenden in the English county of Buckinghamshire. It was the home of the writer Roald Dahl and his family for several decades. The house is situated on Whitefield Lane, an old drovers' road on the outskirts of the village. It is currently privately owned but the writing hut is on display at Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.
Faith Jaques (1923–1997) was a British illustrator of the late twentieth century notable for her work as a children's book author, illustrator, artist, stamp designer and advocate for artists' rights over their work.
Some Time Never is still available to purchase in Holland, but is currently out-of-print in other countries.