The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

By: Roald Dahl

Narrated by: Andrew Scott

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Seven superb stories, from the world's no. one storyteller.

Meet the boy who can talk to animals and the man who can see with his eyes closed. And find out about the treasure buried deep underground. A cleaver mix of fact and fiction, this collection also includes how master storyteller Roald Dahl became a writer. With Roald Dahl, you can never be sure where reality ends and fantasy begins.

©1977 Roald Dahl (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Few modern writers have attracted such an appreciative audience among adults and children as Dahl.... All the tales are entrancing inventions." (Publishers Weekly)

“Roald Dahl sometimes shared a tonal kinship with Ogden Nash, and he could demonstrate a verbal inventiveness nearly Seussian...[His] stories work better in audio than in print.” (The New York Times)

Spectacular.

Definitely some of Dahl's best work. The narrator does a stupendous job as well. A great listen.

A must listen

I loved Roald Dahl stories since I started reading them to my son, and now I love his stories even more because of how Andrew Scott is reading them with such immediacy and liveliness. His ability to portrait with his voice every emotion that every character is feeling took me on a wonderful journey listening to this book. Two giants in one project makes this book even more timeless than it already is.

Pity about the narrator

I love Andrew Scott as an actor so its surprising and disappointing to discover that he does not emote at all when he narrates. Its very bland and monotone and doesnt fit the stories he is reading. The stories are as good as I remember them being but I wish it had been a more expressive narrator reading them.

Really fantastic!

Where does The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This has actually been one of my favorite audio books out of the fifty or so that I have listened to.

What other book might you compare The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar to and why?

These short stories tend to include a bit of magic and wonder and animals. I actually felt compared to compare them to "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez--part fairytale, part realistic. (I liked this better though)

Have you listened to any of Andrew Scott’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not heard any of his audiobooks before, but I have seen several of his television roles. I know how much attention he has gotten for his role as Moriarty on BBC 's Sherlock, and I must admit that it was his name that attracted me to this particular recording. Despite the lack of reviews, I decided to give this a shot and I was not disappointed.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The entire story of "The Swan" was beautiful. It made me feel sick and anxious and terrified by the cruelty of those boys, but I was on the edge of my seat listening in horrified fascination to hear how it would all play out. I sat in my driveway for ten minutes after I got home, just to finish it.

Any additional comments?

I was really blown away by this performance. It was engaging and well paced, the narration and the stories themselves combined to create a really great experience.

The only thing I can think of that could have been improved would probably be the Jamaican accents from the first story, which were a little bit jarring. However, I absolutely commend the way he voiced female characters, subtly and non-ridiculous (which seems to be way difficult for a lot of male narrators, I've noticed).

Badly miscategorized as a book for young children

Audible lists this book as for children 5-7, which is completely wrong. At least two of the stories (The Swan and A Piece of Cake) are too disturbing for such young children, and the rest will bore them or go over their heads. It's really for older children or adults. I had read this book many years ago, so I knew this, and it wasn't a problem for me, but it's worth noting for others.

The narrator is mostly very good, with the exception of the first story, in which he performs the dialogue of the Jamaican characters in a way that sounds a bit like the Swedish Chef, with overtones of Inspector Clouseau. There is not a single sound in that accent that remotely evokes Jamaica. It's the most bizarre performance I've ever heard. (I knew that there were Indian characters in a later story and was worried about what would happen there, but he manages to do something reasonable for them.)

The Boy Who Talked with Animals

Is my favorite Roald Dahl story of all time and Andrew Scott narrated the most important part with aplomb! I was laughing inwardly at his voices for all the dumb awful people who are trying to buy the turtle. Bravo!

The Swan not for kids

The Swan story was graphic and portrayed the brutality of bullying without any justice in the end. I kept thinking, this is a renowned children's author, surely this will turn around soon. But it didn't. All 7 kids ranging in age from 8-15 disliked it.

It’s Pretty Great

I hate buying audiobooks because it’s like okay, you bought it, and listened, and now what? So I love when I come across audiobooks I can listen to over and over again. The stories and narration mesh together perfectly. Together they create worlds for the characters to live in during their brief time with us. Oh, and I think the accents are like “It’s story time!” and not Doing This Accent. If you’re reading this review on Audible I’m guessing that’s what you need and not story :)

STUNNINGLY AMAZING

One of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. TWSOHS (& 6 More) was a favorite of mine in my Tweens. Andrew Scott brings Dahl's words to life like no other possibly could.

Narrator is not very consistent with loudness

At one one he's screaming, then he's whispering. It's maddening.
The stories are great but also sad.