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Dip in the Pool

Roald Dahl

This week on the book club we will be reading the short story 'Dip in the Pool' by Roald Dahl. 'Dip in the Pool' is a macabre short story by British writer Roald Dahl, originally published in the 19 January 1952 edition of The New Yorker. It later appeared in the collection 'Someone Like You'.

On a British cruise ship, there is a betting pool wherein passengers try to correctly guess the number of miles the ship will travel that day, within ten miles above or below the captain's own guess. On a stormy day, a passenger named William Botibol bids two hundred pounds on the ship doing much less milage than guessed, due to the weather. Unfortunetly for William, he is gambling with money he doesnt have spare to loose...

In 1958, the story was adapted for television by Alfred Hitchcock for his anthology program Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The story was also adapted for a 1979 episode of Tales of the Unexpected.

Read the short story online here: Dip in the Pool

About the Author

Roald Dahl is the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, and a treasury of original, evergreen, and beloved children’s books. He remains for many the world’s No. 1 storyteller.

Born in Llandaff, Wales, on 13th September 1916 to Norwegian parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg, Dahl was named after Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian who had been the first man to reach the South Pole just four years earlier. A heroic start in life. But his early years were blighted by the tragic deaths of his older sister, Astri, and his father.

Wanting the best for her only son, his mother sent him to boarding school - first to St Peter's, Weston-super-Mare; then, in 1929, to Repton - where many bizarre and memorable events would later be recounted in Boy. Pupils at Repton were invited to trial chocolate bars, a memory that stayed with Dahl throughout his life, inspiring Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Despite his death in 1990 Dahl’s own life story continues to play out through his fiction. In many of his stories the reader experiences Dahl’s metamorphosis into his own characters – with similarities seen between Dahl and several of his heroic creations in his children’s books.

Week begining 5th of April

Next week - 08.04.21 in the book club we will be reading 'The Art of Happiness' by Aundre Maurois, from the book 'The Art of Living'. we will endevour to get the audio book as soon as possible as it is slightly longer than our usual books. So we have created next week;s event ahead, so that you may have time to read the book when the audio book is released this week or to buy a copy in good time. 

Find out more about Next Weeks book club: The Art of Happiness by Andre Maurois

What is the book club?

Join us every week for a book club, each week we will read a new short story of part of a larger book, the books will be made available as an audio book and we will meet as a group via zoom to chat about the story. All are welcome, hope to see you there. 

How to join the club to chat

The zoom link to join will apear above on this page at 3PM on Thursday. To join you will need a phone/tablet or laptop with a built in camera and microphone (most modern devices come with this) you may need to download the zoom app onto your phone if you are using a phone to join.

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