This is a wisp of a book, 58 pages, a short-story really, when you consider that a dozen or 15 times this passage like poetry appears (sometimes with This is a wisp of a book, 58 pages, a short-story really, when you consider that a dozen or 15 times this passage like poetry appears (sometimes with minor variations):
His face at the window. Greyness. Silence. The crack in the pane His face at the window. Silence.
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An older man is depressed, ill, dying. He reviews his life and focuses on the death of his wife. A son and daughter come to visit and tend to him. He doesn't want to be bothered.
We learn he was an author and a sharp critic - too sharp according to his deceased wife - to a young man who used to bring writing to him for his critique.
In the process he tells us that Rabelais was the first modern writer who knew that he was not writing for an in-person audience.
There's not much here. The blurb tells us “…three characters move through their increasingly haunting lives, they discover how to piece together their past and recreate connections.” The story is too short for me to see that develop. I much prefer another short book I read by him: The Cemetery in Barnes
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The author initially led a very international life. He was born in Nice in 1940 and, because he had some Jewish ancestry, hid out during the war with his mother in a small village in the French Alps. Then he went to school in Cairo and then to college in England where he settled. He became a professor and writes in English. Cemetery is probably his best known and highest-rated book, although he has published about a dozen novels (including Goldberg: Variations) as well as academic books and collections of essays.
Top photo by Marco Bianchetti on unsplash.com The author from ndbooks.com
A young French man is a teacher of Arab students in a godforsaken rural area in the Algerian mountains. The land is so ungiving that the main ‘harvestA young French man is a teacher of Arab students in a godforsaken rural area in the Algerian mountains. The land is so ungiving that the main ‘harvest’ is obtained by plowing the soil for rocks. [image] Nationalism is stirring among the Arabs and the local gendarme brings an Arab prisoner to his schoolhouse. The prisoner is accused of killing another Arab man. The gendarme gives the teacher a gun and charges the teacher with taking the Arab man the last 20 kilometers to local authorities.
The teacher is sympathetic to the Arabs and their cause. What will he do? And what is that message he finds scrawled on his blackboard in Arabic?
An interesting short piece about a moral dilemma.
Thanks to Cecily who shared a link to this story in her review.
The image is a watercolor ‘Landscape, Algeria,’ Atlas mountains in the distance, by Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, 1860-1861, on mutualart.com...more
There’s a lot going on in this short story by a female Canadian author of Lebanese descent. It’s only a short story, so I’ll use spoilers to hide someThere’s a lot going on in this short story by a female Canadian author of Lebanese descent. It’s only a short story, so I’ll use spoilers to hide some things.
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A young girl living in London with her mother is terribly stressed by the absence of her father. He sent them out of a war-ravaged country in the Mideast and she will not see him again for three years.
She has unusually black eyes and she comes to believe that she has evil powers. It looks like she is going to start taking it out on herself through self-mutilation. (view spoiler)[ She dreams that her father has died and worries that she has willed his death. (hide spoiler)]
The girl becomes fascinated with a black-eyed owl at a local zoo. The owl’s name is Welsh, Blodeuwedd, which is tied in with Welsh folklore and legends about a ‘flower woman’ turned into an owl. (view spoiler)[ The girl wants to start learning the Welsh language, which aggravates her already-strained relationship with her mother who wants her to learn more about Arabic culture. (hide spoiler)]
She is befriended by a young Black woman who is a caretaker of the owl.
Owls in the GR news: when I recently reviewed The Blind Owl by Iranian/Persian author Sadegh Hedayat, GR friend Bob Newman commented that owls have different symbolism in other countries. In Hindi culture, for example, owls aren’t ‘wise’ – they are stupid and evil.
A good story, worth a ‘5’ as a short. It is posted on the web at the online magazine Strange Horizons. I also read and enjoyed this author’s short story Pockets.
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Top image of Blodeuwedd at etsystatic.com The author from bournemouth.ac.uk ...more
A short story. You’d think that two twin boys would be excited about their birthday party today. As twins, they have telepathic communication. They boA short story. You’d think that two twin boys would be excited about their birthday party today. As twins, they have telepathic communication. They both hate the pushy older girls who will be there. One boy knows his brother is terrified of playing hide and seek in the pitch-dark rooms. I know it’s fiction but I don’t like implausible endings.
A very mixed bag, not only in quality, but in type of story: fables (tales of olden times), fantasy (a talking fox), and mod[Spoilers hidden 12/21/23]
A very mixed bag, not only in quality, but in type of story: fables (tales of olden times), fantasy (a talking fox), and modern stories with psychological depth. I’ll give an excerpt from the last of the six stories, Kesa and Morito, because it illustrates the writing style and the psychological depth in his more modern stories.
This story is written in two monologues: first the man, then the married woman. They have made love and the man thinks: “And tonight I am going to kill a man I do not hate, for the sake of a woman I do not love.” The woman thinks:
“Is he coming or isn't he, I wonder. It's highly unlikely that he isn't. The moon is already sinking, but not a footstep can be heard, so he may have changed his mind. If you should not come,... I shall have to live in shame day after day, like a prostitute. How can I be so lost to shame and evil? For I shall be no better than a dead body tossed by the roadside. I shall be dishonored and trampled on, with my shame brought to light. And yet I shall have to be silent as if dumb. In that case I shall carry my regret beyond the grave. I'm sure he will come. From the moment I looked into his eyes when we parted the other day, that has been my conviction. He is afraid of me. He hates and despises me, and yet he is afraid of me. Indeed, if I were to rely only on myself, I couldn't be sure of him. But I rely on him. I rely on his selfishness. I rely on the vile fear that selfishness inspires in him.”
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The title story Rashomon (the name of the ancient gate into Kyoto), asks the question: Is starvation an ‘excuse’ to do anything for self-preservation?
Yam Gruel is about the bullying of a low-level clerk. Everyone bullies him, even street urchins. The story reminds us that sometimes there is more joy in the anticipation of something we wish for than in its fulfillment. And watch what you wish for.
In a Grove is a tale of a husband and wife traveling through a deserted path in the woods. A bandit attacks, ties the man to a tree, rapes the woman, and then kills the husband. (view spoiler)[ We learn the story through the testimony before the High Police Commissioner of seven people, including the woman victim and the bandit. We also hear from a policeman, a woodcutter, a traveling Buddhist priest, the woman’s mother, and a medium who tells us, in effect, what the dead man saw and was thinking. Of course there is conflicting testimony. So is anyone shocked to hear that in several of the scenarios recounted, it was the woman’s fault that her husband was killed? (hide spoiler)]
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The Martyr is a Christian story about a boy who is Christ-like and is an apprentice in a monastery. (I searched but did not find any info that said the author was Christian.) A young woman accuses him of being the father of her child. (view spoiler)[ Even though he denies it, he is thrown out of the monastery and becomes a beggar in town. Later he rescues that woman’s baby from a fire but dies. After he dies a startling discovery is made. ‘He’ was a ‘she.’ (hide spoiler)]
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The introduction describes the author with a list of words including brilliant, sensitive, cynical, neurotic, aloof and elusive. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story," and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He is another Japanese author who committed suicide; in his case at age 35 in 1927. I previously read one of his novellas, Kappa, a fantasy based on traditional Japanese legends of ‘frog people,’ and it was quite good.
Although the title of this book says 17 other stories, my ebook edition only had six.
Top photo of a model of the Roshomon gate from Wikipedia A postcard of 1920s Tokyo from alamy.com The author from amazon.com...more
Who knew Steinbeck could write great short stories?
A California woman prides herself in growing chrysanthemums. Her clumsy male gardening clothes hideWho knew Steinbeck could write great short stories?
A California woman prides herself in growing chrysanthemums. Her clumsy male gardening clothes hide her femininity when an itinerant handyman happens by, praising her flowers, hoping to get work or a handout. It’s the 1930s Depression era.
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Her husband is a successful farmer and rancher but we sense what is probably a dull and lonely life dominated by male ‘doers.’ Her work and sacrifices go unnoticed. She wonders aloud what it would be like to live a life like the handyman. He travels each year by mule-drawn wagon from Seattle to San Diego.
“It ain’t the right kind of a life for a woman.”
Loaded with symbolism, a nice thoughtful and thought-provoking read about gender roles that you can absorb in a few minutes.
Top photo of Salinas in the 1930’s. In the background is the Cominos Hotel mentioned in the story. From kythera-family.net The author from financialtimes.com...more
Old and new short stories from Sicily. I’ll borrow some language from the introduction and the blurbs: We’re in a region o[Revised and edited 6/28/24]
Old and new short stories from Sicily. I’ll borrow some language from the introduction and the blurbs: We’re in a region of the world where secrecy and suspicion predominate. The pillars of society - church, state and family - war on each other. Privilege means less about getting things for yourself than denying them to others. The characters are armchair anarchists, scheming priests, closet mafiosi and political hacks. We see them in their daily activities ranging from comic to tragic. Do we all want to go on a cruise with these folks? LOL
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As with any collection of stories like this the quality is mixed but there is also great variety in the types of stories, almost as if the author is letting us sample his life’s work. There are fables and a couple of stories that are really essays. The short stories range from historical to modern.
There’s no real plot in the title story, but it’s one of the best. A man in his 30s is traveling by train – 20 hours from Rome to Sicily counting time on the ferry. He’s trapped in a train car with a family with bratty kids. He’s attracted to their nanny and he starts thinking about having a family.
In The Ransom, a young woman has to decide if she will marry an old man with money and political influence who will get her sister’s husband out of jail.
Trial by Violence starts with two Jack-the-Ripper type murders of young women in Sicily in the late 1800s. Someone has to be arrested. The only evidence against the young farm hand who is charged is based on a phrenological examination of his, his parents’ and grandparents’ shaven heads. Guilty or not guilty? (I have the impression this story was based on newspaper accounts of the day.)
Demotion deals with a Catholic saint, Philomena, who is “demoted” by the Vatican. The local church is named for her, as are some girls in the town, and miracles have happened. The town women will march over and set the priest straight.
In The Test, a Swiss businessman is in town to recruit Sicilian girls to go live in Switzerland and work assembling mechanical devices. They have to pass a test. The priest helps organize it and the testing is done in the church. How and why is the mafia going to get involved in this?
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A local newspaper carries an advice column written by a priest. In A Matter of Conscience, someone has written in, giving the name of the town, outlining her adulterous affair, and asking for advice. Speculation is rampant. This could be the event of the year!
In Mafia Western the killing and revenge killings by two rival mafia groups is so out of hand that even the mafia bosses can’t control it.
Philology is a tongue-in-cheek essay about the derivation of the word mafia; I’m sure it loses much in the translation. Euphrosyne gives us a bit of history about a legendary Sicilian beauty in the 800’s.
Of the 13 stories about a half-dozen were quite good. So a 3.5 rounded up to 4.0.
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An Introduction and the blurbs tell us that the author (1921-1989) is famous in Europe for “politically sophisticated detective novels” and that he “invented the metaphysical mystery novel.” He was a prolific author – more than 40 novels – although only a few have been translated into English. I read what is perhaps his best-known murder mystery To Each His Own which I rated as a '4'. I also read and enjoyed his The Day of the Owl, although I only gave that one a ‘3.’
Photo of Palermo from previews.123rf.com Town in Sicily from eurail.com The author from lasicilia.it...more
The author (b. 1942) has written a half-dozen novels, probably the best know in English translation is There’s a Man in the Habit of Hitting me on the Head with an Umbrella.
Top photo from marksangryreview.com The author from Wikipedia...more
This is a very short book, really a short story, that is somewhat a continuation of the author’s novel Strange Weather in TokParade by Hiromi Kawakami
This is a very short book, really a short story, that is somewhat a continuation of the author’s novel Strange Weather in Tokyo. That novel, which I enjoyed and reviewed, is about A May-December romance between a woman in her late 30s and her former high school teacher, now in his 70’s.
Although I say romance, it’s a platonic relationship and she calls him Sensei.
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In Parade, the relationship may have progressed a bit. At least they touch hands. But mostly it’s a very sensual story of them preparing simple food. Then Sensei asks her to tell him a story from her youth. She tells him about when she was a little girl and she and her friends were accompanied by magical beings called tengu. The story, like the book, is simple and understated, fable-like.
The book has numerous illustrations, a bit like abstract woodcuts.
A very calming read with simple but good writing.
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The author, Hiromi Kawakami (b. 1958), has written about 10 novels and has won several of Japan’s literary awards. Many of her books have been translated into English and some have been made into movies. (The author should not be confused with Mieko Kawakami, b. 1976, who wrote Ms. Ice Sandwich.)
Book cover by Takako Yoshitomi who did illustrations for the book, from amazon.com The author from irishtimes.com ...more
I just came across this previously unpublished short story by Edith Wharton. It’s available on the web at the link below. I created a post for it on GI just came across this previously unpublished short story by Edith Wharton. It’s available on the web at the link below. I created a post for it on GR. Here’s the introduction to it written by Emily Temple of the Literary Hub (the next two paragraphs):
This morning, The Atlantic has graced us a brand new (that is, quite old but never before published) short story by Edith Wharton, entitled “A Granted Prayer.” The story was discovered by scholar Sarah Whitehead, who found the typescript in the Wharton archive at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale during the course of her postdoctoral research on Wharton’s short fiction. The editors of The Atlantic note:
This satire of genteel stuffiness—which takes comic aim at contemporaneous debates about the role of environment, biology, and free will in human development—is set in Hillbridge, a fictional university town that features in at least four other Wharton stories and her novella The Touchstone, all written between 1898 and 1911. Whitehead dates “A Granted Prayer” to that same period, in the first half of a fiction-writing career that began in 1891 and continued until Wharton’s death in 1937. The original spelling and punctuation have been preserved.
It's a good story, just a few pages, about a professor living in a house surrounded by women: his oldest daughter and two of her aunts. His three grown sons have all moved away. One’s in the Navy, one’s a stockbroker and one is a bank clerk. He and all the women are in unanimous agreement: “I shall never understand why, with all their opportunities, all three of the poor dear boys should be such failures. Of course one doesn’t love them any the less—”
The professor wants an intellectual companion. He and all the women agree it has to be a male. So there’s tongue-in-cheek aspect to the story when we read “…but women’s minds are so hopelessly inferior that we shall never be the companions he needs.”
A funny short story, a five-minute read that is all dialog. I won’t give away any plot except to say one of its themes Two in Torquay by Alan Bennett
A funny short story, a five-minute read that is all dialog. I won’t give away any plot except to say one of its themes is “gotcha.” I’ll also tell you a funny story related to theme.
My story: one year I was visiting family in Massachusetts and I was reading the local paper. It was Mother’s Day and the news featured a human-interest story about an 80-year old woman who lived with her mother and had devoted the last 30-or-so years to caring for her mother, now approaching 100. I don’t recall if the story said the daughter was ever married or had her own children. A wonderful story. But a part of me thought maybe it was time the younger woman said “Go make your own damn sandwich.” LOL
Being a geographer I was also intrigued by the name Torquay, which I had not heard of. It’s a seaside resort on the peninsula of southwest England. It’s been called the “British Riviera.” It looks like quite a nice place to visit. Agatha Christie was born there and there are museums and garden walks devoted to her.
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The British author (b. 1934) has written a dozen books and is probably best-known for his short novel The Uncommon Reader that the blurbs describe as “A deliciously funny novella that celebrates the pleasure of reading.”
Photo of Torquay from discoveryholidayhomes.com The author from telegraph.co.uk
I don’t usually read science fiction but this short story attracted me when I saw reviews from GR friends.
The characters are two young women studentsI don’t usually read science fiction but this short story attracted me when I saw reviews from GR friends.
The characters are two young women students and an older woman who is a university music librarian. One of the young women finds things appearing in her pocket. At first, a piece of fudge and a lipstick,; later things like a trombone. (It’s science fiction, remember, lol.) Her young friend, training to be a scientist, conducts some physical experiments to try to help her figure out what’s going on. But it’s the older arts woman who “solves” the mystery.
