In this story by Francesca Lia Block, a girl abandoned by her mother finds temporary comfort in stories about how much her mother loved her told by an imaginary creature living in her closet. When she shares this with a school friend, she is ridiculed and ostracized by classmates. A class assignment to “write about someone we love” provides an opportunity for the girl to put her thoughts and feelings about her mother on paper. This helps her face the loss, and gives her the courage to go on alone. Themes include family, loss, isolation and loneliness, healing through writing. More…
Cell One
Some websites describe Nnamabia, the young protagonist in this story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, using terms such as ‘a wayward, rebellious son’. This is treating him too kindly. At the beginning of the story, Nnamabia is an entitled, spoiled, manipulative brat… too weak-willed to resist imitating the petty thefts of his peers, yet so cowardly that the only person he is game enough to steal from is his mother. Although he did not deserve the punishment he received at the hands of the so-called Nigerian justice system, he learnt some important lessons and came out of it a man. More…
A Village After Dark
If you like a story where everything is neatly tied up at the end, this dream-like tale by Kazuo Ishiguro may not be for you. A filthy, feeble old man dressed in rags returns to a village in which he was a person of influence many years ago. His memory is failing, so the village feels somewhat alien. His purpose is to “make amends”, but we aren’t told what for, Older villagers are uneasy about his return, while to the younger generation he is a cult-like hero. Themes include identity, alienation, redemption, jealousy/ego, bullying, aging and the fragility of memory. More…
The Pearl
This novella from John Steinbeck describes a battle between good and evil and exposes the best and worst in human nature. Sadly, evil wins out. An uneducated Mexican-Indian pearl diver from a poor fishing community outside a Spanish town dreams of a better life for his family after discovering a pearl as large as a sea-gull’s egg on the ocean floor. After multiple instances of townspeople trying to manipulate and cheat him and later, to violently steal the pearl, his dream turns into a tragic nightmare. Themes: family/community, racism, colonialism, oppression, materialism, greed, corruption, fate. More…
Twenty Minutes
There is a saying that your life flashes before your eyes in the moments before you die. In this James Salter story, the protagonist has twenty minutes to think about it. A woman riding a horse in the countryside is paralyzed in a fall. She estimates that she will die from her injuries if help doesn’t arrive within twenty minutes. As the minutes tick by, she recalls recent events in her life. Sadly, the picture they paint is not a very happy one. The central theme is, of course, death. Other themes: family estrangement, marriage, unfaithfulness, loneliness, desperation, unfulfilled dreams. More…