If you like stories with a traditional plot, this experimental story from Donald Barthelme may not be for you. Having said this, many reviewers rank it as one of Barthelme’s best. The narrator is the leader of a city besieged by “Comanches”. Interspersed with recounting the battle he shares random, disjointed memories, often expressed in unconventional language. A major theme is rebellion: the “Indians” are attacking the city, many of its unhappy citizens revolt and help them, and his girlfriend supports the Indians and wants nothing more to do with him. Other themes include violence, male-female relationships, deception and betrayal. More…
Guests of the Nation
This story by Frank O’Connor takes place during, or possibly shortly after, the Irish War of Independence of 1919-1921. Two young Irishmen become friends with two English ‘prisoners’ they are guarding. That is until a cold-hearted officer orders them to take part in the execution of the two men. As one notes at the end of the story: And anything that happened to me afterwards, I never felt the same about again. Themes: friendship, religion vs. atheism, choices and consequences, aspects of war (duty vs. morality, brutality, the humanity of enemy combatants, possible long-term psychological effects). More…
The Spider Thread
Although initially published in a children’s magazine, this story from Ryūnosuke Akutagawa is equally relevant to adults. Lord Buddha takes pity on a notorious criminal and sends a “life-line” in the form of a spider’s thread to help him escape from hell. For young readers, this is a parable about selfishness and sharing. For older readers, it is also a lesson on compassion. Kandata’s fate was sealed well before he screamed at those following to get off “his” thread. True compassion would have involved finding a way to share the thread with fellow sufferers before he started climbing. More…
The Flying Machine
In this story by Ray Bradbury, a Chinese Emperor learns that one of his subjects has invented a “flying machine”. Thinking that the invention could be used against him if the “technology” fell into the wrong hands, he has the man executed, the kite destroyed, and the whole episode hushed up. Written shortly after the end of World War II, by which time the Soviets had already replicated America’s atomic bomb, the story could be considered a parable warning of the risk of developing weapons of mass destruction. Themes include the potential danger of technology, fear of progress, shortsightedness, selfishness/control. More…
The True Story of Kanakapala, Protector of Gold
This “story within a story” from Raja Rao reads more like a reinterpreted folktale than a work of fiction. The unidentified narrator repeats a tale related by an old woman that includes elements of oral history, personal observation/interpretation, and gossip. The major themes of her story, which spans three generations, include piety, devotion, duty, greed, karma and the supernatural. The “glue” holding the story together is Kanakapala, a huge cobra that guarded a buried treasure bestowed upon Lord Shiva and the goddess Vishalakshi. Kanakapala literally “met its end” when its powers proved ineffective against rogue descendants of the treasure’s donor. More…