The Looking-Glass

The Looking-Glass – General Understanding Quiz

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Approximate Reading Times

Quick Read: under 5 minutes
Short Story: 5 to 30 minutes
Novelette: 30 to 90 minutes
Novella: 1.5 to 2.5 hours

Other stories you may like:

Journey into a Dark Heart
Novelette by Peter Høeg. A naïve young mathematician finds himself discussing European notions of colonial Africa with three fellow passengers on a train journey through the Dark Continent. He later learns that one is a rebel leader, another a gunrunner, and a bridge ahead has been sabotaged.
In the Withaak’s Shade
Short Story by Herman Bosman. A playful story about a farmer who, while conducting a search for lost cattle by lying down on the soft grass under an umbrella thorn (withaak) tree, has an up-close meeting with a leopard. After inspecting the man’s clothing, the leopard lays down beside him.
Noise Level
Novelette by Raymond F. Jones. A government research lab gathers America’s leading scientists to replicate an “antigravity belt” that seemingly defies the fundamental laws of physics. The nerdy young inventor died in an accident demonstrating the belt. He left no notes, and the only prototype was destroyed in the crash.
Love Must Not Be Forgotten
Short Story by Zhang Jie. A Chinese woman has concerns about her relationship with a seemingly “ideal” man. After reflecting on memories of growing up and insights gained from her deceased mother’s diary, she concludes that remaining single and waiting for the right man is better than a loveless marriage.
The Mill
Novelette by H. E. Bates. A young woman is subjected to economic exploitation by her parents who place her in servitude, and sexual exploitation by her employer who rapes her on an almost daily basis. Used, abused, and heavy with child, she is sent back to her parents in tears.

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
Short Story by Katherine Porter. A feisty eighty-year-old lies dying. Satisfied with her life, she awaits a sign from God to say that her time has come. In her last moments, she likens the absence of such a sign to being left standing at the altar sixty earlier.
The Distance of the Moon
Short Story by Italo Calvino. The moon once came close enough to earth each month for people to climb onto it at sea. When a woman from a boat that sailed out to collect ‘moon-milk’ became stranded as it moved away, her husband seemed pleased to be rid of her.
The Treasure in the Forest
Short Story by H. G. Wells. Two men kill another to get their hands on a map that shows the location of a buried treasure. They find the treasure and, as they carry some of it away, learn why its owner was smiling as they killed him.
The Half-Skinned Steer
Short Story by Annie Proulx. A confident, vital octogenarian undertakes a four-day road-trip to attend a funeral. At the start, he is in full control of his faculties. Foolish mistakes along the way see him finish the journey a desperate, disoriented figure facing a ghostly “half-skinned steer” in a snowstorm.
A Way of Talking
Short Story by Patricia Grace. Set in New Zealand, an indigenous (Maori) university student returns to her home town for her sister’s wedding and teaches the older girl a new “way of talking” when confronted with language that could be interpreted as discriminatory or racist.