In this story from Muriel Spark, a group of friends watch home movie footage of protagonist Sybil’s life in Africa as she recalls memories of the time. Her observations highlight the difference between the vain way the characters in the films see themselves (or want to be seen) and their true personalities. Sybil was an intellectual but weak-willed girl/young woman who allowed herself to be dominated by others. In a favorite childhood game, the words “bang-bang you’re dead” always led to submission. Later in life, gunshots became “freeing” events. Themes: class, isolation, dominance and submission, false opinions vs. unpleasant truths. More…
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Brother and Sister
This is a well-known European folktale. A brother and sister run away from home after years of being badly treated by (you guessed it!) their wicked stepmother. The stepmother also happens to be a witch, and the children have some unlikely adventures. The brother is turned into a deer that loves nothing better than to be hunted. The sister becomes a Queen, has a baby, and is murdered by (you guessed it!) the wicked stepmother. Fortunately, the sister’s ghost comes back to life, the brother is made normal again, and they all (except the wicked stepmother) live happily ever after. More…
Gusev
This Anton Chekhov story contrasts the attitudes towards social injustice of two Russian soldiers returning home by ship after serving in the Far East. Both are dying of tuberculosis, and neither survives the voyage. One (Gusev) is an uneducated, superstitious peasant who passively accepts his lot. The other (Pavel Ivanovich) is a bitter, fallen intellectual who looks down on “lesser” men and claims to actively oppose the Russian social system. Themes include social class, passivity vs. activism, memory and imagination, loneliness and alienation, the inconsequence of human suffering and death in the context of the glory of nature. More…
Babylon Revisited
The protagonist in this bittersweet story from F. Scott Fitzgerald is in the process of rebuilding his life after losing everything in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market cash. Along with many other Americans caught up in the hedonistic 1920s Paris lifestyle, he had partied hard and drank to excess. When his wife died as he was recovering in a sanitarium, he was forced to give up custody of his then seven-year-old daughter. Two years later, he is determined to win her back. Themes: alcohol abuse and reform, wealth and poverty, fatherly love, self-discipline, alienation, guilt and regret, hope. More…
La Grande Bretèche
In this story by Honoré de Balzac, an elderly French doctor entertains guests at a dinner party by relating how, by seducing a hotel maid to complete the puzzle, he was able to solve the mystery of a dilapidated, abandoned mansion. Upon completion of his narration the story continues: all the ladies rose from table … But there were some among them who had almost shivered at the last words. Themes include social class, marriage, betrayal, vengeance, and gallantry (on the part of the Spanish noble for the way he faced death without giving his lover away). More…