This story by Mark Helprin explores the theme “the price of fame”. An ageing impresario reflects on how he transformed a contented young laundry worker into the greatest opera singer in the world. He has just come across an innocent young street performer who could be even better, and faces a dilemma. Although his first discovery has found fame and fortune, he is unhappy about how it affected her. Should he immediately launch his excited new find into stardom, or insist that she takes time to consider the consequences? Other themes include entrepreneurship, responsibility, regret, compassion, redemption, art and beauty. More…
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The Delicate Prey
This controversial story by Paul Bowles is not for the squeamish. Two leather merchants and their nephew set off across the Algerian desert to sell their wares. After several days a stranger fearful of bandits in the area approaches and asks to accompany them. One night, the stranger lures the merchants away from camp on the pretext of going hunting. He ambushes and shoots them, then tortures and kills the youth. The crime is discovered when the stranger tries to sell their distinctive leatherworks. Tribal justice is swift and brutal. Themes include greed, deceit, extreme violence, vengeance. More…
The Spirit of Emulation
This story by Fernando Sorrentino is a perfect example of the idiom “Keeping up with the Joneses”. A man living in a multi-story apartment building has an unusual pet… a Lycosa pampeana (Wolf spider). A neighbour who sees it is so impressed that the next day he proudly shows the man his new pet… a scorpion. Competition sets in and soon the building is awash with all sorts of exotic animals. As occupants try to out-do each other with larger and larger “pets”, things get seriously out of hand. Themes include vanity, rivalry, materialism. More…
Mahesh / The Drought
This story by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay highlights the plight of the rural poor in colonial India. After years of drought, a landless Indian farmer lives on handouts, sharing what little he and his daughter have with Mahesh, his beloved bull. After the starving animal escapes and raids his cruel zamindar’s garden, the poor man is severely beaten and given a heavy fine. Angry and frustrated when Mahesh later breaks a pitcher of precious water, he does the unthinkable. Themes include poverty, social injustice (exploitation and deprivation), devotion/human-animal bonding, the potential devastating effects of nature on rural communities. More…
Good Country People
In this story by Flannery O’Connor a condescending, highly educated woman who lost a leg in a childhood accident learns a potentially life-changing lesson when she tries to seduce a young bible salesman claiming to have come from a good country family. A message of the story is the danger of judging people by superficial factors such as where they live, education level and socioeconomic status. Ironically, despite identifying with each other as “Good Country People”, no one in the story displays all the qualities of that description. Themes include identity, faith, stereotyping, hypocrisy, disability, appearance vs. reality, naivety, deception. More…