In this story by Adam Bagdasarian, a boy cruelly asks a girl to go steady in order to win a bet. The girl, who he knew liked him, is free-spirited, controlling, and has highly romantic perceptions of what going steady should entail. He wasn’t looking for such a commitment, likening her to a boa constrictor, and after four days decides to call it off. He finds this easier said than done and, after finally plucking up the courage to do so, immediately puts himself in a similar position. Themes include teenage relationships and expectations, insensitivity, honesty, control, commitment. More…
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Hunted Down
Although the language is that of the mid-Victorian era (occasional archaic vocabulary and long, formal sentences), this witty, detective-style story from Charles Dickens has a climax that would do Agatha Christie proud. The protagonist, a manager in an insurance office, leads us through the rather convoluted tale. With at least one murder and two more on the way, it is not until the end that readers learn that the real “detective” on the killer’s trail is not the protagonist, but one of his intended victims. Themes: first impressions (appearance/body language), deception, murder, justice, love, guilt. More…
A Day Goes By
First time readers of this narrative from Luigi Pirandello may find it confusing until the last few paragraphs. The story is an allegory of life, contracted into a single day. The day begins as the disoriented protagonist is unceremoniously cast out of a train carriage into the dawn, and ends with him lying on his deathbed surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Themes include alienation (not knowing oneself, lack of self-confidence, exclusion); identity (what makes us who we are – clothes, occupation, recognition, money, possessions, family); and time (the speed at which life appears to have passed as we age). 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…
Small Change
This impressionistic novella by Yehudit Hendel describes the psychological trauma experienced by an Israeli woman while imprisoned for a minor crime in post-World War 2 Switzerland. After growing up in an oppressive atmosphere dominated by a cold, autocratic father, her nightmarish ordeal is an allusion to Germany’s inhuman treatment of detainees during the holocaust. Although severely impacted by the experience, she is empowered to rebel against her cruel, obsessive father, who has cared more about his stamp and small change collections than his family. Themes: parent-child relationships, obsession, anti-Semitism, injustice, cruelty and sexual violence, self-empowerment. More…