The Birds

The Birds: Short story by Daphne du MaurierThis 1952 horror story by Daphne du Maurier follows a family who, along with all of Britain, come under sustained attacks by flocks of crazed birds. Seen as an analogy of the terror caused by World War Two blitz bombing and concerns about the developing Cold War, the story carries even more ominous implications for today. Consider the suggestion that climate change (shifts in the Arctic air stream) may have upset the natural order, and the death and worldwide disorder a small virus (Covid) recently caused. Themes: the vulnerability of mankind to war/natural forces, human/government complacence/ineptitiude, isolation, family, survival, self-reliance.

Continue ReadingThe Birds

Ringing the Changes

Ringing the Changes: Novelette by Robert AickmanThis story by Robert Aickman describes the frightening first night of a delayed honeymoon. The bride, much younger than the groom, wanted to spend their time in a remote coastal village neither had visited before. The moment they arrive, a church bell starts ringing continuously. It is out of tourist season, the streets are empty, the hotel staff act strangely, and there is a sickening, rotten smell in the air. Later, the bells of every church in the village begin ringing with urgency, heralding a macabre annual festival involving the walking dead. Themes: marriage, insecurity, isolation, class, fear, the supernatural.

Continue ReadingRinging the Changes

The Ghost of Michael Jackson

The Ghost of Michael Jackson: Short story by Ngugi wa Thiong'oThis story by Ngugi wa Thiong’o satirizes attempts to instill Western & Eastern religious values in post-colonial Kenya. In the process, it lampoons some widely documented scandals of the modern church and the growth of contemporary megachurches with fallen celebrity pastors. A charismatic parish priest flees when a psychic boy reveals some of his vices. His loving flock are so upset by the disappearance that they overlook the boy’s revelations and are overjoyed when the priest mysteriously reappears in the form of a resurrected Michael Jackson. Themes: childhood innocence, the supernatural, superstition, culture clash, religious rivalry, zealotry, hypocrisy.

Continue ReadingThe Ghost of Michael Jackson

Window

Window: Short story by Deborah EisenbergThis award-winning story is a wonderful example of Deborah Eisenberg’s unusual writing style. Starting and ending at the same place, the back-story is provided in disjointed fragments that generate a sense of increasing menace as the full picture emerges. A directionless, insecure eighteen-year-old leaves an unfulfilling waitress job to live in an idyllic, off-the-grid cabin with a seemingly perfect man and his infant son. She flees several months later after a brutal beating, leaving readers to ponder the reasons for and wisdom of her abduction of his child. Themes: family, friendship, loneliness, isolation, fear, quest for fulfillment.

Continue ReadingWindow

The Fall of Edward Barnard

The Fall of Edward Barnard: Short story by W. Somerset MaughamAlthough ostensibly themed around a clash of cultures (East vs. West), this story from W. Somerset Maugham is also about alternative lifestyles (materialistic vs. minimalist). Through extensive use of irony, the story contrasts the lust for money, power and status of American industrialists and socialites with the Tahitian way of living in harmony with nature. In presenting the contrast, the story implies that although the environment a person grows up in shapes their values and beliefs, a change of surroundings can drastically alter them. Other themes: friendship, loyalty, romance, pride, racism.

Continue ReadingThe Fall of Edward Barnard

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber: Short story by Ernest HemingwayAuthor Ernest Hemingway goes to great lengths to set up an ambiguous ending to this story about a rich American couple’s fateful big game hunting safari in Africa. No longer (and perhaps never) in love, the couple barely tolerate each other. She can’t afford to divorce him, and he is unlikely to find a more attractive trophy wife. Readers are left to consider whether Francis’s death was murder or an unfortunate accident. What do you think? The major themes are clearly courage and masculinity. Other themes: fear; shame; violence; marriage breakdown; beauty & aging; adultery; misogyny & female stereotyping.

Continue ReadingThe Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man: Short story by Fyodor DostoevskyFyodor Dostoevsky’s thought-provoking story of a man who thinks he and his life are so ridiculous as to not be worth living packs a powerful message. Having decided to commit suicide, his life is turned around by a chance encounter with a young girl asking for help on the street, and a dreamed journey to a utopian world. He learns that meaning and happiness come through suffering and love (kindness), and that indifference (lack of concern for others) can destroy them. Themes: nihilism, despair, suffering, compassion, meaning in life.

Continue ReadingThe Dream of a Ridiculous Man

Disorder and Early Sorrow

Disorder and Early Sorrow: Short story by Thomas MannThe charm of this story by Thomas Mann lies in its relative uneventfulness… no crime, violence, madness or broken hearts! Set in the 1920s, it follows a day in the life of a close, middle-class German family. The major theme is resilience: the struggle of the German people to recover from the social disruption and deprivations of World War I and cope with emerging hyperinflation. Secondary themes are identity, the relationship between history and the present, and the emergence of a more independent youth culture embracing new styles in music, dance, fashion and the arts.

Continue ReadingDisorder and Early Sorrow