Half a Day

Half a Day: Short story by Naguib MahfouzThis thought-provoking story from Naguib Mahfouz is an allegory of the phases and brevity of life. An old man’s nostalgic description of his first day at school triggers a stream of associated memories. He recalls completing his schooling and going on to experience friendship and love as if this all took place the same day. He then imagines setting out alone on a mystical journey “home”. Changes in the social and urban environments cause him to lose his way, and he becomes increasingly anxious to reach his destination and seek explanations (enlightenment?) from his “father”. Themes: time, memory, aging, change.

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The War Prayer

War Prayer: Short story by Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)Following Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, it seems appropriate to feature one of literature’s most famous “anti-war” stories. Written in 1905, this narrative essay by Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) is a condemnation of the American imperialist agenda that led to the Spanish and Filipino-American Wars. With his usual sarcasm and wit, Twain brushes aside patriotic bravado and poignantly focuses on the suffering of combatants and civilians on both sides. Themes: patriotism, the horrors of war, the connection between the church (religion) and war, the selfish one-sidedness of war prayers vs. the universality of God.

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Death by Scrabble

Death by Scrabble: Short story by Charlie FishYou know that a story which begins It’s a hot day and I hate my wife is not going to end well for one of them. In this story by Charlie Fish, a bored couple sit down for a “friendly” game of scrabble. As the competition intensifies, the man notices something strange. The words the couple put down on the board seem to be coming true in the room around them. To test the theory, he puts down the letters Q-U-A-K-E. As the ground begins to shake, he realizes too late that his wife has made the same discovery.

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Outside

Outside: Short story by Etgar KeretEtgar Keret’s Outside was published in July, 2020, just over six months into the Covid-19 epidemic. Eighteen months later, we are now into our third wave of the disease. The story is a humorous account of the effects of being locked-down at home. The experience so traumatizes the protagonist that, along with thousands of others, he refuses to leave home when things improve. Forced outside by the army, he struggles to remember where to go and what to do. Fortunately, a chance encounter on the way to an ATM triggers a conditioned response that immediately brings him back to normal.

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My Friend Luke

My Friend Luke: Short story by Fernando SorrentinoFernando Sorrentino’s diminutive “friend” Luke is a man of extremes. For the most part he is introverted, considerate and submissive. However, but put Luke on a bus and he becomes assertive, rude and manipulative. The catalyst for this changed behaviour is the tolerance of the other bus passengers, built up over years of coping with a crowded public transport system. The story is a metaphor for the desire of all people living subservient, unsatisfying, exploited lives to lash out and assert their individuality. Themes: lack of fulfilment, loneliness, exploitation, frustration, rebellion.

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Filboid Studge

Filboid Studge: Short story by H. H. Munro (Saki)This story is from Saki is a spoof on modern advertising. A businessman who had invested all his money into a failed breakfast food requests help from an impoverished artist who wants to marry his daughter. The artist gives the product an unappetising name and promotes it with a poster of celebrities in Hell clamouring for the unpalatable dish “they cannot buy now”. Sales take off, and the businessman sells the company and marries his daughter to someone a “vast deal higher” than the hapless artist. Themes include despair, the power of advertising, branding (appeal to duty/guilt), social class, ingratitude/betrayal.

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The Oval Portrait

The Oval Portrait: Edgar Allan PoeThis Edgar Allan Poe story demonstrates the sinister side of how beauty can live on through art. An injured traveler takes shelter in an empty mountain chateau. There are paintings on and around the walls of his room. On his pillow is a book describing them. His eyes fall on the portrait of a beautiful woman that seems a little too lifelike. Disturbed, he finds its entry in the book. The woman’s story suggests that although art can preserve beauty, artistic obsession can destroy it in the making. Themes include art and artistry, rare beauty, love, obedience, obsession and death.

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The Egg

The Egg: Short story by Andy WeirAndy Weir’s The Egg is so thought provoking that I have re-read it several times over the years. The story comprises a conversation between “god” and a dead man about the meaning and purpose of life (to grow his soul through new experiences), and his place in the universe. Other themes (equality, consideration for others, and empathy) are nicely summed up in the paragraph: Every time you victimized someone, you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.

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