The Old Demon

The Old Demon: Short story by Pearl S. BuckIn this story by Pearl S. Buck, the widowed matriarch of a small Chinese village is too old to flee when it is bombed during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Left alone, she tends to a dying Japanese pilot and refuses to allow his body to be defiled by Chinese soldiers fleeing an advancing Japanese army. With help from her “Old Demon” (the Yellow River), she single-handedly stops the advance, saving her family and thousands of other villagers. Themes include family, change, the unpredictability and power of nature, the brutality of war, humanity, sacrifice.

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The Daemon Lover

The Daemon Lover: Short story by Shirley JacksonIn this haunting psychological horror story by Shirley Jackson a woman wakes on what was to be her wedding day to realize that: 1) she may have been used and duped by a dapper writer’s promise of marriage; and 2) contrary to social expectations of the day, she may find herself “left on the shelf” at age thirty-four. In her desperatione to find the man she shows signs of mental instability, questioning whether the proposal was real or imagined. Themes include isolation and loneliness, social pressure, manipulation, imagination vs. reality, denial, obsession.

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The Year of Spaghetti

The Year of Spaghetti: Short story by Haruki MurakamiThis story by Haruki Murakami describes how a reclusive man made 1971 his “year of Spaghetti”. After buying the necessary equipment and ingredients, he set out to cook spaghetti every day of the year. He cooked spaghetti to live and lived to cook spaghetti, comparing it to an act of revenge against his fears and feelings of meaningless isolation. Although he always eats alone, he often imagines someone standing outside about to visit. When his peace is shattered by a desperate phone call from an ex-friend’s ex-girlfriend, he declines to get involved. Themes include loneliness, self-alienation, obsession, futility.

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The Assignment

The Assignment: Short story by Saadat Hasan MantoThis story by Saadat Hasan Manto takes place during the rioting that followed India’s Partition. Set in an “Indian” border town from which most Muslims have fled, an elderly judge underestimates the carnage to come and insists on staying. After a stroke, he becomes bed-ridden and is unable to flee. Every night, his seventeen-year-old daughter watches Muslim houses burning in the city around them. When a Sikh man repays a kindness the judge had once done for his father, we learn the reason their house has (so far) been spared. Themes include religious conflict, denial, fear, innocence, duty, betrayal.

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The Olive

The Olive: Short story by Algernon BlackwoodIn this lesser-known story by Algernon Blackwood, a playful girl accompanying her convalescing mother on the Italian Riviera rolls an olive across a restaurant floor to see who it chooses. A young man picks it up and takes it to his room. That night, he has an erotic dream featuring the girl, naked fauns, nymphs and satyrs, and an encounter with God. He meets the girl the next day and they begin a passionate affair during which she repeats several things she said and did in the dream. Themes include fate vs. chance, love, the supernatural.

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A Cold Autumn

A Cold Autumn: Short story by Ivan BuninIn this story by Ivan Bunin, a Russian woman reflects on a cold autumn morning thirty years earlier when she saw her fiancé off to war, never to return. After this, despite moments of happiness, her life spirals downward … she loses her parents and the family estate during the Revolution, ekes out a living in a Moscow market, marries but loses her husband two years later, and toils to raise his nephew’s infant daughter. She struggles on thanks to his commitment to wait for her in the afterlife. Themes include love, death, loss, time, memories, displacement, perseverance..

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The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance

The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance: Short story by M. R. JamesThis story by M. R. James is in the form of four letters a man sends his brother as he travels to a small village to investigate the disappearance of their uncle. After an extensive search the uncle, a clergyman, is presumed dead. A highlight of the story is a vivid dream the nephew has of a frightening, life-like Punch and Judy show. This foreshadows the denouement… When a real Punch and Judy show comes to town the next day, the missing man rises from the dead and exacts vengeance. Themes include mystery, murder, revenge, justice, the supernatural.

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The Secret Source

The Secret Source: Short story by Ben OkriThe world described in this Ben Okri story is not a pleasant place. Cities are decaying, rivers and oceans are so polluted they contain no life, ground water is undrinkable, and households are limited to just fifteen minutes of tap water a day. When a couple discover this is synthetic and contains chemicals designed to reduce dissent among the population, they embark on a quest to find a source of pure water. The ambiguous denouement encourages readers to ponder what life would be like in a world without freshwater. Themes include environmental degradation, urban decay, government manipulation and control.

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