Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums: Short story by Feng JicaiThis story by Feng Jicai is set in the aftermath of the Chinese cultural revolution. A famous painter struggling emotionally with being banned from practicing his art finds solace, firstly in the beauty of phoenix-tail chrysanthemums growing in a greenhouse, and later in clandestinely carving ornate pipes. The story contrasts the shallow, selfish nature of the painter’s admirers and peers with the humble generosity of the old greenhouse-keeper, who may be the only character who truly appreciates his artistry. Themes include the beauty of nature, artistic passion and the psychological impact of suppressing it, intellectual snobbery, misjudgement, regret.

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The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse: Short story by H. E. BatesIn this story by H. E. Bates a man recovering from a troubled marriage begins a passionate affair with a lonely woman working at a beach-side café. The climax is his sense of confusion, anger, and betrayal when, having lied and told her he is single, he learns she is also married. Her husband works away from home and returns on weekends. For her, the relationship with the man appears primarily sexual. She presses him to remain her mid-week lover, and he could well be too weak-willed to refuse. Themes include isolation, loneliness, insecurity, sexuality, deception, jealousy.

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The Living

The Living: Short story by Mary LavinIn this story by Mary Lavin, a boy challenges a younger friend to visit a wake to “know” a corpse for the first time The dead man, who had been intellectually challenged since birth, had never had contact with children. The boys agree when his mother invites them to pray over the body, but flee when she asks them to stroke it. The encounter with death not only brings the younger boy closer to his parents but also highlights the grim significance of his family’s nightly prayer. Themes include bravado, death, family, the precious and capricious nature of life.

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The Old Aunt / Boodhi Kaki

The Old Aunt / Boodhi Kaki: Short story by PremchandIn this story by Premchand a Hindu woman is overcome with pity and fear of adharma (divine punishment for selfishness and injustice) when she sees her husband’s disabled aunt foraging for food among banquet leftovers. The aunt, who has no other living relative, had previously transferred her entire property to the woman’s family in exchange for a promise of care. Rather than being cared for she has been treated inhumanely, often being left hungry and alone in her room for long periods. Themes include greed, betrayal, the plight of the infirm, responsibility, neglect, redemption, kindness.

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Scent of Apples

Scent of Apples: Short story by Bienvenido SantosSet during World War 2, this story by Bienvenido Santos explores the cultural displacement experienced by the thousands of Filipino men who emigrated to America in the first half of last Century. For an apple farmer who has lived in America for twenty years, the omnipresent scent of apples is a constant reminder of the difference between the two countries. Surprisingly, despite having a loving American family, he is anxious to know how much Filipino women have changed and can’t help thinking of what might otherwise have been. Themes include family, choices and consequences, cultural identity, alienation, isolation, nostalgia, connection.

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The Crowd

The Crowd: Short story by Ray BradburyIn this chilling story by Ray Bradbury, a man badly injured in a car accident senses something ominous about the onlookers in the crowd that gathered around him. Several weeks later, he notices these same individuals at another accident. He searches newspaper archives and discovers that they and similar groups had attended hundreds of accidents over the last decade. Their sinister purpose is revealed when he has another car crash and they decide to “make him more comfortable”. Themes include morbid curiosity, schadenfreude, anonymity and the possibility of evil in a crowd, the supernatural.

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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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