This story by Edgar Allan Poe is an MS. (manuscript) found in a bottle tossed into the ocean by a dying man. After outlining his once rational, skeptical outlook on life, he relates the story of how, after a series of misadventures at sea, he found himself on a huge ghost galleon speeding under full sail towards the South pole. He walks around the ship unseen by its crew of infirm old men, who become increasingly excited as they approach their doom. Themes include the power of nature, fear, exploration, rational thinking vs. the supernatural, compulsion to document the unexplainable. More…
Old Aeson
In this story by Arthur Quiller-Couch who wrote under the pen-name “Q” (No relation to the James Bond Q!), a very old man almost freezes to death outside a rich man’s house. The rich man takes the old man in and has him cared for. Nobody knows who the old man is or where he came from, and no one can understand his strange language. However, the old man has a mysterious power. He begins to suck the life out of the rich man, slowly turning him into an old man as he becomes younger and younger. More…
A&P
John Updike’s A&P reflects some common Middle American attitudes before the social upheavals of the 1960s. A supermarket employee (Sammy) resigns when three girls in swimsuits are rudely asked to leave the store. Themes include appearance, respect, sexuality, humiliation, class and choices. I don’t share the common interpretation that Sammy’s actions are heroic. The misogyny evident in his denigrating, sexist descriptions of the girls and cruel references to other customers suggest that he is not as righteous as he makes out. Would such a person really quit because of Lengel’s treatment of the girls, or could there be another reason? More…
Glory
Glory (aka Glorybetogod), the protagonist in this Lesley Nneka Arimah story, is so screwed-up and irresponsible as to be almost likeable. As foreshadowed by her grandfather at birth, Glory’s history is one of poor life choices. At the end of the story, she has yet another decision to make. A “yes” will lead to the kind of life that most single Nigerian women her age dream of. A “no” could send her back to contemplating how a bottle of Moscato would pair with thirty gelcap sleeping pills. Themes: superstition, parental expectations, choices and consequences. More…
The Wreath
In this moving story by Luigi Pirandello, a middle-aged doctor is disturbed to learn that his much younger wife, who still has feelings for a former lover who died before they married, has gone behind his back and secretly ordered a wreath for the anniversary of his death. At first angry and ready to “take her back to her father’s house,” he calms down and finally accompanies her to the cemetery. Touched by his gesture, she looks at him as she had never looked at him before. Themes include the beauty of nature, love, mourning, deceit, understanding and compassion. More…