This heavily poetic steam of conscience narrative by Jayne Anne Phillips is not an easy read. Bouncing backwards and forwards in time, a former rapist and now imprisoned drug dealer recalls his obsessive love for and unpredictable, often violent relationship with, his unconventional “boyish” girlfriend. The drugs were pedaled in the seedy movie theatre in which she worked, and it unclear whether she, their “brotherly” hunch-backed supplier, or even the old theatre owner she was “in good with”, set him up. Themes include love, alienation, jealousy, violence, drug dealing and abuse, betrayal. More…
Inside Out
This is a chapter from the The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, a collection of autobiographical short stories by Francisco Jiménez. Here. Jiménez describes his first year at school. Although slightly nervous because of his older brother’s stories about his first grade experience, he is excited to learn. However, his academic progress and relationships with classmates are held back by a complete lack of English. Frustrated, he compensates through daydreaming, artistic expression and interaction with the class caterpillar. Themes include family, poverty, language and communication, isolation and loneliness, persistence, understanding and forgiveness, art, personal growth (metamorphosis). More…
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
In this story by ZZ Packer, an African-American woman completing her first year at Yale University struggles with her identity and sexuality. Thanks to a comment during orientation, she is assigned a year of close-watch and psychiatric counselling. When not attending class she lives as a recluse, spurning friendships until linking up with an overweight white girl. The two form a close relationship with moments of sexual tension, until the friend comes out as a lesbian. The protagonist immediately cuts her off, later regretting the decision and wishing they could reunite. Other themes include misanthropy, loneliness, friendship, race, pretense. More…
Sleeping Beauty
Today we have a reverse chronology of the folktales behind the classic children’s story, Sleeping Beauty. The famous kiss that woke the princess comes from the Brothers Grimm’s Briar-Rose (1812). Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (1697) has no kiss but lots of talk, a hasty wedding followed by a night of “very little sleep”, and an added section where the prince’s mother (an Ogress) decides to make a meal of their children. Perault’s inspiration was the Giambattista Basile’s Sun, Moon and Talia (1634). Here, the king “gathers the first fruits of love” (rapes) the poor unconscious girl. More…
Crazy Sunday
This partly autobiographical story from F. Scott Fitzgerald deals with the relationships between an up-and-coming Hollywood screenwriter (Joel), a powerful movie director (Miles), and the director’s wife (Stella). All three suffer major insecurity issues thanks to Hollywood’s toxic, highly competitive culture. Miles is a troubled adulterer; he and Stella look upon Joel as a friend/confidante; Joel has much stronger feelings for Stella. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you look at it), Miles dies before the seemingly inevitable marriage bust-up, and the future of Joel and Stella is left up in the air. Themes include insecurity, jealousy, appearances, romance, infidelity. More…