The central theme of this poignant, rather dark story from Katherine Porter is a mother’s relationship with her devoted special needs son. The woman is obsessed with appearances. Although she professes greater love for him than her other children combined, one wonders if this is out of pity or, worse, a mere show for neighbors. Similarly, are her tears as she takes the boy to the County Home the result of losing him, a sense of failure/shame as a mother, and/or (as the narrator cruelly suggests) wishing he had never been born? Other themes: struggle against poverty, family, appearances, guilt. More…
The Lady With the Dog
Anton Chekhov’s Lady With the Dog is about a philandering misogynist who meets a much younger woman while on vacation. Both have unhappy marriages; both are open to holiday romance. They enjoy a brief affair, then go their separate ways. After parting, each becomes obsessed with the memory of the other. He tracks her down, and soon they are planning a future together. The story has an open ending, but one suspects that each now looks at relationships and the world in a new way. Themes: love, infidelity, guilt, morality, chauvinism, sexual objectification, commitment. More…
Last Night
This story by James Salter explores the theme of euthanasia (enabling assisted death with dignity for those for whom natural death will involve great suffering). A woman with an incurable illness enlists her husband to help her die. After the couple enjoy a last night out with a close friend, we learn that the man is not the loyal and loving husband we first thought him to be. He receives a surprise the next morning as the title of the story takes on a new meaning. Other themes include materialism, taking life for granted, betrayal, adultery, rape More…
Spring in Fialta
Acclaimed as one of Vladimir Nabokov’s best stories, Spring in Fialta’s is a haunting reminiscence of what was and might have been. A businessman travels widely across Europe. On many occasions, and in different cities, he coincidentally comes across and enjoys brief dalliances with the same enigmatic woman. Both are married and know each other’s partners. He has strong romantic feelings for her, but is unsure if they are reciprocated. A meeting in Fialta, in which he tentatively admits his love, is their last before her tragic death. Themes include memories and the past, fate, love and desire, death, loss. More…
When the Mice Failed to Arrive
In 2018, the New York Times dubbed Gerald Murnane “the greatest living English-language writer most people have never heard of.” Now 83, Murnane has remained largely unknown due to his distinctive stream of consciousness writing style. Stories contain frequent changes of perspective from character to character, and between past and present. In When the Mice Failed to Arrive, a storm breaking as a father waits for his son to come home from school triggers memories of the man’s earlier life. Themes include father-son relationships, childhood anxiety, religious parody, awakening sexuality, insecurity, deceit, and what some may consider animal cruelty. More…