Dog Star illustrates science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s sentimental side. Despite the title, the story has nothing to do with stars of the celestial kind. It does however feature a dog. An introverted astronomer finds and raises a lost puppy. On two occasions, the dog’s heightened senses save his life. The second time, the dog had been long dead. If you love animals, especially dogs, you are sure to be moved by the story. But BE WARNED… the conclusion has been known to bring tears to the eyes. Themes: kindness, human/animal bonding, career sacrifice, supernatural connections. More…
The Horse Dealer’s Daughter
At a simplistic level, this story by D. H. Lawrence can be looked upon as a traditional love story. However, with Lawrence’s reputation as a writer who explores human nature through psychological insight and sexual descriptions, it is highly unlikely he would write a story with such a straightforward message. Alternate interpretations include: 1) a tale in which a desperate, calculating woman tries to seduce a vulnerable man; and 2) a religious fantasy in which a near-death experience results in an epiphany that awakens feelings of love and desire. Themes include family relationships, patriarchy, misogyny, despair, death, rebirth, passion. More…
The Necessary Grace to Fall
In this story by Gina Ochsner, an investigative assistant in the claims department of a life insurance company finds himself bored by both the routine of the job and his marriage. He compensates by taking a morbid interest in the unusual causes of death he encounters, and becomes obsessed with learning more about a woman from his childhood neighborhood who jumped/fell from a bridge. While sitting on a ledge of the same bridge trying to imagine her motivation and feelings, he has an epiphany that may change his life. Themes include alienation, guilt, death, suicide, obsession, redemption, hope. More…
The Bread of Salt
In this coming-of-age story by N. V. M. Gonzalez bread of salt (pan de sal), a popular Filipino food, symbolizes the racial, social and economic divide between a working-class teen with big dreams and the Spanish plantation owner’s niece with whom he is infatuated. Embarrassed when she catches him pilfering delicacies leftover after a banquet, he finally comes to terms with the reality of his position. He throws the delicacies away, and on the way home stops to buy some pan de sal. Themes include family, naivety, unrequited love, social and economic class, shame, disillusionment. More…
Weight
In this story by John Edgar Wideman, a writer calls his mother and reads her a draft of a story he has written. It opens with the metaphor My mother is a weightlifter, and goes on to admire the way she has shouldered so many burdens throughout her life. She is not impressed. Two days later, she dies. As he reflects on the call he realizes it wasn’t the story that upset her, but his opening words: This is about a man scared he won’t survive his mother’s passing. Themes include motherhood, love, racial inequality, suffering, strength, dependence, grief, fear. More…