Featured Stories

The Autopsy (Dissection)

The Autopsy: Short story by Georg HeymOnly an accomplished poet like Georg Heym could tastefully write such an absorbing vignette about the dissection of a human body. This early example of expressionist literature (written a year before Kafka’s The Judgement) describes the procedure in the form of a prose poem. Extensive use of literary devices softens the gore and lends a surreal quality to the story. The backstory of love and beauty humanizes the dead man, making the juxtaposition in the final sentence (the dead man quivered in happiness … while the … doctors broke open the bones of his temple) seem all the more powerful.

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The Grand Inquisitor

The Grand Inquisitor: Novelette by Fydor DostoevskyThis story is a chapter from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s acclaimed novel, The Brothers Karamazov. Jesus makes a quick visit to Seville amid the suffering of the Spanish Inquisition. When he starts preforming miracles the Grand Inquisitor, a Cardinal, has him arrested. He visits Jesus in his cell and declares that he is no longer welcome on Earth because his message (spiritual freedom and the right to choose good or evil) is at odds with the teachings of the Church (forced belief through miracle, mystery, and authority). Themes include God and religion, free will vs. Catholic authoritarianism, suffering and human weakness.

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The Mouse

The Mouse: Short story by H. H. Munro (aka Saki)This story by Saki satirizes the social sensitivities of the late-Victorian/Edwardian middle class. A prudish young man who has had a sheltered upbringing returns to the city from a farm visit. Sharing his train compartment is a woman who appears to be sleeping. He soon finds they are not alone… he has a mouse in his pants! To avoid offending the woman and causing a scene, he removes his trousers by hiding behind a blanket. Unfortunately, the blanket falls before can he put them on again and the woman wakes up. Themes include propriety, embarrassment, dissimulation, insensitivity towards others.

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The Hitchhiking Game

The Hitchhiking Game: Short story by Milan KundaraIn this story by Milan Kundera, a young couple on a road trip play what they think is a harmless game. The woman, normally shy and sexually inhibited, plays the role of a seductive hitchhiker. She finds the experience liberating, but carries the game too far. The man, who liked the woman for her purity, now sees her as no different to all other girls he has known. He begins to hate her, and humiliates the poor woman in a hotel room. Themes include identity, fantasy vs. reality, purity vs. promiscuity, jealousy, misogyny and cruelty.

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Miss Awful

Miss Awful: Short story by Arthur CavanaughArthur Cavanaugh’s Miss Awful is about how a sensitive third-grader (Roger) deals with a substitute school teacher who is the direct opposite of his regular one. While the regular teacher is flexible and empowers the children in her class, the substitute (who Roger nicknames Miss Awful) is an ‘old-style’ strict disciplinarian. The change affects Roger so much that he begins to show signs of depression. His fellow students are also unhappy, and the children decide to play a cruel joke on Miss Awful. As the joke plays out some of them, including Roger, realize they may have seriously misjudged her.

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After the Ball / Dance

After the Ball / Dance: Short story by Leo TolstoyThe major themes of this story from Leo Tolstoy are the circumstances that determine “good” and “evil”, and the morality of blaming a child for the actions of his/her father. The protagonist is captivated by a beautiful woman. They attend an elegant ball, where he is impressed by the demeanor of her father, a senior military officer. His feelings change the next morning when he witnesses the father officiating at the brutal punishment of a deserting soldier. Other themes: romance, judging by appearances, point of view (cruelty vs. duty), class, moral indignation vs. naivety.

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The Secret Room

The Secret Room: American / German folktale from Emelyn GardnerAlthough attributed to the folklore of Schoharie County New York, this folktale almost certainly has German origins. In common with Perrault’s famous Bluebeard, the plot involves a large house, a set of keys and a room that must not be entered. The main difference is that in this story the heroine falls in love with and marries a bull! Having killed and decapitated her older sisters, the beast was planning the same fate for her. The story teaches two life lessons: 1) don’t let curiosity get the better of you; and 2) black cats are not so evil after all.

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Marjorie Daw

Marjorie Daw: Short story by Thomas Bailey AldrichThe major theme of this story by Thomas Aldrich is how well-intentioned deception can lead to unexpected results. A wealthy, self-absorbed young man has difficulty adjusting to being confined to a sofa with a broken leg. His doctor asks the man’s best friend, who is holidaying near the sea with his sick father, to write frequently in order to “distract and cheer him up”. The friend complies, beginning with an innocent white lie about the beautiful girl living across the road. Unfortunately, as is often the case, one lie leads to another and soon the distraction grows into an obsession.

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