Yellow Moepels

Post category:Short Stories

Yellow Moepels: Short story by Herman Bosman In this story by Herman Bosman, a young a young farmer riding off to fight the British during the short First Boer War promises the girl he is engaged to that he will be home when the moepel fruit are ripe (yellow). The girl visits a native witch-doctor who tells her the same thing. We learned earlier in the story that witch-doctors can only tell you the things that don’t matter in your life. There is something more important in the girl’s future that the witch-doctor neglected to divulge. Themes: love, superstition, war, “bravery”, memory, racism.

Old Love

Post category:Novelettes

Old Love: Novelette by Jeffrey Archer In this story by Jeffrey Archer, a couple go from rivalry-inspired hatred at first sight to literally being unable to live without each other. From the time they meet as Oxford undergraduates in the 1930s, a fierce sense of competition between the gifted pair spurs them on to topping their class, attaining coveted professorships, and earning royal honours. After tragedy brings them together, the caustic relationship morphs into a life-long love affair during which legend has it they were never apart for more than a few hours. Themes include competiveness, lasting love, literature and the arts, dedication, achievement.

Private Lies

Post category:Short Stories

Private Lies: Short story by Bobbie Anne Mason This story by Bobbie Ann Mason reveals how events of the past can resurface and have a significant effect on the present. A seemingly happily married man with two children becomes obsessed with finding the soon-to-be eighteen-year-old woman he and his previous wife gave up for adoption at birth. The quest causes him to look up his ex-wife, who has changed significantly in looks and character. This leads to a steamy affair that is on the brink of destroying his current marriage. Themes include marriage, teenage pregnancy, control, loss, regret, deception.

The Lady With the Dog

Post category:Short Stories

The Lady With the Dog: Short story by Anton Chekhov 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.

A Haunted House

Post category:Quick Reads

A Haunted House: Short story by Virginia Woolf If you read Virginia Woolf‘s A Haunted House expecting it to be a horror story, you will come away disappointed. Rather than scary, the best word I can think of to describe it is bittersweet. Sweet because two ghosts are still very much in love after hundreds of years; sad because the ghostly couple appear to be anxiously searching for something. Although the central theme of the story is the immortality of love, it also carries the message that life is short, and we should treasure each moment with those we love. Other themes include loss, time, memories, the supernatural.

Dead Stars

Post category:Short Stories

Dead Stars: Short story by Paz Marquez Benitez This story by Paz Marquez Benitez is set in a culture and time where honor outweighs love. A young lawyer delays marrying his fiancé for three years because it doesn’t feel right. Although he falls in love with another, he keeps his word, marries the fiancé, and dreams of the other woman for eight years. He likens the dreams to seeing the light of dead stars, long extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed places in the heavens. When he sees the other woman again, the light has gone out. Themes: courtship, fidelity, forbidden love, honor, regret, understanding.

Dr Heidegger’s Experiment

Post category:Short Stories

Dr Heidegger’s Experiment: Short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne In this story from Nathaniel Hawthorne, an ageing scientist invites four elderly friends to participate in an experiment ostensibly designed to test the efficacy of the waters of the fabled fountain of youth. The inclusion of several supernatural elements clouds whether the effect of the water was real, imagined or faked by substituting alcohol. However, as each friend had a major character flaw in their youth, it is likely that the experiment had a different thesis, which is supported by their behavior after drinking. Themes: ageing, failing to learn from past mistakes, obsession with youthfulness and appearance, the supernatural.