March 2010
1 post
Virgil Walker
Several weeks ago we read the short story Virgil Walker, written by Arthur Bradford. This story took us into the strange life of Virgil the octopus. In the 15 pages (including illustrations) of this story we learned of the hardships of being born to a human mother when you resemble more of an octopus. Immediately disowned by his mother and given to a pet store Virgil, gifted with a human mind,...
January 2010
4 posts
¿Español o Inglès? (Spanish or English?)
Today, we read The Blue Bouquet (Octavio Paz). Jake posed the question of whether there was a significant difference between the original in Spanish and the one in English. And moreover, if the English even measured up to the Spanish. Spanish/English speakers, what are your thoughts?
Hoy, leìmos El Ramo Azul (Octavio Paz). Jake nos preguntò, “¿Qué es la significa entre el original en...
A Bad Business by Anton Chekhov
I was delighted to bring the mystical, chilling work of renowned Russian playwright and author, Anton Chekhov. “A Bad Business” is an eerie short story about a gravedigger that gets distracted by a mysterious man who claims to have risen from the dead. Chekhov hints at the end of the story that this man is a robber trying to deter suspicious observers from his accomplices’ crime. Subtly he...
The Great End of 2009
You’re Losing Your Head, Viskovitz by Alessandro Boffa and John Casey. Rating of 4.5 stars. Tags as Fiction, Humor, Animal Personification, Morbid.
Once of These Days by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rating of 3.5 stars. Tags as Magic Realism, Morbid, Revenge, Latino.
The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde. Rating of 3.5 stars. Tags as NOT Happy, Morality, Fiction, Animal Personification.
Accident...
November 2009
10 posts
Accident →
It’s rare a piece written in second person works. Most of the time it’s awkward, or cluttered, and more often than not, we’d prefer authors avoid it all together. Dave Eggers is a rare exception with his (very) short story, Accident.
Eggers uses second person (addressing the reader as “you”) as a way of making a simple story— the stress of a car accident, into...
Mother of a Queen
Ernest Hemingway’s short story, ”Mother of a Queen”, centers around a gay man, Paco, who must bury his recently-deceased mother. The narrator, Roger, chides Paco several times to arrange his mother’s burial. Though Paco says he will get to it, he never does, and his mother ends up buried in a common grave.
The salient title, “Mother of a Queen,” reflects the...
The Dawkins Delusion
To preface this story, you must understand about a week ago, I was the biggest Richard Dawkins fan. His wonderfully comical and simple explanations of the conflict of religion and science were so intriguing and fun to read. I devoured his books one by one starting at The Selfish Gene and continuing on to Unweaving the Rainbow and The Greatest Show on Earth. My insatiable appetite for any...
Short Stories Thus Far
Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver. Rating of 5 stars. Tags as Dirty Realism, Disturbing, Dead Babies, Fiction.
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. Rating of 4 stars. Tags as Archaic, Disturbing, Dark, Fiction, Morbid.
Preface of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Rating of 3.5 stars. Tags as Controversial, Atheism, Argumentative.
Powder by Tobias Wolff. Rating of 3.75 stars. Tags as...
