Respite

This blog will resume on January 4, 2010. It consists of brief summaries of short stories published over the years. RayS.

"Fard." Aldous Huxley.

One-minute review: Comparison between a woman who thinks she is tragic (Madame) and one who really is (Sophie, the maid), but, of course, who doesn’t complain, though she is horribly overworked and is completely exhausted. Madame cannot stand to see the appearance of real tragedy (“The woman was a walking corpse”), so she commands Sophie to put rouge on her cheeks and gloss on her lips to mask the face of tragedy. But she does not remove the real cause of Sophie’s tragic exhaustion—she continues to work her—hard!

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.

"The Exact Science of Matrimony." O. Henry.

One-minute review: Flim-flam times two. Two male schemers employ a female “wealthy” widow to be the lure for men to try to marry her—at a price to the flim-flammers who arrange meetings with her. As they are about to slip away, she begs for $2,000 to give to the successful applicant for her love, whom she loves to distraction. Seems the successful applicant was one-half of the flim-flamming duo who was courting the widow himself. All the money, including the widow’s $2,000, is accounted for and they are gone. The perfect scheme.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.

"The Lost Soul." Ben Hecht.

One-minute review: A man about to be executed for a horrible murder loses his memory and has no idea who he is. When he sees that he has been led to the gallows, he screams, “This ain’t me!” Has the soul of the original murderer been taken from him and replaced by another’s soul? Was it all a hoax of a brilliant madman in hopes that officials wouldn’t hang a man who was unaware that he had committed a crime? Or did the madman really feel that it wasn’t the guilty man they were hanging? Split personality? The story of a man driven out of his senses prior to being hanged for a horrible crime.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.

"The Boy Who Drew Cats." Lafcadio Hearn.

One-minute review: A boy (Oriental) draws cats—very life-like cats, so life-like that they come alive to kill an enormous goblin-rat which has scared the priests out of a very large Oriental temple. The goblin-rat was as big as a cow. This story is told like a fairy tale, but seems to have no point.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.

"A Question of Blood." Ernest Haycox.

One-minute review: A man alone in the early years of the frontier needs a woman. And when there are no white women available, he takes an Indian. When white civilization catches up to him, racial prejudice makes him a man outside of his kind. Indian and white, their varied customs and habits war. She insists on walking behind him. He takes on tasks that she is used to performing like cutting the firewood. He eats at the table while she—and now her son—eats in the corner on a blanket. There is no victory in this war. Neither can change. And when he claims the growing boy as white by seating him at the table, he signals that he will raise him as a white and she cries, heart-broken. He has taken her son from her.

Comment: A powerful story about the power of culture to divide. RayS.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.

"The Hollow of the Three Hills." Nathaniel Hawthorne.

One-minute review: A woman has sought out a withered old crone, a witch, to learn what has happened to her family, her parents, her husband and her child whom she has deserted. The crone conjures up the sounds and conveys images of the family, crushed by the desertion of their daughter and wife and mother. The sounds of the casket containing her child passes, with the mourners decrying the faithlessness of the mother. The woman is lifeless on her knees. The crone, a representative of the devil, chuckles and says, “Here has been a sweet hour’s sport.”

Comment: A mood piece. Hawthorne seems fixated on the consequences and regrets of sin. RayS.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.

"Absent-Mindedness in a Parish Choir." Thomas Hardy.

One-minute review: The band that played in the gallery of the parish church played also in taverns. The Sunday after Christmas they had played all the previous night and early morning in a tavern and arrived at church which was very cold in the gallery where they played. To keep warm, they furtively took some liquor during the beginning of the service and, during a very long sermon, they fell asleep. When the time came to play the hymn after the sermon, they were all sleeping. The parishioners turned to see what was the cause of their silence. A boy who sat in the gallery nudged them and they leaped up and, since the church was so dark, and, forgetting where they were, they began playing “The Devil Among the Tailors,” a tavern song instead of the hymn. The Squire said it was a disgrace, they were dismissed and the parish purchased an organ to replace them.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.

"The Butterfly." James Henley.

One-minute review: The boy has missed mass. Brother Timothy is in a rage. The boy meets Brother Timothy’s rage with stoical silence. Brother Timothy’s rage grows at this response of silence. He confines the boy to his room. They boy is sensitive. The reason he missed mass was his exploring the grounds with a friend and they did not hear the bell. On this exploration of nature, he has found and put in a box with air holes a green caterpillar that will grow into a butterfly. He treats the caterpillar gently. The caterpillar seems like a friend in the face of Brother Anthony’s rage. Brother Anthony crushes the caterpillar and the boy cries.

Comment: Each time I go into a rage like Brother Anthony’s, and I tend to do so, I will remember this story. That will be my “anger management.” RayS.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961.