Short Stories - Feb
You know the drill. We read a bunch of stories and then we write a few words on which ones we liked and which ones we didn't. The stories this month spanned almost the whole gamut of human emotions; parental love, young love, horror, disillusionment, anguish, and humor, just to name a few. A small new addition in this month's review are one line summaries.
I managed to read a total of 20 stories in February. Here's the rundown on them:
The Jaunt - Stephen King
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Centered around the idea of teleportation, this one was so messed up in its final reveal. I couldn't help but draw some comparisons of this story with Black Mirror's Playtest. For those of you into psychological thriller or horror, you'd get a kick out of it. Amazed at how modern this story sounds in 2024 which is a nod to King's writing prowess.
One line summary: Curiosity killed the cat
Year Published: 1981
Do I recommend: Yes
Harrison Bergeron - Kurt Vonnegut
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Essentially a critique on the idea that equality could ever really be completely established in society. I have never felt more indignant once I grasped what Vonnegut was getting at. I am all for people doing whatever they please with their innate talents so should a scenario like this ever transpired in real life where the government was forcefully trying to maintain equality among its masses, I'd be on the side of the rebels.
One line summary: Achieving True, Real Equality in this world is a farce and radical efforts taken to do so will create more thorny problems than the one you vowed to eradicate.
Year Published: 1961
Do I recommend: Yes
On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning - Haruki Murakami
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story elicited one big aww from me as well as the just-fell-down-to-my-knees reaction. Murakami spins a wonderful tale of love and loss using as few words as possible. There are no grand hyperboles, no esoteric analogies, and no allegories involved yet the story flows like water until the end.
... and now I'm sad.
One line summary: I'm literally just this meme.
Year Published: 1981
Do I recommend: A resounding YES
Bartleby, the Scrivener - Herman Melville
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Of all the short stories I have read this month, this was the one where I jotted down the most unfamiliar words. Melville's Bartleby is a mysterious and eccentric character and the narrator is recounting his experience of working with him. There are many instances where I chuckled and many where I was like hmmm, I don't have a good answer to this question. There are many quotable quotes too.
My main takeaway from this was a person who had become so disillusioned with the system this he did not want to participate in it any further. The story seems to then ask what would you do if you had someone like this at a workplace? Does refusing to be a productive member of the society also rids you of your humanity? Should society, as a whole, shun you until you get your bearings back? These are not easy questions to answer and I found myself empathizing with both the narrator as well as Bartleby. There are several interesting minor themes in the story as well such as the limit to charity, and isolation at workplace among others.
I couldn't help but draw comparisons of Bartleby with Meursault of Camus's The Stranger (though I prefer the former). It is one of the oldest stories I have read yet it feels like the characters are very modern.
One line summary: What if one day you became an unshakeable, immoveable wall?
Year Published: 1853
Do I recommend: YES
Other People - Neil Gaiman
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story is a testament to the fact that you don't need that many words or grand, elaborate explanations to pull readers in and leave them with a lot to contemplate. It is <1000 words and revolves around a man being tortured for his wrongdoings in hell. The writing is simple but powerful, the subject matter heavy but well-known and the ending enigmatic enough that it would make you want to formulate some theories on what it actually meant.
One line summary: Hell is different when you are actually in it.
Year Published: 2001
Do I recommend: Yes
The Paper Menagerie - Ken Liu
⭐⭐⭐⭐
If Semplica-Girl Diaries from last month felt like a blow to the chest, this one was like a knife launched straight into the heart. A story about generational chasm between Asian-American families, of kids growing up and becoming distant to their parents and the parents harboring the pain of their kids' indifference over the years. I must admit I wasn't ready for the plot twist that came towards the end and I was devastated once I understood it.
One line summary: Be kind to your loved ones over and over and over.
Year Published: 2011
Do I recommend: Yes
The Sniper - Liam O’Flaherty
⭐⭐⭐⭐
O'Flaherty's story opens with the protagonist razor focused on taking out his enemies. This young man is sharp in both decision-making and executive abilities and is part of the Irish Civil War. I really liked this one because in a couple hundred words O'Flaherty captures the tense atmosphere and anticipation of what happens when a shooting is about to take place. It ends on a surprise note but one that felt less shocking and more matter-of-fact, what'd-you-expect way.
One line summary: War is, and has always been, ugly.
Year Published: 1923
Do I recommend: Yes
The Little Matchgirl - Hans Christian Anderson
⭐⭐⭐
The problem is you set out to read great works from renowned authors thinking it'll be a ball. There is a reason they are great and oft discussed. And sometimes the reason they're great is because they captured unpleasant emotions in such a gut-wrenching way that when you finish reading them, you think you're never reading that story again. To me, this story was like that. It centers around a little girl on Christmas night selling matches who is in a predicament because she hasn't sold any that day.
One line summary: Poverty can be so unbelievably dehumanizing especially when you're young.
Year Published: 1845
Do I recommend: Yes, but it's heavy stuff.
Araby - James Joyce
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved this one!! Like every few paragraphs or so I couldn't help but laugh and say "me too brother, me too" or "I know the feeling". The prose is beautiful and coupled with the main themes of coming of age and infatuation, the story is quite relatable. Who among us hasn't done grandiose things to impress their crush? Who among us hasn't thought that the world understands nothing about their plight? And who among us hasn't felt raw anger at the loss-of-innocence when it dawns upon us that our situation isn't as unique as we believe? I certainly have and I think the beauty of this short but stirring read is that you could give it to anyone in any part of the world and they'd probably relate to it. I could not give it five stars as I was a bit miffed at how Joyce ended the story.
One line summary: You're a teenager living in a sheltered environment and go out on a quest to impress the girl you're hopelessly infatuated with.
Year Published: 1914
Do I recommend: YES
Rape Fantasies - Margaret Atwood
⭐⭐⭐
I joked to myself while reading this one that the protagonist would be the first person to die in Hunger Games. Essentially the plot goes like this: you are playing bridge with a couple of your coworkers in the ladies lunchroom and you all start sharing your rape fantasies (what can we say, girl-talk is very unpredictable). The protagonist is a bit casual towards the idea of rape and thinks she can somehow avoid getting raped by just reasoning through it.
Atwood, as a writer, is no stranger to me and I loved watching The Handmaid's Tales so I knew what to expect. I honestly want to read more of her and soon. A thing I want to mention is that I'm always struck when looking at Atwood's face. The woman is 84 and has one of the most unique and compelling old face.
One line summary: You ever talked to the girlies and boldly made a claim that you'd totally survive through a thick forest overnight on your own?
Year Published: 1977
Do I recommend: Yes
Sonny's Blues - James Baldwin
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Sonny's Blues is a poignant story of two brothers in 1950s Harlem with very different life paths. The elder brother who is the unnamed protagonist knows that his younger brother, Sonny, is a sensitive soul and is trying to reconnect with him after some recent tumultuous life events. The writing is beautiful and the overarching message is that adversities in life can be overcome with a family that gives a damn and that music can often act as a catalyst in healing wounds and bringing two parties together.
One line summary: Two brothers trying to reconnect after suffering loss in their personal lives.
Year Published: 1957
Do I recommend: Yes
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison
⭐⭐⭐
When you distil sci-fi and horror into one, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. For me IHNMAIMS, sadly, belongs to the latter category. It’s about a sadistic AI that despises humanity and is hell bent on taking revenge from the last surviving humans. If horror and nihilism are your jam, go for it. I don’t do well with these themes. I had heard people gushing about how it was one of the finest horror tales they had read but I disagree. I could understand the protagonists' decisions towards the end but I could not connect with this story at all.
One line summary: Welcome to a dystopia where a sadistic AI has killed most of humanity and only five people are alive and are suffering… badly.
Year Published: 1967
Do I recommend: No. There are better stories
The Overcoat - Nikolai Gogol
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I thought Araby's ending had me slightly upset but that was nothing compared to reading The Overcoat. It recounts the tale of this man in St. Petersburg who is not very well-off, is meek and often the subject of ridicule of his coworkers. I had to pause reading in the middle because the writing was causing me too much anguish. Then I picked it up a few days later and finished it. The ending is fun though this man probably deserved better. It is quite a devastating story.
One line summary: It's terrible when you're not affluent and have to seek justice in a corrupt society
Year Published: 1842
Do I recommend: Yes
For a Breath I Tarry - Roger Zelazny
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shrewd readers would remember "Men Are Different" by Alan Bloch from last month. Well this one shares one similarity with that story in that there are robots involved and one of them is trying to understand humans but that's where the similarity ends. Without giving too much away, it's about one robot's quest to understand humans and to become like them. The premise is super interesting and I enjoyed how the robots were talking to each other in king's English. Once finished, I was thinking of how if the premise of this story was ever casually posed in a gathering, I would've sided against the protagonist even though I really liked him. It's quite contemplative and ends on a rather sweet note.
One line summary: Everybody loves humans and wanna be like them
Year Published: 1966
Do I recommend: Yes
Wakefield - Nathaniel Hawthorne
⭐⭐
I wanted to like this one but I didn't. The story is about a middle-aged man who chooses to exile himself from the society and the rest of the story deals with explaining his decision. It's not that I have never read stories that explore the themes of alienation before. It just wasn't to my taste; his writing style didn't pique my interest. One example:
"He is quite penetrated with its autumnal chill"
(me suppressing laughter and with faux anger): Nathaniel, I need you to be serious for one second!!
Sadly, I didn't care much about where the story was going unlike, say, Melville's Bartleby and was glad once it was over.
One line summary: Man decides to become an exile but one that lives a short distance away from his original abode.
Year Published: 1835
Do I recommend: No
Liking What You See: A Documentary - Ted Chiang
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I have read some of Chiang's works before and have enjoyed his writing style. I picked this one up because I needed a brief respite from stories that had left me devastated. This one has a very interesting premise: what if you could no longer perceive beauty in the face or body when interacting with people? What if everyone looked the same to you? This story ties up nicely with Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron so if you do decide to read any of these, I'd recommend reading Chiang and Vonnegut's stories in tandem.
This one follows different people at a college who chose to went through this procedure called Calliagnosia (that allows them to look at pretty and not-so-pretty faces the same way) and others that didn't. There's a voting coming up on whether or not to allow Calliagnosia to remain at the college and then there are different characters stating what they think of it. It is a light read and quite interesting to hear the takes from all sides.
I disagree with both the author and Tamera in the story on willfully opting for the procedure. Insert i-am-normal-and-can-be-trusted-with-interacting-with-others-normally meme.
One line summary: What if society started seeing everyone the same without noticing anything about their exterior?
Year Published: 2002
Do I recommend: Yes
A Temporary Matter - Jhumpa Lahiri
⭐⭐⭐
I respect stories where the title doesn't give you any hint about what the plot is about. Lahiri's story is exactly that. It is told from the perspective of the husband who is a guy in his mid-30s living in Boston with his wife. In the entire story there's this feeling of premonition. You are anticipating that the unspoken tension and aloofness would ultimately lead to some angry outburst but the ending is nothing like that. Perhaps more realistic for an academic couple?
One line summary: Waiting for things to ride out instead of addressing them head-on is a recipe for disaster.
Year Published: 1998
Do I recommend: Yes
Lust - Susan Minot
⭐⭐⭐
Me after finishing the story:
Don't say it
Don't say it
Don't Say It
Also Me: My reaction to the narrator halfway through the story
Written in first-person, Lust is about a teenage girl musing over her sexual adventures. Most of the story is spent on her describing her flings but in the closing, you catch a glimpse of how she feels about herself and that phase of her life. I couldn't help but feel for the girl and hope that she finds her footing and a balance in her life when navigating relationships.
One line summary: I did some things and now I'm in big-brain-introspective mood.
Year Published: 1989
Do I recommend: Yes
Aapa - Mumtaz Mufti
⭐⭐⭐
Anyone who knows even a little bit about Urdu literature has heard of Mumtaz Mufti for his novels like "Ali Pur ka Aili" and "Alakh Nagri". I wanted to read something less hefty from him as a first timer. It recounts the tale of this young girl in her early 20s who is a stay-at-home, shy and homely type person. She starts fancying this guy who comes to stay at her house while studying at the college. The catch is that another girl who is just the opposite of this girl personality-wise also arrives on the scene soon after and tries to cozy up to the guy by being all bubbly and lively.
This shy-girl-good-versus-clever-lively-girl-vying-for-the-same-guy is not an uncommon theme in Urdu novelettes. Alas, I have no patience for the sufferer-in-silence type characters and have to sort of convince myself that some stories are dated and were reflective of people living in an era with specific social norms that wouldn't be very acceptable today. This read was driven completely by nostalgia for classical Urdu prose.
One line summary: Being nice gets you no where
Year Published: ???
Do I recommend: Yes
The Ransom of Red Chief - O' Henry
⭐⭐⭐
This was actually a very funny story about two men who decide to kidnap a young boy from an affluent house and make a quick buck by demanding his parents for ransom. The catch? the boy is mischievous as hell and to him the kidnapping act is more of an adventure than anything unfortunate. When I first finished it, I was like ok I'm kinda lukewarm on it but thinking back I think it's quite a funny story and a huge respite in between sci-fi horror and deeply gut-wrenching stories.
One line summary: You ever tried to become someone's worst nightmare and they were like no way this is the best day of my life!
Year Published: 1907
Do I recommend: Yes
Closing Thoughts
It will never cease to be interesting that what is often praised by many could just be another story to you. And hey! there's nothing wrong with that. For example, Hawthorne's writing style came across as tepid and unengaging to me but I'd be open to reading other works from him in the future. It's called saying no to a story, not writing off the author forever.
I have wondered, more than once, whether I'd have reacted differently had I read these as a teenager? I try not to dwell on that too much. It's probably for the better that I am reading them now (or at all, frankly). Can you imagine how much more insufferable I would have been? :)
See you next time <3