Short & Sweet
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In this story, F. Scott Fitzgerald tracks the lives of two downtrodden and impoverished soldiers, a pair of star-crossed lovers from the upper crust of society and a humble, but passionately dedicated socialist trying to run a magazine. The characters' lives interweave and eventually coalesce as the sweeping events of a single day rush breathlessly by, capturing and directing them unpredictably until they arrive at a dramatic conclusion involving a death, a riot and a suicide.
Absolution
May Day
Babylon Revisited
Crazy Sunday
ANSWER: Fitzgerald's stunning and sweeping portrait of people from differing socio-economic classes poignantly illustrates that tragedy exists everywhere in society and that no one is immune to the fatalism of life. The harried characters are overwhelmed by the hectic and confused series of events that ensue. The frantic structure of the story's denouement is perhaps meant to reflect the perplexity and disenchantment of life during a time of war. Fitzgerald's stunning and sweeping portrait of people from differing socio-economic classes poignantly illustrates that tragedy exists everywhere in society and that no one is immune to the fatalism of life. The harried characters are overwhelmed by the hectic and confused series of events that ensue. The frantic structure of the story's denouement is perhaps meant to reflect the perplexity and disenchantment of life during a time of war.
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This William Faulkner piece offers the reader one of the most telling and startlingly realistic representations of "white trash" in all of literature. Abner Snopes' family is ordered in no uncertain terms by the Justice of Peace to hitch up and leave town because he's had enough trouble from one irascible man over the years. New digs, however, do not translate to an attitude adjustment or monumental character change in Abner, and he's quickly up to his old tricks again. His youngest son finds himself stuck in a quagmire as he debates whether or not to obey his father and toe the family line, or do what he knows to be right and rat him out in order to avoid another soul-wrenching humiliation.
Jealousy
Notes on a Horsethief
Hell Creek Crossing
Barn Burning
ANSWER: Abner Snopes loves burning barns when he feels his honor has been called into question. Although Faulkner doesn't reveal what actually happens at the end of the story, it's perfectly clear that Sarty's Snopes' father has burned down another barn in sadistic retribution for his inherent feelings of inferiority, wilting pride and staunch bitterness. Sarty had set his mind to alerting the barn owner of his father's malicious designs upon the barn, but through the machinations of his father Sarty was unable to prevent the arson in time. Abner Snopes loves burning barns when he feels his honor has been called into question. Although Faulkner doesn't reveal what actually happens at the end of the story, it's perfectly clear that Sarty's Snopes' father has burned down another barn in sadistic retribution for his inherent feelings of inferiority, wilting pride and staunch bitterness. Sarty had set his mind to alerting the barn owner of his father's malicious designs upon the barn, but through the machinations of his father Sarty was unable to prevent the arson in time.
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A conversation between a young female interlocutor named Sybil Carpenter and a young man named Seymour Glass, just released from a hospital and the Army, compose the majority of this J.D. Salinger masterpiece of short fiction. They have a pleasant conversation and a nice swim, and return to the hotel in Florida they're both staying at. Although the mysterious illness effecting Seymour is never explicitly stated or identified, it doesn't take much exploratory reading to understand that something is amiss. Upon Seymour's return to his room, he fires a bullet into his head.
A Perfect Day for Bananafish
Seymour: An Introduction
The Laughing Man
A Walk on the Beach
ANSWER: The story begins with a conversation between Murial Glass and her mother, during which they cryptically debate if anything is wrong, psychologically, with Seymour...who has tried "funny" things in the past. Seymour is on the beach speaking with Sybil the whole time, but his actions and words betray an uneasiness of thought and manner. The metaphoric wisdom about bananafish he imparts to Sybil is quite possibly a harbinger of the Catcher in the Rye allusion Salinger would return to later in his most famous work. Both of these metaphors stand for the innocence of youth that is destroyed or lost as time progresses and the events of "real life" inevitably intrude. A Walk on the Beach was an invention of mine, the other three stories are authentic works by Salinger. The story begins with a conversation between Murial Glass and her mother, during which they cryptically debate if anything is wrong, psychologically, with Seymour...who has tried "funny" things in the past. Seymour is on the beach speaking with Sybil the whole time, but his actions and words betray an uneasiness of thought and manner. The metaphoric wisdom about bananafish he imparts to Sybil is quite possibly a harbinger of the Catcher in the Rye allusion Salinger would return to later in his most famous work. Both of these metaphors stand for the innocence of youth that is destroyed or lost as time progresses and the events of "real life" inevitably intrude. A Walk on the Beach was an invention of mine, the other three stories are authentic works by Salinger.
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In this obsessive treatment of who maintains psychological control over a relationship- a husband or his wife- Ernest Hemingway adds an astonishing ending that draws this oft-anthologized story to a close. The balance of power shifts alternately from one to the other as the events of the story unfold and ultimately reach a dramatic crescendo when the wife shoots the husband in the back of the head (accidentally?) during a hunting safari.
Winner Take Nothing
The End of Something
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Mr. and Mrs. Eliot
ANSWER: Leave it the uber-chauvinist Ernest Hemingway to use the backdrop of an African safari for the setting of this short story about a man who is only truly happy when he's in complete command of the loveless relationship he endures with his wife. The wife cheats on him with the safari guide after Francis proves himself a coward by balking and retreating after a hunting encounter with a lion. It is only after Francis learns to be a fearless hunter that he can again exert his will upon his wife, who isn't as pleased as he is with the new arrangement of their relationship. This story has some parallels to Alan Ball's film "American Beauty" and also reminds me a little bit of Isak Dinesen's "Out of Africa." Leave it the uber-chauvinist Ernest Hemingway to use the backdrop of an African safari for the setting of this short story about a man who is only truly happy when he's in complete command of the loveless relationship he endures with his wife. The wife cheats on him with the safari guide after Francis proves himself a coward by balking and retreating after a hunting encounter with a lion. It is only after Francis learns to be a fearless hunter that he can again exert his will upon his wife, who isn't as pleased as he is with the new arrangement of their relationship. This story has some parallels to Alan Ball's film "American Beauty" and also reminds me a little bit of Isak Dinesen's "Out of Africa."
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Dexter Green fruitlessly pursues Judy Jones in this Scott Fitzgerald tale about the pains of unrequited and unattainable love. As is frequently the case in Fitzgerald's stories, Dexter is a member of the nouveau riche, and consequently off limits to the likes of Judy- who is old money through and through. The story revolves around Dexter's unflappable drive to possess the impossible, as Judy flits about the periphery both unwilling and uninterested in realistically exploring a potential coupling.
Winter Dreams
The Rich Boy
The Long Way Out
The Freshest Boy
ANSWER: Many of the themes that would define Fitzgerald's work over the years are contained in this vaguely autobiographical story. While serving as a sort of prelude to The Great Gatsby, Winter Dreams touchingly addresses Fitzgerald's obsession with getting rich and landing his ideal woman. It's not a stretch to associate Dexter with Scott and Judy with Zelda. One of the tragic elements of Fitzgerald's life was his inability to reconcile himself to the fact that he wasn't born fabulously wealthy, which ironically was his main source of inspiration when writing. Many of the themes that would define Fitzgerald's work over the years are contained in this vaguely autobiographical story. While serving as a sort of prelude to The Great Gatsby, Winter Dreams touchingly addresses Fitzgerald's obsession with getting rich and landing his ideal woman. It's not a stretch to associate Dexter with Scott and Judy with Zelda. One of the tragic elements of Fitzgerald's life was his inability to reconcile himself to the fact that he wasn't born fabulously wealthy, which ironically was his main source of inspiration when writing.
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Hemingway's broodingly philosophical study of the hopelessness of life is personified by an old man drinking brandy in a Paris cafe in this tale. A young waiter, with joie de vivre and a new wife, is anxious for the old man to leave so he can return home and enjoy his youth and life. An older waiter, more understanding and experienced in the ways of the world, understands why the man stays as long as possible and drinks in complacent solitude. The two waiters discuss the point of the old man's existence with strikingly dissimilar opinions on the subject.
The Undefeated
A Very Short Story
Out of Season
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
ANSWER: Hemingway's dark, cynical treatment of this story reveals a writer intent on addressing the subject of man's existential dilemma. The contrast of opinion between the younger and older waiters represents wildly disparate views of the world and what the meaning of life may be. The younger waiter assumes that everything should be fine as long as you have money and a wife, but the older waiter knows there is far more to the equation than financial stability and marital bliss. Hemingway's dark, cynical treatment of this story reveals a writer intent on addressing the subject of man's existential dilemma. The contrast of opinion between the younger and older waiters represents wildly disparate views of the world and what the meaning of life may be. The younger waiter assumes that everything should be fine as long as you have money and a wife, but the older waiter knows there is far more to the equation than financial stability and marital bliss.
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A chance encounter between a U.S. serviceman attending intelligence training and an articulate and communicative young choir singer kicks off this Salinger yarn. They meet in a tearoom in Devonshire and decide they'd like to keep in touch. The serviceman is preparing for the D-Day invasion. The story is divided into two parts- the first, covering the initial meeting between the two, and the second relating the serviceman's sojourn in a military hospital...where he is unable to read or write because of the devastating effects of the war. As it turns out, he was not among the lucky who returned home with their f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s intact, as the girl had hoped.
Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes
For Esme- With Love and Squalor
The Laughing Man
Just Before the War With the Eskimos
ANSWER: Salinger's brilliant indictment of war is at turns wonderfully charming and painfully dispiriting. The opening sequence where Esme and the young solider meet contains some of the best dialogue Salinger ever wrote, while the second portion of the story exposes some strikingly morbid and unsentimental realities about the horror of war. Salinger's brilliant indictment of war is at turns wonderfully charming and painfully dispiriting. The opening sequence where Esme and the young solider meet contains some of the best dialogue Salinger ever wrote, while the second portion of the story exposes some strikingly morbid and unsentimental realities about the horror of war.
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Although William Faulkner referred to this modest yarn as a "ghost story," it actually has nothing to do with ghosts at all...unless you choose to count the haunting history of antebellum Mississippi as a ghostly presence. The story follows, through the sinuous paths of its complex structure, the life of an eccentric old woman in Faulkner's fictional town of Jefferson. The story goes over the woman's strange relations with her father, her lover and the town in general while circuitously journeying towards its gruesome ending-which involves a rather shocking and disturbing development.
Home
Dry September
A Rose for Emily
Carcassonne
ANSWER: This short story is a deconstructionist's dream, as this description from Frank A. Littler in "Notes on Mississippi Writers" properly illustrates: ‘‘A Rose for Emily’’ has been "read variously as a Gothic horror tale, a study in abnormal psychology, an allegory of the relations between North and South, a meditation on the nature of time, and a tragedy with Emily as a sort of tragic heroine.’’ This short story is a deconstructionist's dream, as this description from Frank A. Littler in "Notes on Mississippi Writers" properly illustrates: ‘‘A Rose for Emily’’ has been "read variously as a Gothic horror tale, a study in abnormal psychology, an allegory of the relations between North and South, a meditation on the nature of time, and a tragedy with Emily as a sort of tragic heroine.’’
