Murakami, Boyle, Oz, Babitz, Cather and Adjei-Brenyah Short Stories in January, February and March Whether in a dedicated collection or a magazine, these stories capture a variety of reading moods. This quarter, I returned to two familiar writers and also explored four new-to-me story writers.
All the questions that Linnet poses at the end of this story? I wonder about them straight away. “How do you stand if you stand upon Zero? What will the passage be like between Zero and One? And what will happen at One? Yes, what will happen?” Straight away, straight
What we know, from the beginning, is that Linnet Muir is alone. "My father died, then my grandmother; my mother was left, but we did not get on." She concedes her role in this situation. She was probably disagreeable. "I was probably disagreeable with anyone who felt entitled to give
Vera’s sister-in-law sends tins of aspirin in her care packages, always with one pill missing. Nobody knows why, and, at the heart of it, this is what this forty-page-long story is all about. Nah, I’m making a joke. Actually, stealing one. Because it’s Vera who thinks it’s amusing to lend
Language is important in “Orphans’ Progress”, specifically the relationship between English-speakers in Ontario and French-speakers in Quebec (predominantly Montreal, with a reference to Chicoutimi). It matters, immediately and lastingly, because the orphans, Cathie and Mildred, are the children of an English-Canadian man and a French-Canadian woman. Governor General's Award Winner
