Eye in the Throat
The second story I’d like to discuss in Samanta Schweblin’s collection Good and Evil and Other Stories is called Eye in the Throat. It’s long, forty pages, a size that pushes it into novella range. Yes, please note the use of the present tense combined with first person narration. It begins: “My father picks up the phone.” What follows is a description of how the narrator’s father, in 1990s Argentina, received phone calls during the night in which no one spoke. “The silence

Alan Bray
4 days ago4 min read
Good and Evil
Hello to all. Today, I want to write about Samanta Schweblin’s brand new collection of long short stories, translated as Good and Evil from the Spanish El Buen Mal . I will discuss two of the stories, first William in the Window and then An Eye in the Throat . Samanta Schweblin has published two novels and, counting Good and Evil , three short story collections. She is originally from Argentina. The Spanish speakers among us might say, “Hold up! Good and Evil is not a lit

Alan Bray
Nov 74 min read
Boo?
Last time, I wrote about the ambiguity of certain elements in Daphne Du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now , and I’d like to continue—especially since we’re dealing with scary scenes, and it’s a week closer to Halloween! I gave away the ending last time, so there’s no use pretending I didn’t. John, the narrator, pursues a figure he thinks is a child in peril who turns out to be an adult murderer (a dwarf) who kills John. The last thing he remembers is the vision he had of his wife Laur

Alan Bray
Oct 314 min read
Halloween
Last time, we talked about several different ways to look at the supernatural features of Daphne Du Maurier’s short story, Don’t Look Now . In part to recover from the death of their young daughter, a British couple are vacationing in Venice where they encounter a mysterious pair of sisters who tell them their daughter is present and concerned that something bad will happen to them. Their son, at a boarding school in England, falls ill, and the boy’s mother, Laura, returns to

Alan Bray
Oct 243 min read
Don't Look Now
Daphne Du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now is a long short story (some 60 pages), originally published in 1970, thirty-two years after the publication of our previous selection, Rebecca, which speaks to Ms. Du Maurier’s long career. It was first published in Great Britain under a different title, Not After Midnight . The edition I’m reading is a short story collection of Ms. Du Maurier’s work entitled Don’t Look Now , published by The New York Review of Books. A famous film version

Alan Bray
Oct 175 min read
The Epilogue
Last time, I threatened to write again about Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca , focusing on the Epilogue. An epilogue is defined as “ a...

Alan Bray
Oct 103 min read
In Search Of Lost Time?
A major feature of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca is the way that time is presented. What stands out is the sense of present events always...

Alan Bray
Oct 34 min read
Transforming
One of the key features of fiction is the transformation of the protagonist. By this, I am not referring to a certain genre of fiction...

Alan Bray
Sep 264 min read
Damn the Rain
It has been said by the wise that music resides between the notes. In fact, I actually quote this on the main page of this site. Today,...

Alan Bray
Sep 185 min read
Rebecca
Last time, I announced I’d be talking about Daphne Du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca , and many people stopped me on the street to say “...

Alan Bray
Sep 124 min read
Intermezzo Finale
We’re back. At the end of Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo , the brothers, Peter and Ivan, reconcile, and Margaret plays a prominent role...

Alan Bray
Sep 54 min read
Grief and Chess
More housekeeping to begin: I received a notice from Google (although it could have been someone pretending to be Google) that certain...

Alan Bray
Aug 295 min read
Performative Male
To begin today, some housekeeping. It has come to my attention that the New York Times ran an article last week on the Performative...

Alan Bray
Aug 224 min read
Conscious Streams
“Begin at the beginning," the King said , very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” This quote from Lewis Carroll in...

Alan Bray
Aug 154 min read
Intermezzo
This week, for your consideration, a discussion of Sally Rooney’s 2024 novel I ntermezzo . Long time readers of this blog will recall...

Alan Bray
Aug 84 min read
Ghost
Good day. We have been exploring Frederick’s Busch’s short story Domicile , and last time, I stated that I was putting off discussing a...

Alan Bray
Aug 14 min read
Domicile
Frederick Busch’s short story Domicile was published in 2000. It is written in first person and simple past tense; the tone (as in much...

Alan Bray
Jul 254 min read
A Misunderstanding
Good day. We ended up last time in our exploration of Frederick Busch’s short story Are We Pleasing You Tonight? with a question as we...

Alan Bray
Jul 184 min read
Are We Pleasing You Tonight?
Frederick Busch’s short story Are We Pleasing You Tonight? concerns the owner or manager (it’s never clear which) of an upscale...

Alan Bray
Jul 114 min read
Ralph Part Two
Last time, I stopped in the midst of discussing Frederick Busch’s short story Ralph the Duck , writing in particular about how Busch...

Alan Bray
Jul 44 min read



