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The Witch by Anton Chekhov: Summary and Review
“A witch is a witch” – Savely, the Sexton says to his wife Raissa, in Chekhov’s ‘The Witch’. Husband calling the wife a witch, is nothing we haven’t heard before. What’s new and refreshing, is a little Chekhov spin on it. “The Witch” (Vedma) was first published in March 1886 in Novoye Vremya (Issue No.… Read more
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No Act of Kindness, No Matter How Small, is Ever Wasted: Aesop
Growing up, Aesop’s fables were my constant companion- in and out of school. The very first illustrated copy that I owned was an abridged version for kids that contained a dozen short stories. The Hare and the Tortoise, Crow and the Pitcher, Bell and the cat were some of the predominant few that are probably… Read more
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The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman: Summary and Review
Imagine a room. Now imagine living there for a long time without having anything to do. For those of you who are millennials – Imagine a world without phones or any electronic devices. If you are one of those very social people – your knee-jerk reaction would be, “No way in hell am I going… Read more
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The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde: Summary and Review
Has it ever happened to you that you tipped someone you shouldn’t have tipped in the first place, or that you asked a saleswoman for help who you thought was one, but was actually a shopper like you? Do you remember the look on their faces when you did that? It’s likely that they stared… Read more
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Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang: Summary Explained and Review
“It is true that we work with the purest of aims, but that doesn’t mean we have worked wisely.” With his award-winning short story, Tower of Babylon, Ted Chiang takes us on an exhilarating exploration of the age-old myth of the Tower of Babel. In this science fiction short story, Ted Chiang challenges the principles… Read more
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Happiness by Anton Chekhov: Summary, Analysis and Review
You may not be an Eckhart Tolle fan, but you do not need to be one to see the meaning in this. “Don’t seek happiness. If you seek it, you won’t find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness. Happiness is ever elusive, but freedom from unhappiness is attainable now, by facing what is… Read more
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Crazy Glue by Etgar Keret: Summary, Analysis and Review
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you read these two words: Crazy glue I bet you can recall at least an incident or two about crazy glue – maybe you were the victim to whom the ‘crazy glue’ happened, or you were the one that gave someone their ‘crazy glue’ moment. There… Read more
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Charles by Shirley Jackson: Summary, Analysis and Review
For those of you that loved The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, here comes another tale, less fictional and more realistic, atleast to the relatively new parents out there. It’s about Shirley Jackson’s early trysts with raising children that were, more often than not, outside her comprehension and control. Loosely based on events from her own… Read more
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The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro: Summary and Review
Where would your mind take you if someone said the words ‘the love of a good woman’ to you? If your mind quickly takes you to classic romantic movies of yore, a wife tirelessly sacrificing her life for her husband, you are the same as the rest of us. What’s more is that this titular… Read more
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Taming the Bicycle by Mark Twain: Summary, Analysis and Review
I wonder what your first thoughts were looking at the title of the story. Maybe a memory from childhood or a snapshot of some TV program where the protagonist ended up in a ditch, not able to control their bicycle? Well, just when you thought you had seen it all and laughed all you could at… Read more
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The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde: Summary, Analysis and Review
The Happy Prince is a short story written by Oscar Wilde. It is the story of a compassionate statue and how it falls in love with a bird which is separated from its flock. Every now and then, I feel myself drawn to children’s books – mostly because I am drawn to children; things about… Read more
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The Five Boons of Life By Mark Twain: Summary, Analysis and Review
The Five Boons of Life is a short story by Mark Twain published as part of his collection, The 30000 Bequest and Other Stories. It’s different from his other stories in that it does not have our humorous Mark Twain saying things that make us grin like idiots in awe of his wit, but something… Read more
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The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde: Summary and Analysis
The Canterville Ghost is a short story written by Oscar Wilde. It was first published in 1887. Unknown to many, this was his first published prose fiction work. Contrary to what the title of the story may suggest, this is a humorous story at the core of which lies the differences in the American and… Read more
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Sweet and Low by Nick White: Summary, Analysis and Review
Sweet and Low is a short story written by Nick White. The story revolves around the life of a young boy Forney, who, having recently lost his father, is coming to terms with a life with his mother – a mother he doesn’t especially feel close to. With the feeling of love comes the dread.… Read more
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A Helpless Situation by Mark Twain: Summary and Plot Analysis
Have you ever been in a situation when you were approached by a distant relative of a friend of a friend’s friend, whom you don’t know and have never heard of before, and they asked you for a favor? If so, A Helpless Situation by Mark Twain is sure to take you for a stroll… Read more
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The Loudest Voice by Grace Paley: Summary, Analysis and Review
The Loudest Voice is a short story by Grace Paley, published as part of her short story collection – Little Disturbances of Man, back in 1959. The story captures the world of a young Jewish girl living and learning about a life of balance between her roots and the world that she currently lives in.… Read more
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A Californian’s Tale by Mark Twain: Summary, Analysis and Review
A Californian’s Tale is a short story published as part of his short story collection. Written towards the tail end of his career, this short story sometimes seems a reflection of sorrows from his own life at that time. A Californian’s Tale by Mark Twain: Summary and Plot Analysis The story narrated by an unnamed traveler… Read more
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Mister Yummy by Stephen King: Summary, Analysis and Review
Mister Yummy is a short story written by Stephen King. It was first published in 2015, as part of his short story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. Mister Yummy: Summary and Plot Analysis The story is set at Lakeview Assisted Living Center and details the last days in the life of an elderly homosexual… Read more
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A Telephonic Conversation by Mark Twain: Summary and Review
A Telephonic Conversation is a short story written by Mark Twain. It talks about a telephonic conversation that ensues between a woman and her friend, a Mrs.Bagley, while the woman’s husband passively listens to a one-sided conversation writing an article on a philosophical subject in the meantime. Telephone What comes to mind when you read… Read more
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Memento Mori by Jonathan Nolan: Summary, Analysis and Review
Memento Mori is a short story written by Jonathan Nolan. In this short story, he takes time and its relationship with a man to a whole new level, and introduces the reader to to what he calls a ‘ten-minute man’. “Believing the lie that time will heal all wounds is just a nice way of… Read more
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Jakarta by Alice Munro: Plot Summary, Analysis & Review
Jakarta, a short story by Alice Munro, first appeared as part of her collection of short stories in Love of a Good Woman. Jakarta: Plot Summary and Analysis The story is set in Vancouver and spans over three decades, starting in the 1950s and lasting until 1990s. It is narrated in a back and forth… Read more
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Was It Heaven? Or Hell? by Mark Twain: Summary and Review
Was it Heaven? Or Hell? is a short story that was published in early 1900s as part of Mark Twain’s short story collection The 30000 Bequest. As a child, have you ever been told not to lie? Or lying is bad? Or lying brings you terrible misfortune? Lying is possibly the worst thing that you… Read more
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Goodbye and Good Luck: Summary, Plot Analysis, Review
Goodbye and Goodluck is a short story written by Grace Paley that was published in her collection called The Little Disturbances of Man by Doubleday in 1959. One of the more known stories from her collection, this story is a heartwarming tale of a woman in pursuit of love and her struggles with tradition in… Read more
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A Dog’s Tale by Mark Twain: Summary, Analysis and Review
A Dog’s Tale is a short story written by Mark Twain. It was first published in 1903. The story is told from the perspective of a dog and narrates the journey of a dog’s life.. Mark Twain had once said: If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite… Read more
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In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka: Summary, Analysis, Review
In the Penal Colony, also known as “In der Strafkolonie” in German, is a short story written by Franz Kafka. First published in October 1919, this story has seen massive popularity and has been adapted widely around the world with film, chamber operas and plays to its name. In the Penal Colony: Summary and Plot… Read more
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The 30000 Bequest by Mark Twain: Summary and Review
The 30000 Bequest is a short story written by renowned American author Mark Twain. It was first published in a collection of short stories. This story revolves around the devastating effects of union of fantasy and finance. Picture this: You are walking down the street mindlessly and you suddenly come across a beautiful young woman.… Read more
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Hell Is The Absence Of God: Summary, Analysis and Review
Hell is the Absence of God is a short story (novellete) written by Ted Chiang. First published in 2001, this story primarily revolves around Neil Fisk, a recent widower, who lost his beloved wife in the aftermath of an Angel’s visitation. “Obedience, he might have managed, but sincere, heart-felt love (for God)? That was a… Read more
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Eisenheim the Illusionist: Short Story Summary, Analysis, Review
Eisenheim The Illusionist is a short story written by Steven Milhauser. It was first published in 1989. It tells the story of a magician who becomes so good in his craft that people start believing that he has sold his soul to the devil and can therefore perform real magic. Eisenheim the Illusionist: Summary &… Read more
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A Good Man Is Hard To Find: Summary, Review, Analysis
A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a short story written by Flannery O’Connor. It was first published in 1953 in a collection of short stories titled “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” You might have heard this old proverb – don’t judge a book by its cover. In my recent reading experience,… Read more
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A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert: Summary, Plot Analysis, Review
In his simple but heart-wrenching short story A Simple Heart, Gustave Flaubert portrays a simple woman, with a big heart devoted to the service of her mistress for the majority of her life. The tale, simple on the surface, has deep messages for the reader inside A Simple Heart: Summary and Plot Analysis The story… Read more
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Exhalation by Ted Chiang: Summary, Plot Analysis, Review
Exhalation is a short story written by Ted Chiang. It’s a short story from his collection titled “Exhalation: Stories”. It is a story about cyborgs who live on a different planet and use mental lungs to breathe everyday. ‘Will it be preferable to remain mute to prolong our ability to think, or to talk until… Read more
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The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: Summary, Plot Analysis and Review
The Lottery`is a short story written by Shirley Jackson who’s an American author. First published in the New Yorker in 1948, the story is about a strange game of lottery that’s practiced in a village. Touted as one of the most famous short stories in American literature and first published in New Yorker in 1948,… Read more
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Cathedral by Raymond Carver: Summary, Analysis and Review
Cathedral is a short story written by Raymond Carver. This story was included in the ‘Best American Short Stories’ (1982). It’s the story of how a man’s perspective about blind people changes dramatically when he meets an extraordinary blind man who introduces him to a new realm of experience. “Cathedral” What’s the first thing that… Read more
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Cupid and the Paintbrush by PG Wodehouse: Summary, Plot Analysis, Review
Cupid and the Paintbrush is a short story written by PG Wodehouse – an English author and one of the most popular humorists of the 20th century. The story revolves around a man who proposes marriage to his love interest through a unique contest. Let’s take a look at the plot summary of the short… Read more
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Whenever You Are About To Find Fault With Someone, Ask Yourself The Following Question – What Fault Of Mine Most Nearly Resembles The One I Am About To Criticize: Marcus Aurelius
I read this the other day and felt an itch, I would grand it up a little bit by calling it a philosophical version of Hell’s itch. Suffice to say that the itch is painful. Fun fact #1 In my life so far, I am yet to meet a person that likes to be criticized.… Read more
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If Anyone Tells You That A Certain Person Speaks ill Of You, Do Not Make Excuses About What Is Said Of You But Answer, “He Was Ignorant Of My Other Faults, Else He Would Not Have Mentioned These Alone.”: Epictetus
On one of my random internet surfing days, I came across this meme: Now if you are like me, you did smile looking at it, didn’t you? What you might not have done is put up a mental roster of people that you hate enough to say this. I am no angel but I couldn’t… Read more
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Flee Sloth; For the Indolence of the Soul is the Decay of the Body: Cato the Younger
You know what a sloth is, right? It is a lethargic, unbelievably slow and might I say adorable animal that lives on treetops and travels 41 yards per day – less than half the length of a football field – on average. Cato the Younger, in his famous quote, urges you to “flee sloth.” Does… Read more
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To Accuse Others for One’s Own Misfortunes is a Sign of Want of Education. To Accuse Oneself Shows that One’s Education has Begun
Wikipedia defines accusation as: “….is a statement by one person asserting that another person or entity has done something improper. The person who makes the accusation is an accuser, while the subject against whom it is made is the accused.” Now I do not need to be a sScientist to tell you this, but I… Read more
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Do You Ask What is the Proper Limit to Wealth? It is First to Have What is Necessary and Second to Have What is Enough – Seneca’s Letter from a Stoic
Every time I watch the movie Crazy Rich Asians, two things happen: Thing #1 My jaws drop like an idiot. Realizing that, I brace myself, close my mouth and smile like an idiot, my eyes shine like a maniac every ten minutes (or so my people that watch it with me tell me). This continues… Read more
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So Now You Know What Else Existed In The World Outside Of You, Before You Knew Only About Yourself: Franz Kafka
I read this quote in Franz Kafka’s popular and absolutely amazing short story The Judgement. “So now you know what else existed in the world outside of you, before you knew only about yourself!” Reading this from the story felt like seeing through a kaleidoscope – moments from my own life where I was either… Read more
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When There Is No One Left In The Living World Who Remembers You, You Disappear From This World. We Call It The Final Death
I got to hear this line recently while watching the Disney-Pixar movie Coco. Without ruining the movie for you, this quote is basically about dead people who are alive in their afterlife conditional on people in the living world remembering them. You and I both have seen movies emphasizing the importance of familial ties and… Read more
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Dogs Have Boundless Enthusiasm But No Sense of Shame. I Should Have a Dog as a Life Coach: Richard Melville Halle
I am yet to find someone my age or older that says they love doing grocery. There is something about doing grocery that has chore written all over it. And I would be safe in assuming that chores is not something anyone would particularly look forward to doing. So here I am on the grocery… Read more
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8 Movie Things That Piss Me Off (Real Bad)
It has been more than a hundred years since cinema has been around, but there are some things that movies just wouldn’t quit showing. I don’t have a problem with that; sure, show the good guy winning in the end, winning over a girl, win a battle, crush the villain’s skull – good stuff all… Read more
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I Don’t Know Why It Should Be, I Am Sure; But The Sight Of Another Man Asleep In Bed When I Am Up, Maddens Me: Jerome K. Jerome
I came across this quote during a re-read of the famous comic classic and my personal favorite Three Men in A Boat by Jerome k. Jerome. In addition to making me smile, it took me on a trip down the memory lane. I don’t know about you but I cannot bear the thought of having… Read more
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Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are: Theodore Roosevelt
As simple as these words sound, the impact that they have when you let them sink in is profound. Have you seen one of those people that are constantly in their future, either imagining it in all its glory or dreading it? I have. I am one of those people. This is what my day… Read more
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Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang: Summary and Review
Story of Your Life is a science fiction short story written by Ted Chiang. It was first published 1998. The story revolves around a renowned linguist and how she makes a breakthrough in communicating with the aliens that have landed all over the world in massive spaceships. This story received many accolades and shot to… Read more
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A Man Who Carries a Cat by the Tail Learns Something He Can Learn in No Other Way: Mark Twain
When I first came across this quote, a short film started playing in my head: Someone (not me, I promise!) is carrying a cat by its tail; the cat, seeing that its upside down, is understandably confused and angry, violently lunging to attain a normal posture. After several attempts, it finally manages to strike the… Read more
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Many People Die at 25 and Aren’t Buried Until They are 75: Benjamin Franklin
Did you understand the meaning of this quote when you first read it in the title? To be honest, I didn’t. In fact, when I first read this famous quote by Benjamin Franklin (an American scientist, inventor, politician and the man whose face is printed on the US dollar), I thought I read it wrong.… Read more
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You Don’t Drown by Falling in Water; You Drown by Staying There: E.L Cole
If the same analogy is to apply to the situation that the world finds itself in, what’s the next step? COVID-19 has affected everyday lives of people around the world. We are all drowning in the news coming from all directions. We are drowning in depressing news of people dying, doctors having to make choices… Read more
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Wound Is The Place Where Light Enters You – Rumi
Sadness, disappointment, anguish, hopelessness… We, being humans, are prone to feeling these emotions more frequently than we would like to admit. The triggers that could lead us to this pit are too many to count. Loss of a loved one, struggle with a chronic illness, a crippling disability, lack of financial resources, one or many… Read more
