Author: Swati

  • The Post by Anton Chekhov: Summary and Review

    The Post by Anton Chekhov: Summary and Review

    Have you ever been in a one-sided conversation with someone? You might have been the enthusiastic participant or the disinterested one. I apologize in advance if it brought back memories of such a misfortune striking you on a date night! Let me grab my scattered thoughts and try to paint a better picture for you.…

  • Peasant Wives by Anton Chekhov: Summary and Analysis

    Peasant Wives by Anton Chekhov: Summary and Analysis

    “I took him for my soul’s salvation” –  Matvey Savitch tells Drudya, in Chekhov’s Peasant Wives. You might read such a thing and your first guess would probably be that the character must be a highly conscientious person.  Aren’t you in for a surprise! Peasant Wives, is a short story by Anton Chekhov, that was…

  • The Witch by Anton Chekhov: Summary and Review

    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.…

  • No Act of Kindness, No Matter How Small, is Ever Wasted: Aesop

    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…

  • The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman: Summary and Review

    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…

  • The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde: Summary and Review

    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…

  • Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang: Summary Explained and Review

    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…

  • Happiness by Anton Chekhov: Summary, Analysis and Review

    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…

  • Crazy Glue by Etgar Keret: Summary, Analysis and Review

    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…

  • Charles by Shirley Jackson: Summary, Analysis and Review

    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…