Shotgun Wedding - Steven Thor Gunnin

Author: Steven Thor Gunnin Date: any time Setting: a small-town chapel in Hobb's End Availability: in the anthology Consequences

Story: Jake, wielding a shotgun, is determined that the preacher is going to make his wedding to Peggy legal. Not everyone agrees that this is a good idea.

Commentary: "Shotgun Wedding" is a very short story, and yet it manages to get in several good twists and a play on words. If I say much about it at all, I'll be giving too much away. The coarse speech pattern of Jake is totally believable. On the other hand, there are some repetitious or awkward phrases that detract from the readability, and one break in point of view.

On the whole, the story works well, and provides the reader with an interesting take on the title phrase.

Author info: Steven Thor Gunnin is a graphic designer who writes in his spare time, and is a big fan of George Romero (Night of the Living Dead). He has had other stories published in Elements of the Soul Consequences is available as a paperback, or in ebook format.

Rating:
Language skills 5
Depth of meaning 5

A Kidnapped Santa Claus - L. Frank Baum

Author: L. Frank Baum Date: 1904 Setting: Laughing Valley, where Santa Claus lives Availability: Read A Kidnapped Santa Claus on line, free

Story: Santa Claus, along with ryls, knooks, pixies and fairies, lives in Laughing Valley, but in the mountains beside the valley are caves where five demons reside. Their caves are connected in a linear fashion. First is Selfishness, then Envy, Hatred, and finally Malice. However, from each of those caves is a narrow passage leading to the cave of the Demon of Repentance. There is no way out of the mountain tunnels except by his cave where there is a little door into the sunshine, which he will open if you come his way.

The demons did not like Santa because he made children happy, and then they did not come to visit the demons’ caves. So on Christmas Eve, the demons capture Santa and take him into the mountains. They try to tempt him to be selfish or envious, and they are sure that the children will receive no toys for Christmas. However, their plot doesn’t work out quite the way they intended

Commentary: Although this is a children’s Christmas story, there is plenty in it to make an adult think. The obvious point of interest is the concept that Repentance is a Demon. Santa has a conversation with this one, where Repentance points out that he is not needed unless one has first made friends with one of his evil friends.

There is an underlying question that is never addressed as to whether toys brought on Christmas can really make a person happy. The story begins with some philosophy, “To laugh one needs to be happy; to be happy one needs to be content.” It seems to me that this contradicts the whole premise of making children happy with gifts, since material things will never bring contentment. The internal message of the story seems confused to me.

Another concept presented is that there will always be evil in the world, but we can make choices about what to do about it. This theme is much more consistently developed.

This story isn’t on the current list of best-loved Christmas classics, probably partly for the dark theme. Although, one could point out the “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” is similar and has become standard holiday fare. Although the author is well-known and respected for his children’s stories, I think this one leaves something to be desired. It has been called one of his “most beautiful stories” by a biographer, but I don’t really see that.

Nevertheless, I would be willing to read it with older children and ask them to talk about it.

Author info: Lyman Frank Baum, 1856-1919, was born in Chittenango, New York, and early in life developed a love of writing and the theatre. In fact, his love for theatre kept him poor throughout his life as he continued to write, back, and produce plays that couldn’t succeed financially. He is best known for his children’s fantasy, especially the Oz series, of which he wrote 16. Many of his plays were destroyed in a fire. Not many children's stories remain classics for over 100 years, but Baum’s Wizard of Oz has stood the test of time.

Unusual Words:
knooks and ryls- magical good characters invented by Baum in the book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, they are carried over in to this story.

Rating:
Language skills 6
Depth of meaning 6

 

Digital Rights - Brent Knowles

Author: Brent Knowles Date: 2011 Setting: A space station colony, 2180 Availability: Buy Digital Rights at Smashwords

Story: Humans have colonized space so long that there is a real disconnect between those who live in space and those on Earth. There are even third-generation colonists who have never been to earth. People have android Assistants who carry out many tasks, and the androids are programmed by pulling information from people's actual brains. This technique has been used so long it is standard procedure, but there is always the possibility for abuse.

One of the supervisors, Rutgers, may have been taking personal information from people. Isabel (Izzy), an engineer, suspects this, but thinks it's both none of her business and fairly harmless. She thinks he is just creating a virtual game as a diversion. She has enough problems of her own, as she keeps receiving messages from a "ghost," a section of one of her past Assistants that should have been long dead. She eventually has to confront both Rutgers and the ghost.

Commentary: Digital Rights is science fiction, and won first place in the L Ron Hubbard "Writers of the Future" contest in Q3 2009, for fantasy and science fiction. This award has been running since 1983. That should tell you something about the quality of the story before you ever begin.

I don't mind science fiction, but I'm not a huge fan, unless the writing is really good. Digital Rights kept me interested. I was hooked right away, and I didn't stop reading until I finished, despite its being fairly long for a short story at 12K words. There are a number of really good things about the story.

In the first place, Knowles plunges you right into the scene. There is no setup, and you have to figure out where they are and how society has changed by the descriptions of what is being done and how it's being accomplished. And he gives you the information to do this, so you feel that you are right there. Eventually he gives out the fact that it's the year 2180.

The mix of familiar technology with speculative processes and machines is well done. As any culture evolves some things change completely, while other archaic forms and items persist. All of the invented machines and techniques seem plausible while e-mail and wearing green on St. Patrick's Day are still around.

This may be personal preference, but I like a sci-fi story to have some twist that makes me think about the nature of reality, or what makes us human, or what sort of "creatures" might actually populate the universe. I'm not very interested in stories that are just space wars, or romances, or B-westerns in airtight suits. Digital Rights does a good job of making me think.

Digital Rights is the best sci-fi story I've read in a while. You can take that at whatever value you want since I don't read lots, but I do read some.

Author info: Brent Knowles is a writer, programmer, and game designer. He has been living in Edmonton, Alberta for the last ten years, and is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s computer science program. He worked at the role-playing game studio BioWare for ten years (Baldur’s Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age), during most of which he was a Lead Designer/Creative Director. Now he writes full time. He has been published in a variety of magazines including Neo-Opsis, On Spec, and Tales of the Talisman. See Brent Knowles blog

Rating:
Language skills 7
Depth of meaning 7

 

The Night the Ghost Got In - James Thurber

Author: James Thurber Date: 1933 Setting: 1915- the author's childhood home Availability: Read The Night the Ghost Got In on line, free

Story: Told in the first person, a boy hears someone walking around the dining room table. He is upstairs, just getting out of the bath. Realizing that no one should be downstairs, he wakes his brother, who refuses to go down with him to check it out. The boys accidentally wake their mother, who of course, assumes that the walker is a burglar, not a ghost.

What ensues is a hilarious comedy of errors. But "none of us ever heard the ghost again."

Commentary: Thurber is one of my all time favorite authors. Most of his short stories are humorous, and they range from tongue-in-cheek to tales that will make you laugh out loud. "The Night the Ghost Got In" is very short, but it succeeds in its goal of being funny.

The point of this story is, of course, not whether there really was a ghost, but the crazy reactions that occurred as a result of hearing sounds that could not be accounted for. In fact, Thurber tells us in the second sentence exactly what is going to happen. He says "Its advent caused my mother to throw a shoe through a window of the house next door, and ended up with my grandfather shooting a patrolman." The beauty of the story is that, even though he's just told you the entire plot, you have to keep reading to find out how a ghost could have caused those bizarre events.

The stories Thurber tells of his childhood are at least partially fictionalized, but this story is based on definite facts. Thurber did hear this "ghost" walking around the table in the dining room, the year he was a junior in college (1912). He researched the house, and discovered that other owners had also heard the same sounds (choosing to move rather than live with it), and that there had been a man, 45 years previous, who had paced around the table in nervous frustration before running up the stairs to shoot himself.

If anyone wants to write humor, they would do well to study James Thurber's writing. He is a master of timing and of tweaking a story so as to make it funny rather than just exposition.

His stories are self-illustrated. Thurber's cartoon style is sketchy but unique, and anyone who is familiar with it will instantly recognize a Thurber cartoon.

Author info: James Thurber, 1894-1861, grew up in Columbus, Ohio. His father was often out of work, and his mother was a great practical joker. It is believed that many of his story ideas came from observing his parents. Playing William Tell with his brothers, as a child, James lost one eye. This forced him into more mental pursuits, rather than sports, and he turned to writing as a creative outlet. His collections of short stories are still well-read. Thurber is one of the classic American humorists.

Rating:
Language skills 8
Depth of meaning 7

 

Summer Heat - M. Lori Motley

Author: M. Lori Motley Author web: M. Lori Motley Date: 2009 Setting: anywhere, in the present day Availability: In the anthology Elements of the Soul

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Story: Wayne lives a life of squalor and of supporting himself by aiding with crimes. Although he is probably not bright enough to be the mastermind, he helps his friend, Frank, strip cars for hot parts. He bums money off his sister, Debbie, who keeps a filthy dog kennel. Debbie doesn't have many scruples about who buys her puppies.

Nothing disrupts this system until the night Frank brings in a Cadillac Escalade that belongs to a local bad boy known as Mad Dog, who is clearly higher up the food chain than either Frank or Wayne. Wayne is fearful and insists that Frank get rid of the car without demolishing it.

Although Frank is apparently successful, Wayne is sure that Mad Dog Hatcher knows they are connected with the temporary disappearance of the vehicle.

Commentary: "Summer Heat" successfully places us squarely in the middle of a hot summer in one of the backwaters of life. When she describes the crisp, dust-covered leaves around the junkyard, we can picture the scene. The people, their speech and actions fit smoothly into this setting.

The story explores the themes of guilt and personal responsibility. Although Wayne manages to stay one step removed from actually participating in the most serious crimes or bad decisions, he's right there in the center of the story. Is his attempt to escape it all effective? Is it even a valid means of escape?

Although I thought the ending was a little weak, "Summer Heat" certainly would lend itself to a discussion of appropriate behavior with teens. A lot of young people on the edges of making bad choices would probably identify with these characters.


Author info: M. Lori Motley's most prolific writing genres are sword & sorcery, contemporary and urban fantasy, horror, dark fantasy, comedic fantasy, and paranormal & fantasy romance.



Learn more about Lori at M. Lori Motley.

 

Rating:
Language skills 6
Depth of meaning 6

 

Bartleby the Scrivener - Herman Melville

Author: Herman Melville Date: 1850 Setting: a lawyer’s office on Wall Street in the 1850s Availability: Read Bartleby the Scrivener on line, free

Story: Bartleby is hired as a copyist, a scrivener, for a lawyer. The lawyer (today he would be called a corporate lawyer) tells the story. He describes the curious natures of the two scriveners already in his employ and how one, Turkey, is useful in the mornings, but becomes unorganized and useless in the afternoons. The other, Nippers, is angry and sullen in the mornings, but a reliable worker after lunch. The only other employee is an errand boy, known as Ginger Nut. The lawyer is hoping that a third person might balance out the office chaos and provide a steadying influence.

At first, Bartleby seems to do just this. He works hard, and asks for no favors. His workspace is behind a screen in the owner’s private office. After just three days, the lawyer asks Bartleby to come help compare copies of a document, as this was a necessary, but tiresome task when legal documents had to be copied by hand. Bartleby emerges from his cubicle, but makes the surprising declaration that he “would prefer not to.”

The lawyer decides to let this instance of insubordination go, but the situation gets more and more out of control as Bartleby eventually prefers not to do anything.

Commentary: The tale of Bartleby is told in the first person from the perspective of his employer, a lawyer. It is set in the time period in which it was written, and a great deal of it will seem strange to modern readers, but the interactions between the people are as amusing and annoying as in any office in this century.

The meaning of the story has been debated by literary critics for over 150 years. I don’t think I’m going to be able to add much to those theories. Some think it’s symbolic of Melville's own frustrations as an author, while others think that it is an early rant against the world of corporate finance.

Although Melville’s work was largely forgotten until after the absurdist movement, this story is sometimes credited with being a precursor to that phase of literature.

No matter what Melville had in mind, certainly there are several themes. The most obvious one is “what is charity?” The lawyer (the narrator) continually struggles with his own feelings about Bartleby. He has hired the man to do a job, but soon is not getting any work out of him at all. He continually argues with himself that the man is depressed, incredibly poor, and that it would be inhumane to put him out. The end result is an absurd condition where the employer pays Bartleby to leave, and still the scrivener will not, so the lawyer moves out. And even that is not the end of the story.

The mental deterioration of Bartleby is a constant theme. We see the man degenerate from a sad and quiet, but hardworking fellow to depression and withdrawal so severe that it leads to his demise. The progression of Bartleby’s condition seems inevitable, and raises questions about what can be done for people who refuse to respond to human interaction.

The story, although a tragedy in the end, offers a comic look into the work world of the mid-1800's. Turkey and Nipper are polar opposites, and in some ways the narrator and Bartleby are also two sides of a coin. Yet, they all have to show up at the office every day and churn out page after page of government authorized paperwork which seems totally beside the point of anything important in their lives.

Author info: Herman Melville 1819-1891 is a familiar author for the immense success of Moby Dick. However, he was never known for Moby Dick in his lifetime. His early novels, Typee and Omoo were highly acclaimed, but then his popularity waned. Moby Dick never sold it’s initial printing of 3000 copies. Melville was long dead before he was rediscovered in the early 20th Century. He was born in New York City, and had several famous ancestors- one a participant in the Boston Tea Party, another a Revolutionary War General. After some adventuring at sea, and a stint as a surveyor, he began to write. Despite his early acclaim, he was never able to make enough as a writer to support himself.

Unusual Words:
divers- many
imprimis- in the first place
orbicular- round
cannel coal- oil shale which produced a lot of light as it burned
the Tombs- Manhattan Detention Complex- a prison
carman- driver
luny- loony, crazy
wight- a human being
Petra- the lost city of Edom, a symbol of a deserted place
Marius- a reference to a Roman General and a classical painting of Caius Marius Amid the Ruins of Carthage
rockaway- a squarish carriage which could be closed up to shield the occupant from view.

Memorable Quote:
I cannot credit that the mettlesome poet, Byron, would have contentedly sat down with Bartleby to examine a law document of, say five hundred pages, closely written in a crimpy hand.

Rating:
Language skills 9
Depth of meaning 10

 

I Killed the Man that Wasn't There - Darrell B. Nelson

Author: Darrell B. Nelson Date: 2011 Setting: the future, on Earth Availability: Download I Killed the Man that Wasn't There on line, free

Story: A successful businessman, Ken, feels that he has been taken advantage of since high school by a pseudo-friend, Donald. When their research into space-time mechanics results in the building of a Trans-Dimensional Origami Reactor, Ken figures out how to exact revenge for all the wrongs done to him, which includes Donald stealing his wife, a powerful motive indeed. However, there are some repercussions that do not leave Ken unscathed.

Commentary: This is a very short story, and I don’t want to say so much that I give the plot away. All of Nelsons stories are science fiction, but of the four in this collection this is the most scientific. There is a bit of a physics lecture in the middle, which is delivered by Ken to Donald. Although it’s not totally out of place, it really feels as if it’s being given for the benefit of the reader. Nevertheless, it does manage to provide information which makes the story seem more plausible.

Although the setting is futuristic and the means of dealing with the despised person is creative, this is a classic story of revenge.

If you want some entertaining reading with sci-fi settings, Darrell B. Nelson writes creatively. The stories are not formula written with only a change of setting, so there is enough variety to keep you reading.

download free at Smashwords

Author info: Darrell B. Nelson is a former Securities Broker and Insurance Agent who has decided to use the total meltdown of his former industry, and the total destruction of any illusions of personal financial security the meltdown caused, as an opportunity to pursue a writing career. He has several books available at Smashwords. You can learn more at his blog, Project Savior

Rating:
Language skills 6
Depth of meaning 5