Grim reading: Will Self surveys the literary landscape and collapses in a slough of despond
Self's surpassing hauteur and in-your-face grandiosity have a propulsive charm in themselves
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 31: “Nine Lives” by Ursula K. Le Guin
Le Guin had her pulse on the present and was able to anticipate where the human species was likely headed given its current trajectory.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 30: “Ancestral Links” by Yvonne Vera
The narrative highlights the danger ordinary citizens faced while attempting even routine business during wartime.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 29: “Clytie” by Eudora Welty
If Welty begins her tale as a moody Gothic throwback, by the conclusion she has injected a large dollop of ridiculousness.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 28: “The Last Kiss” by Maurice Level; Alys Eyre Macklin, trans.
Level was closely associated with Paris's notorious Théâtre du Grand-Guignol.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 27: “To Look Out the Window” by Orhan Pamuk; Maureen Freely, trans.
Throughout the story, lies and deception are common factors uniting the various characters.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 25: “Cheating at Canasta” by William Trevor
The true effects of grief cannot be diminished with platitudes, they must be respected and honoured.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 24: “Jumping Ship” by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Braithwaite's plot is tightly calibrated and it's not until the final third of the story that the crime even materializes.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 23: “Letter to a Young Lady in Paris” by Julio Cortázar; Paul Blackburn, trans.
One of the pervasive themes running through the story is the conflict between order and chaos.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 21: “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off” by Nadine Gordimer
Gordimer refuses to level judgment herself in the story.