Easy Reading Club

The main character struggles to come to terms with the life she has created for herself with her husband Lew. Her true love died during his service in the army. The title refers to a a event in which she and Walt were running after a bus, and she sprained her ankle. Walt then said referring to her ankle “Poor Uncle Wiggily”… The story offers insights into upper-middle class American society in the post-WWII years, when materialism was an unquestioned value. Salinger seeks to show the falseness of this American surburban dream and life. 

A wealthy family is preparing for an elegant party in the garden of their luxurious mansion, when suddenly something happens next door that could spoil their plans. 

The story raises several profound themes. Class inequality is only one of them. 

Somerset Maugham was a prominent English writer best known for his short stories. Maugham wrote about people and places from his own experience, and “A Friend in Need” is one of such stories.

Lenny Barton, a gambler and a raging alcoholic, asked his namesake for a job. Edward Barton, a man who wouldn’t hurt a fly and would always be there to help, agreed…

We are going to read and discuss two very short stories by Hemingway. 

‘Hills like White Elephants ‘focuses mainly on a conversation between an American man and a young woman at a Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid.

‘A Canary for One’  tells about a couple travelling from the south of France to Paris. Although nothing major happens in the story and the dialogues and details seem to be very simple and ordinary, the reader can’t help feeling there is another level to the story. This is a great representation of Hemingway’s so called Iceberg theory. As it often happens with Hemingway’s stories, the plot is difficult and thought provoking.

‘What we talk about when we talk about love’ was written by an American master of short stories Raymond Carver who considered himself a student of Hemingway, Faulkner and Chekhov. 

The story was published in 1981 and gave the name to the whole collection of short stories.
Four friends have gathered together one afternoon for a drink and start talking about the challenges of relationships.

Two very short but very thought-provoking stories. We’ll have a lot to discuss. 

This short story keeps you on tenterhooks, raises a lot of universal questions about human nature and leaves a bitter aftertatse.