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Character Study: Tony Soprano
Much has been said about the character of Tony Soprano. I’ve explored some of it on this blog; Tony Soprano will always come up in discussions about antiheroes. David Chase (writer of The Sopranos) used every trick in the writer’s handbook to make the audience empathise with Tony Soprano in the pilot episode. It worked. […]
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The Appeal of Milly Molly Mandy
Milly Molly Mandy remains one of my mother’s favourite books, but even then it was old. Milly Molly Mandy is in fact the great-grandmother of today’s child readers. I’m not sure how popular these stories are among the contemporary audience, but I can say for sure, Milly Molly Mandy entertained at least two generations of […]
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Mister Dog by Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams Analysis
Mister Dog, written by Margaret Wise Brown, was first published by Little Golden Books in 1952. This was the last book published in Wise Brown’s lifetime before she died age 42. Garth Brown illustrated the text in his distinctive Garth Brown style. The story is about a dog with the stand-out gag that he ‘belongs […]
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Electric Arrows by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Electric Arrows”, a short story by Annie Proulx, was published in the late 1990s. Proulx was ahead of the vanguard, keenly aware of cultural misappropriation when most folk were offering their takes on political correctness.
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A Run of Bad Luck by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“A Run Of Bad Luck” by Annie Proulx is a short story which explores the nature of luck, and by extension, the nature of fate.
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Bedrock by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Bedrock” is a short story from Annie Proulx’s collection Heart Songs, published 1999. This is a subversive feminist tale, which challenges the readers assumptions about ‘gold-digger’ women and especially those we dismiss as ‘rednecks’. “Bedrock” makes a good mentor text if you: Are writing a story in which the reader is asked to switch sympathies, […]
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The Last Question by Isaac Asimov
“The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov is a science fiction short story first published in 1956. The ideas are even more relevant today than they were back in the 1950s. Isaac Asimov was an ideas man. I generally find his work hard to read because I read for character first. Asimov worked the other way […]
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Stone City by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Stone City” is a short story by Annie Proulx, first published 1979, collected 20 years later in Heart Songs. Some of Proulx’s short stories are like compacted novels, and “Stone City” is one of those. The story of the humans is wrapped by the story of a fox, looking in from a slight distance. “Stone […]
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Heart Songs by Annie Proulx Storytelling Short Story Analysis
“Heart Songs” by Annie Proulx utilises a dynamic employed by a number of other stories in the same-named Heart Songs collection — an outsider comes into a rural community and misunderstands local ways.
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A Country Killing by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“A Country Killing” may sound a bit like the title of a cosy mystery set in Surrey but no, this is a story by Annie Proulx, about coercive control and domestic abuse, set in the poorest demographic of New England in the 1990s.
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The Wer-Trout by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
Do you like the idea of river fishing, without the annoying realities? One option is an afternoon plumped in front of Deliverance, starring the late Burt Reynolds. Another option is Annie Proulx’s short story “The Wer-trout”
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In The Pit by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“In the Pit” is a short story by Annie Proulx, included in the Heart Songs collection. “In the Pit” is a good example of a story with no Anagnorisis for the main character. If anyone has a revelation, it’s the reader. Character arcs are not compulsory. In real life as in fiction, sometimes people simply don’t […]
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Cat Skin by Kelly Link Analysis
“Cat Skin” is a short story by Kelly Link, included in the collection My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, published 2010. Link says in her paragraph at the end of the tale that this is a brand new fairytale, based on on none in particular, but owes a debt to “Catskin“, […]
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The Unclouded Day by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“The Unclouded Day” is a short story by Annie Proulx, first published 1985, included in the Heart Songs collection. Rich and poor, city and rural bump up against each other. This story is an excellent example of two narrative techniques in particular: Santee has both an outside opponent and one from within his own group. […]