Old Friends, by Endo Shusaku

1. Endo Shusako or Shusako Endo?: Japanese names in modern times consist of a family name (surname), followed by a given name; in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era official policy has been to reverse the order, but recently the government has stated its intention to change this policy. (From Wikipedia)

2. At the Wikipedia: Shūsaku Endō

3. A Catholic writer. He is a very singular case of Japanese writer because he is considered a Catholic author, when almost all the Japanese writers tend to follow the culture and religion (Shinto or Buddhism) of their country. In Western literature there are also Catholic writers; the most famous ones are the English Graham Greene and the German Heinrich Böll. But why are they called "Catholic authors"? Only because their characters act as practising Catholics (they attend Mass, they pray...), and one of their side topics is religion. This is a curious description for an artist, because we usually talk about romantic, realistic, mystery authors.

4. Two well known Japanese writers are Yukio Mishima and his friend Yasunari Kawabata. The first one was an extreme right-wing activist and in 1970 he tried a coup against the government because he said the 1947 Constitution was imposed by the USA. He failed, and then he committed suicide by the ritual hara-kiri. His friend Kawabata, who won the Nobel Prize in 1968, committed suicide gassing himself allegedly because of his friend death.

5. Another rare Japanese writer was Lafcadio Hearn (not typical Japanese names or surnames!). He was of a Greek-Irish descent (his first-first name was Patrick) and lived for 10 years in New Orleans, where he wrote a book about his stay there. Then he went to live in Japan, where he changed his name to a Japanese one (Koizumi Yakumo), married a Japanese woman and wrote short stories in Japanese about ghosts (typical there).

6. But the writer I wanted to recommend you is Natsume Soseki and his book Botchan, a novel about the funny adventures of a student in a secondary school. This book has been compared to Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye. Don’t miss them!

 

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STORY

What does the old friend do? (occupation)
What was the reason of their meeting?
What is the meaning of “We had reached that age”?
Who was Father Bosch?
What happened to him during the war?
What is the meaning of the metaphor “bowling alleys”?
Why was he accused of being a spy?
Can you give a personal example of “at some time of their lives, people all taste the same sorrows and the same trials”?
We can see two sides of Father Bosch character: what are they?
What is the “convict number tattooed in her arm”?
“I am a Catholic and I know I am supposed to forgive the others... But I have no desire to forgive them.” What do you think of this sentence?
In the story, what does the symbol “smell of onions in one’s reek” stand for?
What’s the meaning of Father Bosch’s smile at the end of the story?
He said “I only feel pain in the winter when it’s cold. When spring comes, I’m fine again. This is the way it always is”. What did he mean with this?

 

VOCABULARY: pay attention to the context and say a synonym or a definition in English

pate, squawk, muse, tow, catcher, rifle, plot, attend, aisle, pew, livestock, score, reek, umpteenth

The Ring, by Isak Dinesen

Karen Blixen: http://www.karenblixen.com/

Isak Dinesen was the pseudonym of Karen Blixen. Most people remember her because she was the heroine of Out of Africa, but Karen's life and character have very little to do with the role acted by Meryl Streep.

The Danish author Karen Blixen (1885) belonged to an aristocratic family. She was grown up by some aunts obsessed by being nobles. She fell in love with a distant cousin of hers, but he rejected her and then she got married to his twin brother, a baron, with whom she sent to Kenya. The marriage was a disaster, and he transmitted the syphilis to her. He was also very bad at bussines, and she had to take care of their coffee plantation. At last, they went bankrupt, and she came back to Denmark, where she started to write.

Hemingway said she deserved the Nobel Prize more than himself.

Another very famous work of hers is Babette's Feast, also adapted to a film.

TRY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS WHILE YOU READ

Was theirs a balanced marriage?

How do we know that they were happy?

What was the difference of character between them?

Where did they go in a lovely July morning?

Why does she think "What a baby he is! I'm a hundred years older than he?"

What happened to some of the English lambs?

What crimes did the thief commit?

What were Lise's feelings about the thief?

Why was she happy when she was alone?

Why did she go into the shrubbery?

Who did she find in the shelter?

What did the man do with the knife? What does it symbolize?

She dropped her handkerchief: What is the meaning of that? And of giving her ring?

And why did he kick the ring away?

What do you thing is the meaning of "the blade was much worn - it went in?

Why does she think "All is over"?

Was she in love with her husband? How do you know?

 

 

WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS: TRY TO LOOK THEM UP

aka

had set on their purpose for ten years 

haughty

jesting

raillery

no stone in his bride's path

haymaking

drifted

frock

ram

stock

sheepfold

gruesome

whimper

shrank

swallows

gambolling

moist

took him in one simple glance

alcove

at bay

asunder

TOPICS TO DISCUSS

Why do some women take a male pseudonym to write?

What do you think of positive discrimination?

What is for you the difference between sex and genre?

SAYINGS, IDEAS AND OTHER THOUGHTS BY ISAK DINESEN

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.

It is a good thing to be a great sinner. Or should human beings allow Christ to have died on the Cross for the sake of our petty lies and our paltry whorings. 

All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them. 

All the sorrows of life are bearable if only

we can convert them into a story. 

Truth, like time, is an idea arising from, and dependent upon, human intercourse. 

People work much in order to secure the future; I gave my mind much work and trouble, trying to secure the past. 

If a man can devote himself undisturbed to the work which is on his mind, he can, as far I have observed, completely ignore his surroundings--they disappear for him; he can sit in filth and disorder, draught and cold, and be completely happy. For most women it is insufferable to sit in a room if the color scheme displeases them. 

From my journeys in southern Europe I have gained the impression that in our time the Virgin Mary is the only heavenly creature who is really beloved by millions. But I believe these millions would be uncomprehending and perhaps even offended if I were to tell them that the Virgin Mary had made a significant discovery, solved difficult mathematical problems, or masterfully organized and administered an association of housewives in Nazareth.

 

Desirée's Baby, by Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin at the Wikipedia

Kate Chopin was an American writer of short stories, although her most famous work was the novel The Awakening (1899). This novel was banished because it was too adavanced for her time: the critics couldn't bear the feminist behaviour of her characters nor her treatment of the female sexuality or infidelity (remember she lived in the South of the USA, where they say people are more tradicionalist and can (or could) speak French). So most of people considered her writings offensive and they were forgotten until in the 1970s, when she was rediscovered for this feminist attitude, and, from then on, her novel and short stories have been republished several times.

Chopin had a hard life because of the successive loss of her husband, her business, and her mother. A friend of Chopin's, a doctor, suggested her to start writing, believing that it could be a good thereapy for her, and thus also to give way to her enormous energy.

Her short stories follow the topics and the style of the French writer Guy de Maupassant. He was a realistic or naturalistic writer, a bit pessimistic and with a good taste for life ironies.

More short stories by Kate Chopin (I recommend to read them: they're very short!):

The Storm

The Story of an Hour 

Kate Chopin at the Library: here! 

SOME QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU WITH THE READING:

At the beginning of the story, what do we know about the heroine?

How was the girl like?

Why did Madame Valmonde want the girl?

What was the way for all the Aubignys to fall in love?

Who was Armand?

What did L'Abri look like?

What does "cochon du lait" mean?

What was Desirée's baby like?

How do you know Armand was happy with the baby?

What signs foretold the disaster?

So, at the end, who was the person with black blood in their veins?

SOME VOCABULARY

toddling age = age when children start to walk

stray = wander and get lost

child of the flesh = child of one's own, not adopted

corbeille = bouquet of flowers

scamp = lazy and mischievous

layette = set of clothes for a newborn

 

 plantation

 

 

 

 

  stubble

 cabin

fan (verb)

reeds

willow

A Cold Autumn, by Ivan Bunin

Ivan Bunin on the Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Bunin

Recent book in Spanish: http://www.acantilado.es/catalogo/dias-malditos/

Some good writers, even writers with a Nobel Prize, are sometimes out of fashion. It all depens on the market, and not on the quality of their texts. All of a sudden you discover an author and you want to read some books by them, but, what happens? It happens that is very difficult to find their books, or their books are old books and their editions not updated any more. I think Ivan Bunin is a typical case of this situation.

His short story is a very odd story: it doesn't have a regular chronological rhythm: at the beginning all it's very slow; then, at the middle of it, thirty years pass by in a single paragraph, and, after all the adventures, only a single afternoon remains. 

At the end of our lives, what is going to remain? What is the thing, the deed, that would make us able to say about life: "it's worth it"?

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE READING

What happened on the 15th of June? What year was it?
Who is the person who tells the story?
What is the meaning of "her son to be" in the context of the story?
In all the story you can breath sadness. Say some sentence, phrase, word, image that makes you feel that sadness. For example: "an early and cold autumn".
Why do you think that the boy prefers going in the morning?
The girl is frightened at her own thought "Suppose he realy is killed..." Why?
What was in the little bag her mum has been sewing for him? Why fateful?
What do you think this sentence mean: "not knowing what to do with myself, wether I should sob or sing at the top of my voice"?
What was the protagonist doing 30 years after her boyfriend's death?
Who did she get married to?
Then it happened a lot of things to her in quick succession: what things?
At the end, only a memory remains with all its strength inside her: what was it?

VOCABULARY

estate ≠ state
gather = meet
innermost = deep inside
gaze = look at
set off = leave, go away
game of patience = game of cards where you play alone
linger = wander waiting for nothing
Fet = Afanassin Fet (1820-1872), Russian poet.
    stand out = be more visible that the rest
<<< Swiss cloak
    jerky = nervous
    hoarfrost = ice on objects after a night of freezing weather
    Galicia = Galitzia = a region between Poland and Ukraine
    moth = little insect that eats clothes
    Arbat, Smolensk = markets in Moscow

GENERAL QUESTION:

Name-day: do you celebrate it? Why (yes/no)?

Love, by William Maxwell

William Maxwell on the Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Keepers_Maxwell_Jr.

As you can read on the Wikipedia, William Maxwell wasn't a typical celebrity with a lot of entries on Google. We know he was a fine scholar, editor and writer. There are no adaptations of his books for the cinema, so he's not a "celebrity" in the current sense. But the most important things for a writer are his writings, so let's read his short story and enjoy it.

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU WITH THE READING

Who was the protagonist? What did she do?
What was she like and what did she look like?
How do you know she was a good teacher?
What mischief by the pupils did the text mention?
What present did the pupils give her for her birthday?
How did they celebrate it?
Why didn't she come to school one day?
Who was the substitute?
How did the pupils behave with the new teacher?
What did Miss Brown home look like?
What is the meaning of "She belonged to the illness"?
And what does it mean: "The angel who watches over little boys (who know, but they can't say it) saw to it that we didn't touch anything"?

What did the teacher died of? How old was she?
How did the boy find Miss Brown tomb?

TOPICS TO DEVELOP

What were your school days like? Anecdotes, mates, teachers, subjects...

VOCABULARY

flawlessly = perfectly

< oval Palmer method

call the roll = read out the list of pupils to see if they are in class

snicker = laugh silently

< aster = kind of flower

worm out = discover

< sweet pea = another kind of flower

Happy Returns = Happy Birthday

matinée = session (in a cinema...,) in the morning or early in the afternoon

crane one's neck = try to see a thing, e.g. far away or over a fence

weather-beaten = spent much time in the open air, very cold or very hot

dim = not clear

cinder road = lava gravel road

faucet (USA English) = tap (British English)