May Night by Nicholai Gogol — Review

“May Night” by Nicholai Gogol is a story about the love of a guy and a girl and obstacles between them.

The narration is sincere, stylish and colorful, even poetic. He gives a detailed description of the people, place and surrounding nature.

The plot includes a lot of mysticism, a lot of hidden, secret meaning. Reading it, readers start to believe in spirits (unfortunate souls that roam in the world).

Here is the link to the text of the story:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36238/36238-h/36238-h.htm#Page_141

Half a Day by Naguib Mahfouz — Review

Half a Day is a short story by Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. The author uses in this story elements of allegory and surrealism.

The story opens in an unnamed city early in the morning. The narrator, a little boy, walks with his father to school for the first time. The father cheerfully and encouragingly says that this day is an important step forward in life.

This is half a day and … this is all life.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
http://englishiva1011.pbworks.com/f/HALFADAY.PDF

The Sentry by Nikolai Leskov — Review

In the story “The Sentry” by Nikolai Leskov, the soldier is standing guard in a sentry box at the palace, and then he hears cries for help - a man is drowning nearby. What to do? He can’t leave his post... But he can’t abandon a person either... What choice will the sentry make and how will he respond to him?...

This is a small story with a lot of meaning.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://archive.org/details/NikolaiLeskov-SentryAndOtherStories/page/n17/mode/2up

A Little Cloud by James Joyce — Review

The main character of the story “A Little Cloud” by James Joyce compared his life with the life of his former friend who was more successful in their careers...

The story ends with a scene of an alarmed mother calming a crying child: “My little man! My little mannie! Was ' ou frightened, love?... There now, love!”. The mother holds the child in her arms. This is the author’s positive assessment. There is a motherly principle here, there is love here. Only for this reason it is possible for the main character to return to himself: “felt his cheeks suffused with shame” …

Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://genius.com/James-joyce-a-little-cloud-annotated

The Table by William Trevor - Review

The epigraph to this story “The Table” by William Trevor might be: business first. The main character is a furniture dealer. He finds an antique table for sale in a newspaper he makes money for himself.

The story is written in the genre of irony of people who know how to make money out of nothing.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/william-trevor/p,8,65597-the_collected_stories_read.html

Birthmark by Mikhail Sholokhov — Review

This is a story about the fate of the heroes, about a young commander, a young man tired and matured from life on the march, about an ataman - an “old wolf” who has seen hard times.

The story little by little leads us to the finale. Here people are on opposite sides of Civil War after the Russian Revolution.

Despite the tragedy of the story "Birthmark", reading the syllable of the work is ecstasy! How many forgotten, thrown out of everyday life, how many unexpected, but at the same time understandable and fascinating words, comparisons, adjectives, in the end.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://sovlit.net/birthmark/

The War of the Wall by Toni Cade Bambara — Review

The short story “The War of the Wall” by Toni Cade Bambara is dedicated to kids' impressions about graffiti - big painting on the wall.

The story includes social part - it shows the beauty of good deels for society.

Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://www.cbsd.org/cms/lib/PA01916442/Centricity/Domain/1670/War_of_the_Wall.pdf