The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoyevsky -- Review

The story "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is not so long for reading as the most famous novel of this Russian writer "Crime and Punishment". For readers who had never read the works of this author, this story might be a good start for reading.

The narration was written from the perspective of one person who is sure that he is ridiculous. He was thinking about committing suicide when one girl on the streets of Saint-Petersburg asked him to help. He was ashamed that he didn't help. Everything looked bad...before he fell asleep. 

He saw the world in his dream differently. The depression disappeared. He said in the last line of his narration:

"And I tracked down that little girl…and I shall go on and on!"

Here is the text to the story:

https://www.shortstoryproject.com/story/dream-ridiculous-man/

"The Cut of the Cloth" by Beverley Sims -- Review

The short story "The Cut of the Cloth" by Beverley Sims is written from the perspective of a young man, who works as a clown in a team with others on the streets of London. 

He describes one of his days before he leaves the country for traveling to India. The young man tells about his co-workers, they came to London from around the world and about the girl he likes. The important part of the story is the memories of the main character. He remembers his father, who passed away, was a famous magician in India and after the family moved to the UK - in London too.

The story is full of nostalgic reminiscence, sentimental feelings and it doesn't have a  happy ending. The internal world of the main character was described here in detail and it made the story interesting and memorable.

Here is the link to the text of the story:

http://www.theshortstory.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/The-Cut-of-the-Cloth.pdf

The short story "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry describes the story of a safecracker (someone who breaks into safes).

The story presents the good features of human character. Some actions may lead to problems, however, certain actions may lead to the best results if the person was sincere in their intentions.

The story finishes with a happy ending. It gives the readers a positive emotion.



Here is the link to the text of the story:
http://www.elahelp.com/uploads/1/1/7/7/11774088/a_retrieved_reformation_text.pdf

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor -- Review

The short story "A Good Man is Hard to find" by Flannery O'Connor is written in a genre named South Gothic which creates grotesque pictures of reality. It is usually connected with the Southern part of the USA.

The story starts with a description of the everyday life of an American family. The author highlighted the flaws of every main character within the story. Bringing the reader's attention to these flaws was made without any exaggeration, life was presented as it was.

The family had to face their final dilemma. The final scene is the main subject for many interpretations. The writer left readers a space for discussions about the psychological side of human behavior. 

The story was published many times in different anthologies since 1953. As a result, the story became one of O'Connor's best known works.

Here is the text of the story:

https://repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/160332/A%20good %20man%20is%20hard%20to%20find%20-%20Flannery%20O%27Connor .pdf