Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed by Ray Bradbury -- Review

The short sci fi story "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" by Ray Bradbury based on the knowledge about the planet Mars of the previous century. The writer imagined that the process of colonization of the planet can be similar to the time of colonization of America by Europeans.

The central idea of the story is an influence of the environment of a person. The author put on the agenda the problem of keeping individuality. Despite the fact that nothing bad happened with the main characters, the story is terrifying. According to the narration, people can only accept their fate.

Here is the text of the story:

https://profrush.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/u4_dark_theywere_se1.pdf

The Voice of the Turtle by W.S.Maugham -- Review

"The Voice of the Turtle" by William Somerset Maugham is dedicated to the same topic, which is later used in his novel "Theater".  The author presented his views about actresses.

The main character of the story, an opera singer - a bitchy, greedy, selfish, heartless woman who turns any conversation to discussion about her roles, plans, stories of her life and so on. Under the magic of her talent, some people see her exactly the way she wants to be seen - as an unselfish servant of art, a bright and pure creature. 

Maugham wrote the novel "Theater" a few years after this story. The two main characters which were revealed in his works represented the view of the writer for actresses as a type of personality. Because Maugham was a rather famous and successful playwright, his point of view toward actresses was based on the experience of personal communication with them. 

Nevertheless, the attitude of the writer towards the main character of the story was more complicated. He wrote at the end of the story - "... people blame me because I rather like people who are a little worse than is reasonable. She was hateful, of course, but she was irresistible."

This is the link to the text of the story:

http://indbooks.in/mirror1/?p=284329

Unnecessary Things By Tatyana Tolstaya -- Review

The story "Unnecessary Things" by contemporary Russian writer Tatyana Tolstaya was translated and published in the magazine "The New Yorker". It doesn't have a straight forward plot. The story presents how human memories are connected with the things of the past.

The memory of each person is a huge source of vivid recollections which only ironically could be called "unnecessary things".



Here is the link to the text of the story:
https://www.newyorker.com/books/flash-fiction/unnecessary-things

Aesop's Fables - For Discussions

Aesop's Fables are great subjects for discussions. The plot of each story relates to some features of human characteristics. The last line usually represents the moral of the story. If we hide the last line in the story before the discussion, we would express our own opinions about the main idea. When the last line is revealed, we could compare our thoughts about the meaning of the fable with those that the author wanted to say.

As an example, let's look at the first fable in the book which link is mentioned below: "Precious things are for those that can prize them". It might be a reference to the books which represent a great value for readers who are able to appreciate them :)





This is a link to the book:


https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/aesops-fables.pdf