The Woman at the Store by Katherine Mansfield -- Review

The short story "The Woman at the Store" by Katherine Mansfield tells about visiting a few strangers in a house in New Zealand. The place is located far away from civilization.

The woman lives with her daughter there. According to the woman, her husband left the family but there are some signs which show that the reality may be different.

The narrator presents in the story; the country, local people, nature.

It starts with a description of the day which the main characters witnessed: "All that day the heat was terrible. The wind blew close to the ground; it rooted among the tussock grass, slithered along the road, so that the white pumice dust swirled in our faces, settled and sifted over us and was like a dry skin itching for growth on our bodies."

It ends with the scene:  "A bend in the road, and the whole place disappeared.". 

Why visitors want to leave this place as soon as possible -- readers can know at the end of this story.

This is a link to the text of the story:

https://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org/assets/KM-Stories/THE-WOMAN-AT-THE-STORE1912.pdf

Knock by Fredric Brown -- Review

The short story "Knock" by American science fiction and mystery writer Fredric Brown starts with a description of "a sweet little horror story that is only two sentences long." 

"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door..."

This is how the story ends, with one exception, the last person knows who is behind the door, and this person is not the last... Maybe this knock on the door will save doomed humanity.

This is a link to the text of the story:

http://koapp.narod.ru/english/fantast/book34.htm

Pétur by Olivia Clare --- Review

The story "Pétur" by Olivia Clare tells about a woman who traveled with her middle-aged son to Iceland.

It was her dream to see her former husband's country. The story starts with the sentence "Ash fell from the wind" which was a volcanic eruption. The author described what people saw and felt during those days. 

Olivia Clare combined it with the mood of the main characters and their attitude toward each other. They belong to one family but they are completely different. 

The author created a great picture of the atmosphere in the countryside in Iceland, it shows how people adapted to severe nature.

Here is the link to the text of the story:

https://ecotonemagazine.org/fiction/petur/

Before the Party by W. Somerset Maugham -- Review

The central theme of the story is how a respectable wealthy British family is trying to maintain their appearances and how their appearances can be deceiving.

Millicent, a middle-aged woman, who returned from Borneo after the death of her husband, Harold had hidden something.

Maugham gave a long introduction which prepared readers for what happened next. It was a beautiful summer day and the family planned to attend the party. It is far away from the jungles of Borneo, but the past events brought darkness to the home life of the family.

If the truth is not pleasant, nobody wants to know it. The story is clever and deductive.

This is the link to the text of the story;

https://lingualeo.com/en/jungle/before-the-party-by-somerset-maugham-578929

Discussion about English Grammar

Here are some mistakes which were made in the test for English Grammar. This is what we discussed with an English native speaker. The text which is crossed out is how it was answered initially. The text in bold is the right answer according to the creator of the test.  The text in brackets shows the comments during the discussion). 

I normally live in London but this year ___________ in Tallinn.

I live

I'm living (Because it’s a continuous action. For example I live in Moscow but: Now I’m living in Moscow.)

I do live

I would have

 

Your leg looks bad – you_________see a doctor.

have

should go (it is more appropriate in spoken English)

going

ought to (it is also possible to use but it is more formal)

They asked her who_____________.

is she

she is 

was she

she was (Because the action is in the past, the description of the action needs to be in the past)

I wish I____________a dog when I was young.

had

have had

had had (This is an unreal situation and it is completed in the past. But some English speakers think that the phrase “had had” sounds not natural).

have