Tag Archives: Fiction

Of Mice and Men-John Steinbeck

Published: 1937 (Covici Freide) John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, tells the story of two flawed friends during the Great Depression who stick together until the elements of an uncertain world collide too fiercely to keep their bond alive. George is the caretaker, a quick-thinking and pragmatic man looking out for Lennie, a trueContinue reading “Of Mice and Men-John Steinbeck”

The Painted Veil-W. Somerset Maugham

Published: 1925 (Heinemann) Summary: W Somerset Maugham’s novel The Painted Veil is one of those novels that, while not having any real “shock value” or plot twists which are needed to sustain a certain readership, sustain the reader’s attention with perpetual sadness and disappointment. Not the disappointment in a character you learn to love, butContinue reading “The Painted Veil-W. Somerset Maugham”

The Woman In The Dunes-Kobo Abe

Published: 1962 (submitted to Yomiuri Prize) Setting: An unnamed coastal fishing village Summary: This Yomiuri Prize winning novel begins and ends in a dream like sandscape, a place where sand accumulates like time and swallows the visitor whole. Jumpei, an entomologist looking for the next new insect to classify, stumbles upon a desolate village with aContinue reading “The Woman In The Dunes-Kobo Abe”