T.K. Wade -- Author

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

The Chair Carrier [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of the story.]

"The Chair Carrier" is a short story written by Yusuf Idris. It was published in 1994, although the author seems to have been dead by this point. It's either a typo, or it was published posthumously.

This is possibly the most random plot I ever got in a story. A man sees a giant ornate chair just walking itself down the street. Upon further inspection, he notices it is being carried by a tiny old man. Basically he was doing the physically impossible. How random!

As it turns out, this little guy is an ancient Egyptian carrying the chair around, looking for his master who is going to sit in it. If you are wondering who his master is, by the way, the name is "Ptah Ra'."

The sad thing is that there is a sign on the chair that states that his master intended the chair for him, but the old man can't read. People can read it to him, but he requires a token of authorization to prove that the person is reading it correctly or with the proper authorization.

So the guy just keeps carrying the chair onward. Kind of a silly story. I recommend it if you wanna get a quick chuckle. It is a very quick read.

This blog was written on September 13, 2026.

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Monday, November 2, 2026

Everything That Rises Must Converge [Short Story Review]

"Everything That Rises Must Converge" is a short story written by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1961.

This story deals heavily with the Civil Rights Movement, and I suppose it could be easy to get caught up in that, but there is something a bit more serious happening here that I focused on. At its heart, this is a story about a mother and son's relationship that is falling apart. It's crashing and burning over the course of the entire story, and it is very difficult to deal with, especially by the end of it.

The main character is Julian, a white 50-something man who is taking care of his mother. His mother is from a different time. He hates that about her. For the whole story, he is trying so hard to find ways to make her suffer for her prejudice. Be that as it may, the thing that's so horrible about this is that their relationship is so trashed because of it.

I don't want to really spoil this one. It's actually really heartbreaking, and the ending upset me a lot. I sort of saw it coming, and it hurt a lot. It makes me really want to make sure I am on good terms with my family before I lose them.

Do I recommend it? It is a very well-written story and even has a good point to it that really has nothing to do with civil rights. So... I wouldn't recommend it if you are one to struggle with difficulties with family members. This one pushes a lot of buttons in that area. Only go into it if you can do it maturely. Just be prepared for a major gut punch at the end. The emotions run extremely high in this story.

This blog was written on September 12, 2026.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Euthyphro [Book Review]

"Euthyphro" is a short book written by Plato. It was first published in 1513, however it was written around 380BC. I feel the latter is a bit important here.

The whole thing with Plato, despite him having his own philosophy, is that he was our main conduit into who Socrates was. In many ways, Socrates was the reason for his philosophy, so we often quote Plato when we are quoting Socrates.

"Euthyphro" is a short dialog between Socrates and a man named Euthyphro. Euthyphro is about to prosecute his father for murdering his slave who also murdered someone else. Socrates is about to be prosecuted himself for the corruption of his people by way of teaching his philosophy. (The latter ultimately leads to his death sentence.)

After some small talk, Socrates asks Euthyphro as to the definition of piety and impiety. This leads to a very lengthy and quite involved conversation where no matter what Euthyphro answers, Socrates finds errors in his reasoning. He does this very politely.

An example of this would be that Euthyphro says that Piety represents what all the gods love. But then Socrates points out that their gods don't seem to agree with one another, so how can that be the definition if it is impossible for all the gods to agree with one particular thing. It keeps going from there in something of a roller coaster of rhetoric.

Some parts of the dialog are actually confusing to read. Socrates sometimes struggles to make his point clear, since sometimes rhetoric can get a little tangled. Logic and reasoning is a tough thing to deal with sometimes, and we have all had those moments where we might prefer to just give up than deal with it. We do so at our own peril, though. It could lead us to chose what we want to think rather than actually discover what is there. This is why I am annoyed philosophy is not really taught in schools anymore outside of an elective.

Crazy enough, Socrates never gets his definition, but the journey to find it was amazing. It shows how some pre-conceived notions are perhaps just that, and we may be clinging to a falsehood by accident... or also possibly through laziness.

I recommend "Euthyphro" to those who are interested in the philosophy of Socrates. It's not for everyone, I guess, but then that was kind of the point of his work. It was all about taking an interest in things rather than just substituting them for your own convenient and quick ideals. Great stuff!

This blog was written on September 11, 2026.

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Monday, October 26, 2026

The Moon-Spinners [Book Review]

"The Moon-Spinners" is a novel written by Mary Stewart. It was published in 1962.

The story follows a young British woman named Nicola vacationing in a small Greek village when she happens upon an injured man who had been shot after witnessing a murder. There is also the issue if a kidnapped young boy too. This leads to her getting involved with all kinds of intrigue as she tries to help without letting everyone know that she is more than just a girl on vacation.

The latter point was what made everything so interesting. She is involved, but none of the villains have any reason to suspect that she is involved... as long as she just keeps acting natural. This allows her to act as a freelance investigator under the guise of someone just enjoying the country life.

Nicola also has a spicy girl cousin named Frances that adds a lot to the character pool. Her wit and charm was extremely enjoyable, and they played off each other very well as they dealt with this rather dangerous situation. Imagine being in danger, but you are still able to sort of enjoy life in such a nice place as long as nobody suspects you. Crazy stuff.

This book was adapted into a Disney movie staring Hayley Mills in 1964, but a lot of the plot was changed. Nicola was changed to Nikky, and instead of being a brave girl, she was switched to being more of a teen out of her element. Kind of disappointing after reading the book.

Either way, this book is a great example of good heart-thumping mystery and murder. I totally recommend it. It is supremely well-written, and it's too bad Disney had to yank the guts out of it to make a movie.

This blog was written on September 11, 2026.

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Thursday, October 22, 2026

Sonny's Blues [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main themes of this story.]

"Sonny's Blues" is a short story written by James Baldwin. It was published in 1957.

Relatable. This is a story about how sometimes someone in your family can just go down a rotten path, and there is not much you can do but watch it happen. The good news in this story is that after all the bad things happen, there is a clear chance for recovery. In the case of "Sonny's Blues," the problem was drug use.

Sonny is the brother of the protagonist, and after he is able to return to his family, things are pretty rough. It kind of feels like your own brother has turned into a stranger, but at the same time, there seems to be a little bit of him there that you remember. The narrator does his best to cling to this in the hope that Sonny won't drop back into old habits, and it certainly does look like something that could happen.

What is very important about Sonny in this story is that he actually does want to change. That doesn't mean he will, but he is putting an effort into it. Sometimes those ideas of his connect with the narrator and sometimes there is a very bitter disconnect. It isn't easy... for anybody.

Now, this story takes place well within the jazz and blues era of music, and these guys are all musicians in their own way. Sonny plays the piano, and if he can just get his life going straight, that might lead to an opportunity in the right direction. But like I said... it's hard, and he really does need to do most of the effort himself.

The great thing about this story is it really does have a good ending. It isn't perfectly conclusive, but it is one of hope. Sonny just manages to find a pathway out of his bad habits through "the blues." It shows that he has found a way to express his sorrows and take back his life. The last section of the story was really well-written, and I loved it.

I do recommend this one. It has more to do with music than it seems at first. You can't really have music in a written story, but somehow, I could hear it in my head as the descriptions were given. That was pretty awesome.

This blog was written on September 8, 2026.

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Monday, October 19, 2026

Coyote vs. Acme [Movie Review]

"Coyote vs. Acme" is a movie released in 2026, however, it was actually finished in 2023. It was canceled by Warner Bros., and, due to the action of fans of the project, finally released. That is really cool.

Without going into big spoilers, the plot of this film is that Wile E. Coyote uses a lazy lawyer to sue Acme for all of his orders being defective. It is set in a world surprisingly similar to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". All of the cartoons sort of just exist in our world, and it is entirely a normal thing. The presentation of this was really good, and I enjoyed how they did it.

I guess it is hard not to go into a movie like this without having some high expectations. They don't make movies like they used to. That is to say, they don't make good movies like they used to. It is clear after seeing this film that they really tried. They tried really hard, and the result I got was a really entertaining one. It's not perfect, but all the criticisms I have for the movie are small and forgivable.

Although I cannot be sure, there is a chance that just about every Loony Tunes character ended up in this movie. There were even obscure ones that a lot of people might not even recognize. There were some characters that appeared in WB's limited animation days that nobody really cared about. "Cool Cat" was one of them, and I am pretty sure I saw him in this movie.

Most of the cartoon sequences were done using really good CGI. It still looked like cartoons are supposed to look for the most part. There are moments where it did not look great. The quality kind of went in and out, but the majority was very good and enjoyable.

I enjoyed the story. It was a mix of the silly and serious. It was not unlike what we got in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". The mystery introduced was very interesting, and I got invested.

I'd be hard pressed not to recommend this movie. With whatever flaws it certainly has, it is very clear that the filmmakers enjoyed making this movie. Nobody seems to enjoy making movies anymore. I would like to think the success of this movie would mean more like it, but I'll believe it when I see it. Remember that WB tried to cancel this, and if it was not for the actions of people who really cared about it, it would never have seen the light of day three years later.

This blog was written on September 8, 2026.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2026

The Socratic Method [Book Review]

"The Socratic Method: A Practitioner's Handbook" is a philosophical book written by Ward Farnsworth. It was published in 2021.

This book is for a specific type of person. It was written for people who are interested in the philosophy of Socrates. It does a very good job at laying out the philosophy particle by particle, including giving the history of the man who started the whole thing. By the end of the book, you cannot possibly misunderstand it, and that's what makes this book so solid.

As this book points out, much of what we knew about Socrates was delivered to us through the works of Plato, since Socrates was not a writer. I got interested in him when I started watching debaters who were using his method, and I was stunned at how they were able to so politely shift the talking points into more of a neutral and even agreeable area... and then turn things around into their favor. It is not an aggressive technique. It's actually very friendly, opting not to push people away but rather does everything it can to find agreements with one another.

But I was not interested in it for personal debating reasons. I was more interested in it for its self-help reasons. My mind has a tendency to shoot around in sudden directions, forming assertions and defending against anything that might tear down those assertions. I knew I was doing it, and I didn't like it. The more I studied the Socratic method through other people, I began to realize that this might help me clear up some of my internal issues, and it really has helped a lot. It has even kind of made Christianity a bit clearer, rather than having me interpret it the way I prefer it to be, which is what I had been doing.

The author of this book does not write it in a biased way at all. It sticks to the subject at hand flawlessly. I was kind of shocked to see that happen in modern times. People always want to put their spin on things. This book makes no attempt to do that. It just spends the whole time telling you how the method works... and then it ends. That's what I wanted, and that's what I got.

Just a brief explanation of what the Socratic method is: it has to do with being open minded and interested in what the truth actually is rather than just sticking with what you already assume, believe, or think. It's foundation has to do with asking question and learning, with interest, about what answers you get. You have to care about the other side for this to even mean anything. Once you ask those questions you begin to look for spots that don't connect just right, which should lead to more questions. The actual truth may not come out, but it can certainly help you find out things about this world that you might not have understood while on the journey.

And like I said earlier, this isn't just about debates. It is also something you can do with yourself. You can have these really interesting internal dialogs where you test your own knowledge. It's not about defending anything. It's just about being willing to listen, learn, and pretty much stay that way as a general rule. It's like a clean-up service for your brain that comes in regularly. It is not supposed to be used aggressively. In fact, Benjamin Franklin notoriously tried to use it that way, and he later wrote that it was an improper use and decided to stop doing it.

Anyways, that's all I got to say on this book. I recommend it to anyone who is interested. I do want to say, however, that I wish schools taught the Socratic method by at least high school. It's always been an elective, if offered at all. Schools these days do not really promote active learning. They have lately been opting to drill ideas into people's minds and then release them into the world with those ideals. Nobody listens and learns anymore; they just shoot down other people and shut everything else out. It's sad. Schools have really let us down. I'm lucky I found this eventually.

This blog was written on September 5, 2026.

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Monday, October 12, 2026

Industrial Symphony No. 1 [Movie Review]

"Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted" is a movie directed by David Lynch. It stared Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Michael J. Anderson, and Julee Cruise. It was released in 1990. On top of being a film, it could also be described as a concert or a musical.

This film is not well known. I actually had thought I had seen all the Lynch movies up to that point, but this one slipped through the cracks. When I heard it was more of a concert, I remembered his other similar film "Duran Duran: Unstaged," which was not great. That worried me, but I figured I'd watch this in the name of completionism.

The theme here has to do with the concept of broken relationships. It can be lovers or friends, as long as the bond is strong when the breakup happens. There is a sort of scary place the brain can go when this happens, where everything seems really bad. The whole thing starts off with a scene from his movie "Wild at Heart," where a similar thing actually occurs.

From there, you get bombarded with the genius and often creepy music of Angelo Badalamenti with lyrics written by Lynch himself. The stage performance is a spooky industrial setting in complete darkness, with only spotlights, strobes, and pyrotechnics in order for you to see any of it.

Julee Cruise takes the leading role and does all the singing. A lot of the time she is suspended and flying around as she sings, which I found to be pretty impressive. There was also a really startling moment where it appears that she actually takes a fall from a great height, which would have killed her.

Michael J. Anderson was all over this production too. You will remember him as the little guy from the red room in "Twin Peaks." He is talking forwards in this one, and having him in the production was a nice touch. There is an extended sequence where he is sawing a log. I don't know what it meant, but I enjoyed it.

Holy heck! It was good! But it isn't for everybody. This movie was avant-garde as hell. I would only recommend it for people who are die hard David Lynch fans, especially those who like his early stuff. I'm not sure why most people don't know about this one. It's pretty awesome.

This blog was written on September 5, 2026.

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Wednesday, October 7, 2026

A Conversation with My Father [Short Story Review]

[I talk a lot about what is happening in this story, but I do not spoil the story within a story that is featured here.]

"A Conversation with My Father" is a short story written by Grace Paley. It was published in 1971, according to online sources, but the book I read this in said 1974. Beats me!

This is an odd little duck. It is basically a short story about writing short stories. It follows the perspective of the protagonist, a writer, who is being pushed to tell a story on the spot to her sick father. He wants something simple and to the point, so she tries to do that, but then he complains there is not enough detail. So she tries again, adding a lot more detail in the second attempt.

The problem is that she can only go so far, and the father has trouble seeing things beyond the ending, leading him to see it as more of a tragedy. This frustrates the writer, who has more hope for things in the world.

I found this one interesting because I often think about the existence or lack thereof of objects and events in stories that are not explicitly mentioned. I have dabbled a bit in forth-wall style literature, and I often wonder about the things not mentioned.

Even so, this story is really about a father who not only sees no hope in that which has not been mentioned, and he is also kind of pushing it on his daughter at the same time. He has a strong bias towards tragedy, likely because he sees his own end coming. Who knows?

The daughter is interesting too because she can write a tragic story, but she can see how things can go much better after the ending. She is a good contrast to her old man.

Interesting little experiment. It is kind of a story about itself in a way. I run into that sometimes. I do recommend it. It is a very easy read and gets to the point shockingly fast.

This blog was written on August 31, 2026.

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Monday, October 5, 2026

Battle Royal [Short Story Review]

"Battle Royal" is a short story written by Ralph Ellison. It was published as a part of a greater novel called "Invisible Man" in 1952.

There are some aspects about this story I don't really want to get into in this blog. The story has a lot to do with racism and such, and I just don't want to bother with the topic. Instead, I want to talk about what this story does really well.

Fight scenes are hard. You have to carry along how the fight happens without taking too long on any given moment. It has to move quickly without losing all of the violent detail. "Battle Royal" does this really well and for a surprising amount of time.

It also isn't just a fight between two people. It is a close-quarters free-for-all with some extra trickery mixed in, such as money thrown into the arena and parts of the floor being electrified. It is a crazy read, and I have to commend the author for doing such a good job at portraying a scene that might baffle other writers.

That is what is good about this story, and given the title, that is all that really needed to be good. That said, however, I did not know this was a chapter out of a greater novel when I read it. I have no interest in the novel itself. I can only recommend this to people who might be interested in learning about writing crazy fighting scenes. Other than that, I don't have much more to say.

This blog was written on August 29, 2026.

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Wednesday, September 30, 2026

The Virtues in Cheating, Part 2 [An Essay]

A while back, I wrote an essay about how sometimes the concept of cheating might help you get out of a rut. You basically look for ways to break rules in order to find a better way of doing something. I used the video game "The Talos Principle" as an example how this could be done. I actually found ways to cheat at the game many times over, allowing me to circumvent a bunch of the puzzles.

After I wrote that essay, I ended up replaying the sequel "The Talos Principle 2" a few years after I had experienced it the first time. I noticed a couple of things in this playthrough. Firstly, I was figuring out the puzzles a lot faster. Secondly, I was almost never able to cheat. The developers did a really good job in spacing all the puzzle rooms apart and angling them in such a way that hardly any of them could form connections with each other. I did try, though. I tried a lot. I think I only managed to figure one of them out, but only after I had solved it the correct way.

After scratching my head a bit, I realized that these two things were very important. The first point was that I had become much better at solving puzzles the correct way after doing all of that cheating. The second point told me that the developers had likely noticed all of the cheating in the first one and simply made a tighter puzzle collection in the sequel. That means that improvement occurred for both the player and the developer. We both learned and got better accordingly... all because of some creative cheating.

The fact that they pushed back on the cheating did not make the game worse. In fact, I was really impressed by the work they did put into it. Because of all the cheating I did in the first game, I was actively able to appreciate the efforts they put into preventing it in the sequel. It was like I could hear the developer saying, "I thought you might try that, but not this time!" It made me smile because I felt like I was being talked toby the developer in a different language... the language of puzzles.

You might suspect that the reason I was so good at the puzzles this time around was because I had played the game before. No. I have a bad track record of forgetting the solutions to puzzles and having to learn them all over again. This always happens when I go back to play the "Portal" games. In this case, I am pretty sure the reason I was blasting through all the puzzles was because my mind had opened up to new ideas rather than getting stuck on an endless pattern of repetitive thinking. The old way still worked, but I had to constantly relearn something to solve it in the same way. I was now solving each puzzle through a process of critical thinking processes obtained through cheating in the first game.

Another way to look at the latter point is that, in trying to cheat each puzzle, I was actually just figuring out the intended solution.

My second playthrough of "The Talos Principle 2" was even more fun than the first because I was conscious of this new ability to think with an open mind and see things in a more creative way. A few puzzles still gave me trouble towards the end, but I still made it through them. They were the hardest of the lot anyhow.

I think that's all I really have to say about this. All this has really pleased me, and I would love to see how far I can take this. Just keep in mind, this is not about doing bad things. This is about breaking out of patterns of behavior that hold you back. That's what I am doing... and it's helping me in more ways than just being good at a single video game.

This blog was written on August 27, 2026.

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Monday, September 28, 2026

I Stand Here Ironing [Short Story Review]

"I Stand Here Ironing" is a short story written by Tillie Olsen. It was published in 1961.

There is no real need to go into spoilers for this one. The premise is very simple. It is a first person recount from the perspective of a single mother during the Great Depression. It helps give you an understanding of what it is like to be a working mother who is so busy that she just cannot find the time to actually form a connection with her children.

This is a sad one. Those times were rough. After all those Jean Shepherd stories I read, it looks like that family had it a bit easier. In the case of this mother, her husband abandoned her, leaving her to do everything herself. She does... but at the cost of a real and meaningful relationship with her children.

Tough topic, but it was written well. I do recommend it to those who would like to understand this perspective better.

This blog was written on August 26, 2026.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Winter Dreams [Short Story Review]

"Winter Dreams" is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was published in 1922.

Not bad. This was a story about a guy named Dexter who falls in love with a young and beautiful woman on a golf course. The issue here is how the woman is sort of playing a little game where she is trying to keep her options open, even though it is pretty clear that she likes Dexter a lot. Dexter, himself, is frustrated that she cannot just accept his love, when she is clearly attracted to him.

Without going into too many spoilers, the main theme of the story is that nothing lasts forever. When we are young, we trick ourselves into thinking we have all the time in the world, but we don't. Windows of opportunities are brief, and when they close, it will be as if they never existed at all. Only a memory.

I like this story because it fits with some ideals I have had lately. I have been trying to make the most of every second and not get caught up in emotional silliness that generally is associated with youth. I want to look back and say, "I spent my time wisely." After all, I'm gonna die anyhow. Might as well make sure I did a heck of a lot while I was here.

I do recommend this story, although I am unsure it is for everybody. Most people may be uncomfortable with the concept that everything ends. If that's how you feel then feel free to ignore this one.

This blog was written on August 21, 2026.

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Monday, September 21, 2026

Frog and Toad - Alone [Book Review]

[I basically spoil a story intended for very young children.]

"Frog and Toad - Alone" is a very short children's book written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. It was published in 1979.

My editor sent this to me as a gift. He occasionally wants to get away from me and will take a week where we do not talk or interact with each other. The theme of this little book is basically the same thing.

The story is about a frog named Frog and a toad named Toad. Frog puts a note on his door that says he wants to be alone, and Toad thinks it's because he is sad or doesn't want to be his friend anymore. This is a very real thing that can happen in a friendship. Sometimes people just want to be alone, and that's okay.

The truth, in this story, is that Frog is still very much Toad's friend, and he just wanted to spend some time on his own and think. Everything was perfectly fine, and Toad was just being silly.

Easy story to read and understand. Also the point that it is making is a very real thing that can happen to anyone at any age. I recommend this story for children who are still learning how to read.

This blog was written on August 20, 2026.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2026

The Three Strangers [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of this story.]

"The Three Strangers" is a short story written by Thomas Hardy. It was published in 1883.

I have never stumbled over a story in this manner in all my life. What happened was that I had bought a copy of H. G. Wells' "The Empire of the Ants," and this story was simply tacked on to the end of it for no reason. It isn't a problem, as it gave me another classic story to read, but that is such an odd thing to do. Either way, I got myself a free story.

This story is about a child-christening party happening at the secluded home of a couple of farmers. It is a very out of the way place. During this party, it is raining really badly, which leads to the advent of three strangers that stop by to get dry.

Now, they do not show up all at once. In fact, their appearances are well apart. The first guy is super friendly, but also a little strange. He claims to have a really interesting job, but he prefers to just keep leaving clues for people to guess.

The second guy who comes in later outrightly says that he is a wheelwright. He spends most of his time at the party consuming way too much mead.

The third guy shows up and takes one look inside and just runs away in some sort of fright.

The author does his very best not to show his hand in this one. For the longest time, it looks like you are reading about a really odd slice-of-life with weird people from a small town, but it does actually go somewhere. For one, the first guy's job end up being revealed to be the town's executioner who is slated to kill someone the next morning. He is fairly proud of his job, even singing a hilarious song about it, which the wheelwright joins in on as he drinks mead.

When the third guy runs away in fright, they soon hear some gunshots in the distant at even intervals, signaling a prisoner escape from the local jail. It is then believed that the third man they saw that ran away was the man who was to be executed and that he has just escaped. So a posse is formed and they all run out into the rain to get the guy.

The executioner and the wheelwright momentarily join them... but then they just end up heading back to drink more mead, shake hands, and then go back off on their separate ways. I did think it was funny that they played a major part in getting the posse together but just did not bother to help them out.

So what happened?

Well, they did end up catching the third stranger and brought him back, where the turnkey from the jail was already waiting at the farmer's house. Turns out the third stranger was not the escaped convict. He was the brother of the convict who happened to see him in the house, which scared him away (because he was SUPPOSED to be at the jail awaiting execution). His brother was the man claiming to be the wheelwright who had been having a good ol' time with his executioner before getting away himself.

This is one of those situations where a man's moxie is so impressive that it ultimately gets him off Scott free. Because he was so bold as to drink and be merry with the man that was set to kill him, the people just sort of forgive him and he moves away to never be bothered again.

In case you were wondering what his crime was: he stole a sheep.

This was a fun and silly story. I do recommend it, and I am glad the publisher decided to slip this one in with "The Empire of the Ants." Why? Well... honestly it is a better story than that one. Guess I got my money's worth.

This blog was written on August 17, 2026.

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Monday, September 14, 2026

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall [Short Story Review]

"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" is a short story written by Katherine Anne Porter. It was published in 1930.

Rather than telling you the main beats of the story, I'd rather tell you exactly what this story is. From beginning to end, this is a narrative told from the first person perspective of an 80-year-old woman in the process of dying. I cannot summarize it any better than that. That is literally what this story is.

I should further say that she is not entirely aware that it is happening. Her mind is working well enough. It's active and still processing things. Most of what the story gives you are her free-flowing thoughts as her last moments pass. It's shocking because most of it has nothing to do with the fact that she is dying. She is still trying to live and take care of things that need to get done. She does not even really seem to understand that she is dying until a few moments before it happens.

This story gives you a very strange look at the concept of the world fading out of existence. You only get her perspective and no one else's. There is no religious viewpoint here either. It is life slipping into either the unknown or some sort of oblivion. It does not show you anything on the other side.

Might this be considered a horror? It's hard to say. The thing that's happening here is perfectly normal, but it is something we dislike thinking about. I think the most difficult part of the story is the fact that she is barely even conscious that it is happening at all. There are so many things that will ultimately just not get finished or completed when it ends.

Regardless of the topic, the story is very well-written, and I have no choice but to recommend it. It's a tough one though! Know what you are getting into!

This blog was written on August 13, 2026.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2026

The Empire of the Ants [Short Story Review]

"The Empire of the Ants" is a short story written by H. G. Wells. It was published in 1905.

What you have here is potentially one of the first example of a "swarm horror" story. That later became a really big and even lucrative movie genre. Most everyone has seen at least one.

The idea here is really something I have come to expect with H. G. Wells. The ants evolve to become far more intelligent and begin taking over the world. The concept of evolution is used in a few of his stories, including "The Time Machine." He loves it.

Most of the story is about a sea captain and crew running into various boats that have been conquered by the ants. The scenes depicted here are really quiet striking and even scary. The thing that got me was that the ants would prop themselves up against the edge of the boat and sort of stare at you as you went by. Ants don't do that. They keep moving and adapt to things that they run into. They never really stare at anything.

The problem with this story is that it basically just ends in a summary of what happens. Wells goes into how the ants ultimately begin conquering parts of the world, killing and driving the humans away. What I mean is that there is a build up of story followed by a mere summary of what happens. It's kind of like he just wanted to move on to something else, so he just wrapped it up. I noticed a lot of people complaining about this in some online comments.

Weirdly enough, this story was adapted into a film in 1977 called "Empire of the Ants." I have seen this one, and it's not really that good. It substitutes the evolution with toxic waste dumping, but at least it has a very interesting ending. I mean... at this point just having an ending is an improvement. Most of the film was really silly and cheesy, but I kind of still recommend it because of the super awesome stuff they do at the end of the film. It's fairly satisfying.

As for the original story, though, I am not sure I can recommend it. The sudden summary at the end really does feel like it comes out of nowhere. Wells should have finished his story.

This blog was written on August 11, 2026.

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Monday, September 7, 2026

The Horse Dealer's Daughter [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of the story.]

"The Horse Dealer's Daughter" is a short story written by D.H. Lawrence. It was published in 1922.

This one had me scratching my head a bit. It involves a family of horse dealers that have fallen on completely awful times, even to the point of having to shut down. It's all over, and there's nothing they can do now that the parents are dead.

The one daughter named Mable is told to be fairly ugly, even referencing a bull dog to paint a picture of her face. One thing she does have going for her is a stare that is really kind of shocking. Just to look into her eyes is very difficult.

Well, her life is basically over, just like it is with her brothers. They don't like her much and don't really care where she is going to end up. At this point, I can barely even tell where the story is going, but it does go somewhere.

A local doctor who is just going about his rounds happens to see Mable on the street. They share a look, and this look does something to him that he does not quite understand. Later on, he happens to witness the same woman walking into a pond and soon realizes she is committing suicide. He runs down there and rescues her, although it is almost as traumatic for him since he cannot swim.

He does manage to save her though and takes her into to a nearby house. She is revived, which actually goes really well. He also strips her naked in order to cover her in dry cloths. Once she is awake and has come to her senses, she begins hugging him at the knees and kissing him, claiming that he must love her. Whether this is true or not, he soon believes it too and even offers to marry her tomorrow, if he can arrange it.

That's where the story basically ends.

So this is either one of two things. Either this is a story of sudden and immediate love that came at a very fortuitous moment in Mable's life... or she basically hypnotized him with that intense look of hers. You kind of have to decide for yourself, but there is a lot of evidence for either argument. Personally, I think its the latter. I think she very boldly arranged this whole thing so that she would be married to a doctor, leaving her brothers in the dust. But you really have to read it yourself to decide.

I do recommend this story. I found it out in the wild, but apparently the regular way to find this story is in the book "England, My England and Other Stories." I do believe, however, that this story can simply just be read on the internet these days.

This blog was written on August 10, 2026.

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Wednesday, September 2, 2026

The Decameron [Book Review]

"The Decameron" is a very long book written by Giovanni Boccaccio. It was published in Italy in 1471, although it was circulated in manuscript form between 1349 and 1353.

Hey! We got ourselves yet another Jean Shepherd reference here! It was actually Jean that got me to read this huge thing. In one of his stories, he tries to impress his teacher by doing a fudged book report for his father's copy of "The Decameron." He doesn't actually read it; he just skims a few parts and really has no idea what it is even about.

The teacher, in this case, is immediately suspicious. For one, the book is an absolutely massive tome, and it was really too much for a little boy to be reading. Secondly, the book is notoriously dirty. It is one of the smuttiest books ever written and certainly not good reading for a child. She calls him out on it, and he has no choice but to confess what he did.

I was so charmed by this story that I decided to read the book in its entirety. Since the original book was in Italian, I had to get a translation. I had a lot of choices, since the book has been translated many times over the ages. I ended up going with a fairly modern one by Wayne A. Rebhorn. It was published in 2013, and I have zero complaints about this translation. It reads very easily, using modern language, while still keeping all the context of the period in tact. You might also learn a thing or two about what it was like back then.

How do I even begin reviewing a book so big?!

The story is about seven women and three men who are leaving Florence to escape the Black Plague. Once they find a nice place to stay for a while, they decide to spend each day telling stories to one another. The way they do this is by electing a king or queen for each day who choses the theme of the stories. They each have to tell one apiece, and then a new king or queen is elected for the next day. This clever structure allows for ten days of stories by ten people. Yes, if your multiplication is correct, that is exactly one hundred stories.

Each day has an introduction and a conclusion. There is also a fairly long introduction to the book itself which tells the story of the storytellers and how everything is getting set up. It's all very structured and nice, allowing the storytellers themselves to be apart of the whole presentation. You get to know them as well as the characters in their tales. Very nice.

The majority of these tales are filthy as hell, most of them having to do with adultery. Sometimes it's presented as a bad thing, and other times it is shown to be something that should actually occur. For example, if a husband is mistreating his wife or ignoring her too much, it might be agreed upon that she has every right to go out and seek her own pleasure.

What is particularly interesting is that the storytellers are all Christian, but they are telling each other shocking stories about infidelity. Extremely rarely, the stories will even go into homosexuality and some very vile acts on behalf of friars and ordained priests. Despite the stories they tell, they do openly reject a lot of the things the characters do in the name of their religion and pray they will do better in their own lives. Remarkably, this dirty book still holds strong Christian values, and the author himself has done the same.

My favorite storyteller was a guy named Dioneo. At the end of the first day, he asks for a rule where he always goes last and that he may ignore the day's theme if it pleases him. This was a fun wildcard to end every day with. You never knew what story you would get at the very end of the day, and that is why he is my favorite.

Nearly every day was about some sort of sexual theme. Nothing was off the table. There was even a hilarious one where a guy thinks he became pregnant because how his wife always wanted to be on top of him during intercourse. That is almost my favorite story because of its hilarity.

The final day actually changes things up to not be about sex at all. It was a shift to people who were actually good and wonderful in their lives. I know that seems boring, but this was actually a breath of fresh air after almost 90 stories of infidelity and other forms of bad behavior. Of course, Dioneo still broke the trend with the final story which was about a man being really horrible. Go figure.

The final part of the book was actually an apology from the author. We use the term "apology" a little differently these days. He was not sorry for anything. What he was doing was explaining why his book was perfectly fine as is, and why it should never be censored. He says he wrote this book as an adult for other adults. If people are offended by it, then he did not write this book for them. On top of that, he actually expresses that he was writing this specifically for women. He considered them to be his target audience.

The apology at the end is extremely cool, and I actually encourage anyone to just read that all by itself. It is relevant to modern times, and it is a great essay that speaks well against the dangers of censorship. I probably highlighted more parts in the apology than in the actual stories.

One last factoid before I wrap this up. The title "Decameron" actually means "Ten Days," but the story actually takes place over fifteen days. The reason for this was because the storytellers did not want to tell dirty stories on holy days. This also allowed whoever was the new king or queen to keep their rule for some extra days until they could begin again. I really liked this additional detail.

I 100% recommend "The Decameron." It is a very long read, but most of the stories are short. It isn't really that hard to read if you get a good translation. Just keep in mind that this is a very dirty book, and it rarely holds back. Additionally, if you only read one part of it, check out that apology at the end. For reference, the chapter is called "The Author's Conclusion." Really important read, especially for those who are a little nervous about writing controversial stuff when you have a religious background.

This blog was written on August 7, 2026.

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Monday, August 31, 2026

Araby [Short Story Review]

"Araby" is a short story written by James Joyce. It was published in 1914.

This is a story about a boy who forms a very specific view about life, people, and all the things around him. He sees things in a romanticized way, which is the whole point of the story. It kind of acts as both a loss of innocence and a cautionary tale pertaining to how we often have a habit of forming wild opinions on things we don't really know much about.

The reason I am not going much into what actually happens in the story is because I was not really super into the writing of this one. The theme was the big thing here, and it is true that there is a danger is the over-romanticizing of things. We can quickly fall in love with something awful or even just entirely banal, and the truth could come crashing down on us later on, leaving us very confused and possibly embarrassed.

People we think are great, may not be so great or just fairly normal. Places that sound amazing might be really ordinary or bad. I do think it is important that we try and carefully track the world around us. There are things that are amazing, but we need to not falsely invent them.

There is a flipside to this coin. We can negatively romanticize things as well. Things we go around professing that they are bad might not be quite as awful in real life. It works the same way, but it focuses more on the negative. This story, however, focuses on making something banal seem absolutely wonderful... until a sudden revelation proves otherwise.

"Araby" is a very short single-session read, so there is no reason not to recommend it. I don't think it is bad. Sometimes a person's style just doesn't mesh with my brain.

This blog was written on August 4, 2026.

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