“With a clamor of bells that set the swallows soaring, the Festival of Summer came to the city of Omelas, bright towered by the sea.”
And so with The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, I continue with my duo short story read which also included The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Both stories have a similar theme and they are wonderful to pair for a comparison. The Lottery was written in 1948 and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas was written in 1973.
“The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.”
A town of around 300 inhabitants gather on June 27th for the yearly lottery. It is alluded to that other towns also do lotteries and the population seems used to this event, convening with an easy, happy camaraderie.
“A miller fell slowly but surely into poverty, until finally he had nothing more than his mill and a large apple tree which stood behind it.”
(The 1819 Version)
One day a poor miller met a strange old man who promised him that he would make him wealthy if, in three years he would give the dearest thing to him that was standing behind his mill. Thinking the odd man was referring to the apple tree, he quickly concurred.
Here I go again with a 2025 Deal Me In Challenge. I skipped a year but this year I have someone to keep me company and push me to actually accomplish something. So we’ll see how it goes.
I’ve always wanted to read Alphonse Daudet, Lettres du mon Moulin, but time to plod through it in French hasn’t materialized. However, given the season, and coming across this compilation of Christmas stories in English translation, I thought I’d give it a whirl.
Place Royale, Paris – Augustus Pugin
~ source Wikimedia Commons
I just have to summarize the whole stories as they’re so good, so I’ll give a spoilers warning here.
“The original cause of the trouble was about twenty years in growing.”
A Chaparral Christmas Gift is the eighth story in the Everyman’s Pocket Classics Christmas compilation of 20 short stories.
The story begins on Christmas Eve with a tale of unrequited love. Rosita McMullen, daughter of the owner of the Sundown Sheep Ranch, was courted by numerous men, however only two held her admiration: Madison Lane and Johnny McRoy who is later called the Frio Kid. Rosita chooses Madison and on their wedding day, McRoy appears, tries to shoot both of them but is prevented, then shoots an innocent man and flees, screaming of his vengeance and hatred. He thus becomes the Frio Kid.
I believe this is the third Christmas that I’ve continued reading the Christmas short stories from Everyman’s Pocket Classics. The stories are written by well-known classic authors and each one so far has been excellent. This is the seventh story in the compilation, written by Willa Cather, and is set on a cold Christmas Eve in the city of Chicago
The Listerdale Mystery: “Mrs. St. Vincent was adding up figures.”
Detective: None, as these are various tales of murder & suspense
Published: June 1934
Length: 192 pages
Setting: various
The Hound of Death: “It was from William P. Ryan, American newspaper correspondent, that I first heard of the affair.”
Detective: None, as these are tales of the supernatural
Published: October 1933
Length: 218 pages
Setting: various:
A compilation of 12 short stories, The Hound of Death and Other Stories are not mysteries, but instead are tales of the macabre, tales of the supernatural, tales that are linked to the scary unknown. The tales were as follows:
“Mary Clay looked out of the window of the old farmhouse.”
I’ve deviating from my Everyman Christmas compilation with a Christmas story out of a collection of Librivox short stories. The Christmas Present was written by Richmal Crompton, an English woman author, and is a curious story in more ways than one. Let’s find out why …