New answers tagged short-stories
1
Yes, I think you're right
The most obvious thing for "I've been there" to be a response to is the last sentence of the other speaker's, "The conversation was amazingly indiscreet". As you note in the question, Von Bork would probably have been in similar situations. The use of "amazingly" conveys incredulousness (from the other ...
0
I think the implication is that Von Bork is so knowledgeable that he can guess just which minister's country house is meant, and he has also been a guest at that house.
If I am correct, this not an idiomatic expression at all, but is meant literally: Van Bork has been at that house. I must admit that I do not have any clear evidence of this, but I think it ...
3
The part about the Bicycle sounds to me like "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" the title story of Foggy Mountain Breakdown and other stories by Sharyn McCrumb. In that story the bicycle has been so sabotaged that the bully crashes onto railroad tracks and is killed by a train. But I don't recall anything like the man coming home to a rural household with ...
8
I think this is "The Cave of Ali Baba" or "The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba", by Dorothy L. Sayers. It was a bit longer than an average short story IIRC - maybe a "novelette" or "novella", and was the final story in the collection "Lord Peter Views the Body"
A man is a spy in a secret illegal ...
2
No, it's left open whether the samurai's account is also partially untrue.
Obviously, most people encountering 'In a Grove' are coming to it as one of the great examples of conflicting accounts and unresolved narrative in world lit. If the samurai's narrative were simply accepted as what actually happened, that clarity and resolution would undercut the main ...
2
Content warning for lots of sexism ahead
In English*, "girl" can have negative connotations in certain contexts. These connotations are far more negative than "boy" or even "kid"; both of those lean more towards endearment than denigrating.
The guard is leaning heavily into these connotations.
“They went on hunger strike. Even ...
24
It helps to have a bit more of the context leading up to this:
There have been some very strange happenings. I have been in this house more than a year now, and as I wished to lead a retired life I have seen little of my neighbours. Three days ago I had a call from a man who said that he was a house agent. He said that this house would exactly suit a client ...
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