jennifer's comments (member since Jul 20, 2008)

jennifer's comments from the Short Story lovers group.

The motivation for the lottery is adressed by the character of Old Man Warner who talks about the tradition of it and the link (in their society) between the lottery and the crops.

I've admired this story since I first read it (junior high? high school?). I think it's wonderfully done. The plain language fits the town and its citizens perfectly. It's a story that no one can forget-you can forget the title or the author, but once someone says, "You know, the town gathers to draw names..." the whole thing instantly comes to mind and that is a good story.

Really well done. He's exemplified the way we (or most of us) can be lulled into inactivity and acceptance. Because the aliens weren't big scary monsters they were able to cover the town and enter the homes with no resistance. Doesn't the narrator sound almost dazed at the end?

I've just finished Classic New England Stories, which includes Melville, Hawthorne, Sarah Orne Jewett. The stories run the gambit between sinister and humorous, and all have that old New England atmosphere.

Thanks for searching that out, Chris, it did have the old New England flavor I like. Sort of a colonial sound.

Nope, never heard of it. Is it in a collection?

I'm a big fan of Flannery O'Connor and Ambrose Bierce ("Oil of Dog" never stops being funny). For my tastes, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benet is perfection. I love creepy New England tales.