Great Britain | Lecturia

Arthur C. Clarke: The Nine Billion Names of God

In “The Nine Billion Names of God,” a story by Arthur C. Clarke, a Tibetan monastery acquires an advanced computer to complete its century-old project: to list all the possible names of God in a special alphabet. The monks believe that completing this list will fulfill humanity’s divine purpose. Two occidental engineers are hired to install and operate the machine. As they near the end of the project, they struggle between logic and faith, grappling with the potential impact of completing this momentous task.

Roald Dahl: The Landlady

In “The Landlady,” a short story by Roald Dahl published in The New Yorker in 1959, a young man named Billy Weaver arrives in Bath on business and looks for

Robert Louis Stevenson: The Body Snatcher

Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body Snatcher” tells the story of Fettes, an alcoholic man who spends his nights drinking with his friends. One night, a chance encounter leads Fettes to meet Wolfe Macfarlane, a renowned doctor who has come to treat an important man. The meeting between the two is tense and raises many questions. Fettes’ friends decide to investigate his mysterious past and discover that Fettes was a medical student in Edinburgh. Along with Macfarlane, they were assisting a surgeon known as K., famous for having a constant supply of corpses to teach his students, obtained from unorthodox sources.

Charles Dickens: The Convict’s Return

“The Convict’s Return” by Charles Dickens tells the harsh story of a family in England. The father is a man despised by the community due to his violent nature and

Graham Greene: The Destructors

In “The Destructors,” a short story by Graham Greene, a gang of young men is led by an enigmatic new member, Trevor. He plans to destroy an old house in

Saki: The Story-Teller

“The Story-Teller,” a story by Hector Hugh Munro (Saki) published in 1914, vividly places us in a train carriage where three children, their aunt, and a man described by the author as a “bachelor” are traveling. Faced with the aunt’s failure to keep the children quiet and frustrated with their restlessness, the man intervenes and tells them a peculiar story to capture their attention.