Realism | Lecturia

Ernest Hemingway: Cat in the Rain

“Cat in the Rain” is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1925 in the book In Our Time. In an Italian hotel facing the sea, an American couple spends a gray and rainy day. From the window, the woman looks out at a deserted garden and notices a cat trying to shelter from the rain under a table. Moved by compassion, she decides to go down and look for it while her husband stays in the room reading. The journey through the hotel, the attentive treatment of the owner, and the constant rain frame an everyday scene that barely hides the emotional distance, lack of communication, and atmosphere of dissatisfaction surrounding the couple.

Charles Dickens: The Black Veil

Synopsis: The Black Veil is a short story by Charles Dickens, published in February 1836 as part of the volume Sketches by Boz. The story begins on a winter’s night when a young doctor, recently installed in his practice, receives an unexpected visit from a mysterious woman, tall and dressed in mourning, her face covered by a thick black veil. Disturbed and distressed, she asks for urgent help, not for herself, but for someone else. Her disconcerting request leads the doctor to become involved in a disturbing situation marked by pain, fear, and a dark secret.

Gabriel García Márquez: Tuesday Siesta

“Tuesday Siesta” (La siesta del martes) by Gabriel García Márquez tells the story of a mother and her daughter who travel to a small town on a hot August day. Their visit has a particular purpose that arouses the curiosity of the local inhabitants. As the plot unfolds, the reasons behind their journey and the history of their family are revealed. The story explores themes such as dignity, social judgment, and the complexities of family relationships, all within the context of a traditional Latin American society.

Carson McCullers: The Sojourner

THE TWILIGHT BORDER between sleep and waking was a Roman one this morning: splashing fountains and arched, narrow streets, the golden lavish city of blossoms and age-soft stone. Sometimes in this semi-consciousness he sojourned again in Paris, or war German rubble, or Swiss skiing and a snow hotel. Sometimes, also, in a fallow Georgia field at … Read more

John Steinbeck: The Vigilante

THE GREAT SURGE of emotion, the milling and shouting of the people fell gradually to silence in the town park. A crowd of people still stood under the elm trees, vaguely lighted by a blue street light two blocks away. A tired quiet settled on the people; some members of the mob began to sneak away into the … Read more