Challenge 871

Rehabductionism

1. In Natan Dubovitsky’s Near Zero, :Chapter 34, what is the significance of the peasant and the chicken in Yegor’s recollection of his early life?

2. In Bill Kowaleski’s Back to Gaborone, how might Mr. Mudenda have been abducted less conspicuously?

3. In J. H. Zech’s Eden’s End: The Empty Cell, is Thanatos a ghost? If so, what kind? What is Thanatos’ function? Could the role be played by Shanatto as a wholly real character?

4. In Charles David Taylor’s Delphi, Voice From the Cloud:

   1. Explain the significance of the name “Delphi.”
   2. What is the tragic flaw of Harold and his parents?
   3. Are either Harold or his parents and their cult stereotypes? For a definition, see the Review Readers’ Checklist, item 3. If “yes,” then explain the function of Harold’s friend AJ.

5. In Walter Giersbach’s Light Up My Life:

   1. What crime does the taxi driver commit? How does he get away with it in a crowded city?
   2. Since Sylvie glows in the dark, what happens when she puts on clothes? Or goes to a movie theater?
   3. Does the narrator really seem to care much about Sylvie?

6. In LindaAnn LoSchiavo, Lethe’s Lullaby:

   1. Does the poem duplicate Orpheus’ journey to the underworld in search of Eurydice?
   2. In what way might the poem make remembrance and caring resemble a broken bargain?

7. In Gary Clifton’s Karma Bites Back, would Clevus and Stabs have gotten away with assaulting Amita if they had escaped from the cobras?

Responses welcome!

Copyright © September 7, 2020 by Bewildering Stories
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