Challenge 734

Table Grace

1. In Marian L. Thorpe’s “The Spider’s Spinning”:

   1. Mike says that most homes in the area look out on Toronto and Lake Ontario. What is the significance of the different view from the mysterious house?
   2. Dougal, the architect, considers adding solar panels to the house. Does he ever make the upgrade? He says the skeletons in the basement henge are those of his and the previous owner’s ancestors. Is he speaking literally or figuratively?
   3. At the end, Dougal expresses ambivalence about the henge and the net-like embossed pattern in the walls. What might his feelings imply about his relationship to past and future?

2. In Kelly Sauvage Angel’s “The Veggie Uprising”:

   1. What elements of humor can be found in the story?
   2. Does the story take a position between herbivorous and carnivorous diets or does it equalize perspectives between the two?
   3. How does Nina’s partner’s experience with vegetables differ from that of the Sun-being in Cyrano de Bergerac’s “Go to the Cabbage, and Be Wise”?

3. In Morris J. Marshall’s Volatility Cycles and Gary Clifton’s The Dead Bin:

   1. How many murders does Krista suspect may be connected with DBC Financial?
   2. How do readers learn of the murders in Volatility Cycles and The Dead Bin, respectively?
   3. What advantages do third-person and first-person points of view offer that the other viewpoint doesn’t have?
   4. In The Dead Bin, McCoy is a protagonist and, in Volatilty Cycles, Krista is the protagonist. So far, Detective Tran plays the role of the reasoner. What information does Krista give him that might open the way to his becoming a protagonist as well?
   5. How can cultural differences between the USA and Canada be discerned in comparing The Dead Bin and Volatility Cycles without lapsing into parody and stereotypes?
   
   

   Responses welcome!

   Copyright © October 16, 2017 by Bewildering Stories
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