Challenge 876

Fossil Forms

In Natan Dubovitsky’s Near Zero, chapter 39:
1. In Marcel Proust’s classic novel, the action begins when the narrator settles down to go to sleep. What might Yegor’s story about a dream tell him and the reader about himself? Why is it not surprising that Yegor is familiar with Proust?
2. What is the significance of Strutsky’s “going native” and forgetting most of his native language? Can he understand Yegor?
In Bill Kowaleski’s Stonewall to the Rescue, why does Maria decide to visit the local stylist, Jackson, and go for a complete makeover?
In Ásgrímur Hartmannsson’s Taking the Train to Echoff, what is the first indication that the narrator is heading for a sinister vacation?
In Tamara Podella’s Nightmare Jack, II:
1. Who is Maggie?
2. In what way might the story serve as the concluding chapter in a compendium of stories?
In Ken Poyner’s The Sea Serpents of Mars: Might Mars have the equivalent of Earth’s Burgess Shale?