Challenge 922
Pants on Fire?
In Silvia Hines’ Seeking Reconnection: What detail allows the reader to estimate the author’s age with confidence of accuracy?
In Jessica Moore’s The Heart Is Exposed Wire: How does the story reinterpret the American myth of the Wild West? To what extent is it a spoof?
In C. M. Barnes’ Eternal Return:
- The narrator — or chronicler — refers more than once to having dropped his pants in public at one point. What reason does he give for it? Was the act offensive or ridiculous?
- At what point might the reader begin to suspect that the narrator is unreliable?
In Henri de Régnier, Mr. d’Andercausse’s Candle:
- Might a translator keep the French honorifics “M.” (for Monsieur) and “Mme” (for Madame) rather than use the English “Mr.” and “Mrs.”? Might the French abbreviations be presumed obvious in English?
Incidentally, French has no equivalent of the English “Ms.,” which is not an abbreviation but a kind of ideogram. Rather, French has dropped the use of “Mlle” (for Mademoiselle) in favor of “Mme”). - Is the story a short story by any modern definition? If not, why not, and what is it?
- Why does the story not overstep Bewildering Stories’ “Dead Narrators” guideline?
- Might a translator keep the French honorifics “M.” (for Monsieur) and “Mme” (for Madame) rather than use the English “Mr.” and “Mrs.”? Might the French abbreviations be presumed obvious in English?
What is a Bewildering Stories Challenge?
