32. Cool Air by H. P. Lovecraft.  
A man, newly arrived in New York, learns that a reclusive doctor lives in the apartment above his own. While suffering a heart attack, he is taken to the doctor’s door, and soon becomes friends with the bizarre and isolated man who claims he must live in a refrigerated environment for his health. But as the man spends more time with the doctor, he begins to understand the horrifying truth about his friend’s strange medical condition.



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31. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.  
The Tell-Tale Heart was first published in 1843 and is a short story by the American writer Edgar Allen Poe. It was then subsequently published as part of Poe’s Book – Tales of Mystery and Imagination.  
The story is told by an unnamed narrator that tries to convince the reader that he is not mad but provoked and haunted by the ‘evil’ eye of the old man, taunted almost, and to rid himself of the eye, he must murder the old man that he loved very much. It follows him as he walks us through his calculated and cunning plan to commit the murder, all while declaring his sanity.  
What I really like about Poe’s works, is that you can expect his narrators to be unreliable, making the reader unable to really know whether to trust him or not. In this case, the narrator is trying to mask his true intentions and feelings by his attempt to prove his sanity by exercising dissimulation. What’s to say he isn’t using dissimulation on us too?  
What I think is both a strength and weakness of The Tell-Tale Heart is Poe’s style of writing, it can be quite maddening, with his short sentences leave me with questions as to the meaning, and his longer sentences are precisely worded and descriptive. It is so carefully worded, which highlights Poe’s exquisite talent as a writer, that it highlights the angle of the narrator’s chaotic mind.

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30. The Unexpected by Jack London. (Part 2).  
The Unexpected is true to its name, full of twists and turns. But these surprises don’t just come in the form of dramatic plot events, they also come in an unexpected change of tone. Because, while in the beginning, the story seems set to become a thriller, it instead becomes a literary piece on morality and willpower.  
This is the best of Jack London using hardship to test his protagonist. Rather than the central tension revolving around the protagonist fighting her adversity, it revolves around her struggle to keep to her morals while doing so. She makes an ethical decision to do something the right way, despite everything pushing her to take the easy way out. It’s interesting, perhaps not very surprising, that this narrative choice would occur in one of the very few stories of the earliest 20th century with a female protagonist.  
Similar to Jack London’s survival adventures such as To Build a Fire and Love of Life, the story is filled with exhaustion, hunger, cold and pain. But in The Unexpected, it mostly takes place inside of a cabin with the forces behind the suffering, rather than being wind, snow, and sickness; being other people.  
The unexpected pushes forward an idea that life should be a struggle. As tumultuous and traumatising as the protagonist Edith’s life is shown to be, the introduction philosophises that it is a much more human, much more worthwhile life to lead than one of complacency.  
But the ending paints no clear picture, with no sign of heroic triumph or a return to safety. Life goes on, it seems to say. Whether you like it or not.  



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29. The Unexpected by Jack London. (Part 1).  
The Unexpected is true to its name, full of twists and turns. But these surprises don’t just come in the form of dramatic plot events, they also come in an unexpected change of tone. Because, while in the beginning, the story seems set to become a thriller, it instead becomes a literary piece on morality and willpower.  
This is the best of Jack London using hardship to test his protagonist. Rather than the central tension revolving around the protagonist fighting her adversity, it revolves around her struggle to keep to her morals while doing so. She makes an ethical decision to do something the right way, despite everything pushing her to take the easy way out. It’s interesting, perhaps not very surprising, that this narrative choice would occur in one of the very few stories of the earliest 20th century with a female protagonist.  
Similar to Jack London’s survival adventures such as To Build a Fire and Love of Life, the story is filled with exhaustion, hunger, cold and pain. But in The Unexpected, it mostly takes place inside of a cabin with the forces behind the suffering, rather than being wind, snow, and sickness; being other people.  
The unexpected pushes forward an idea that life should be a struggle. As tumultuous and traumatising as the protagonist Edith’s life is shown to be, the introduction philosophises that it is a much more human, much more worthwhile life to lead than one of complacency.  
But the ending paints no clear picture, with no sign of heroic triumph or a return to safety. Life goes on, it seems to say. Whether you like it or not.  



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28. The Outrage by Aleksandr I. Kuprin.  
When the association of thieves are slandered with participating in murder, they come to defend their honour in court, much to the bafflement of the barristers.  
The Outrage - like many short stories - focuses on style, setting and character. Leaving behind plot and story. Nearly all the piece is the speech of one man, yet it is as engaging as any adventure. The language is masterfully written (and translated), full of witticisms, colourful metaphors and political arguments.  
The speech of the ‘orator’ is light-hearted and charming, which may distract you from the heavy topics he talks about. Leaving aside the communist ideology throughout the piece, the main setting of the story takes place after one of the many terrible anti-Jewish pogroms of the Russian Empire. It may be a quirky story, but Kuprin tackled some deep problems with his nation.  
Kuprin is lesser known than his Russian contemporary Chekhov, but he proves himself to be just as deserving of praise.



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27. The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov. (Chapter IV).
A forty-year-old man named Dmitri Gurov is intrigued by a young woman walking along the sea front of Yalta with her small Pomeranian dog. Dmitri dislikes his shrewish and intelligent wife and, as a result, has numerous love affairs. Although the protagonist disparages women and calls them "the lower race," he secretly acknowledges that he is more at ease in their company than in men's. One day, "the lady with the dog" sits down next to Dmitri to eat in the public gardens. The man pets her dog in order to strike up a conversation. He learns that she is called Anna Sergeyevna, that she is married, and that she has come to Yalta on vacation. Over the next week, Anna and Dmitri see a lot of each other and grow close. The older man is intrigued by the exuberant naïveté of his young partner, yet he also recognizes a trace of sadness in her character. In contrast to the elder women with whom he used to have affairs and who would occasionally display a "rapacious expression" on their beautiful faces, Anna excites Dmitri's desire with her fresh and unaffected nature. In particular, he is drawn by her "diffidence, the angularity of inexperienced youth" that reminds him of his daughter. Every evening the couple observes the sunset from the vantage point over Yalta at Oreanda and are impressed anew by the "beautiful and majestic" scenery. The only things that mar Anna's happiness is the thought that her husband, Von Diderits, will send for her and her fear that she has lost Dmitri's respect by sleeping with him. In the end, Von Diderits sends Anna a letter urging her return, and she leaves Dmitri with something like relief. When parting with Dmitri, Anna states, "It's a good thing I am going away...It's fate itself!"



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26. The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov. (Chapter III).
A forty-year-old man named Dmitri Gurov is intrigued by a young woman walking along the sea front of Yalta with her small Pomeranian dog. Dmitri dislikes his shrewish and intelligent wife and, as a result, has numerous love affairs. Although the protagonist disparages women and calls them "the lower race," he secretly acknowledges that he is more at ease in their company than in men's. One day, "the lady with the dog" sits down next to Dmitri to eat in the public gardens. The man pets her dog in order to strike up a conversation. He learns that she is called Anna Sergeyevna, that she is married, and that she has come to Yalta on vacation. Over the next week, Anna and Dmitri see a lot of each other and grow close. The older man is intrigued by the exuberant naïveté of his young partner, yet he also recognizes a trace of sadness in her character. In contrast to the elder women with whom he used to have affairs and who would occasionally display a "rapacious expression" on their beautiful faces, Anna excites Dmitri's desire with her fresh and unaffected nature. In particular, he is drawn by her "diffidence, the angularity of inexperienced youth" that reminds him of his daughter. Every evening the couple observes the sunset from the vantage point over Yalta at Oreanda and are impressed anew by the "beautiful and majestic" scenery. The only things that mar Anna's happiness is the thought that her husband, Von Diderits, will send for her and her fear that she has lost Dmitri's respect by sleeping with him. In the end, Von Diderits sends Anna a letter urging her return, and she leaves Dmitri with something like relief. When parting with Dmitri, Anna states, "It's a good thing I am going away...It's fate itself!"



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25. The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov. (Chapter II).
A forty-year-old man named Dmitri Gurov is intrigued by a young woman walking along the sea front of Yalta with her small Pomeranian dog. Dmitri dislikes his shrewish and intelligent wife and, as a result, has numerous love affairs. Although the protagonist disparages women and calls them "the lower race," he secretly acknowledges that he is more at ease in their company than in men's. One day, "the lady with the dog" sits down next to Dmitri to eat in the public gardens. The man pets her dog in order to strike up a conversation. He learns that she is called Anna Sergeyevna, that she is married, and that she has come to Yalta on vacation. Over the next week, Anna and Dmitri see a lot of each other and grow close. The older man is intrigued by the exuberant naïveté of his young partner, yet he also recognizes a trace of sadness in her character. In contrast to the elder women with whom he used to have affairs and who would occasionally display a "rapacious expression" on their beautiful faces, Anna excites Dmitri's desire with her fresh and unaffected nature. In particular, he is drawn by her "diffidence, the angularity of inexperienced youth" that reminds him of his daughter. Every evening the couple observes the sunset from the vantage point over Yalta at Oreanda and are impressed anew by the "beautiful and majestic" scenery. The only things that mar Anna's happiness is the thought that her husband, Von Diderits, will send for her and her fear that she has lost Dmitri's respect by sleeping with him. In the end, Von Diderits sends Anna a letter urging her return, and she leaves Dmitri with something like relief. When parting with Dmitri, Anna states, "It's a good thing I am going away...It's fate itself!"



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24. The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov. (Chapter I).
A forty-year-old man named Dmitri Gurov is intrigued by a young woman walking along the sea front of Yalta with her small Pomeranian dog. Dmitri dislikes his shrewish and intelligent wife and, as a result, has numerous love affairs. Although the protagonist disparages women and calls them "the lower race," he secretly acknowledges that he is more at ease in their company than in men's. One day, "the lady with the dog" sits down next to Dmitri to eat in the public gardens. The man pets her dog in order to strike up a conversation. He learns that she is called Anna Sergeyevna, that she is married, and that she has come to Yalta on vacation. Over the next week, Anna and Dmitri see a lot of each other and grow close. The older man is intrigued by the exuberant naïveté of his young partner, yet he also recognizes a trace of sadness in her character. In contrast to the elder women with whom he used to have affairs and who would occasionally display a "rapacious expression" on their beautiful faces, Anna excites Dmitri's desire with her fresh and unaffected nature. In particular, he is drawn by her "diffidence, the angularity of inexperienced youth" that reminds him of his daughter. Every evening the couple observes the sunset from the vantage point over Yalta at Oreanda and are impressed anew by the "beautiful and majestic" scenery. The only things that mar Anna's happiness is the thought that her husband, Von Diderits, will send for her and her fear that she has lost Dmitri's respect by sleeping with him. In the end, Von Diderits sends Anna a letter urging her return, and she leaves Dmitri with something like relief. When parting with Dmitri, Anna states, "It's a good thing I am going away...It's fate itself!"



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23. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. (Chapter II).
The Most Dangerous Game" is a gripping tale of survival, suspense, and human nature. Richard Connell's classic short story follows Sanger Rainsford, a skilled hunter and outdoorsman, who finds himself stranded on a remote island after a shipwreck.  
Rainsford soon discovers that the island is inhabited by the enigmatic and sinister General Zaroff, a wealthy Russian aristocrat with a twisted passion for hunting. Zaroff has grown bored with traditional game and has turned to hunting humans, exploiting his island's isolation to indulge in this macabre sport.  
When Rainsford refuses Zaroff's invitation to participate in his sadistic game, he becomes the prey. With his wits, resourcefulness, and hunting expertise, Rainsford must evade Zaroff's trained hounds, outsmart his cunning traps, and confront the General in a battle of wills.  
Connell masterfully explores the darker aspects of human nature, delving into themes of survival, morality, and the ethics of hunting. The story raises questions about class and power dynamics, highlighting the dangers of unchecked privilege and the exploitation of the vulnerable.  
As Rainsford fights to outwit Zaroff and escape the island, the tension builds towards a heart-pumping climax. Will he emerge victorious, or become the General's next trophy? Through "The Most Dangerous Game," Connell delivers a thought-provoking and thrilling narrative that probes the boundaries of human nature, challenging readers to question what it means to be civilized.

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