Gyaan Adab
Hosted
The Book Club
ABOUT THE EVENT
We had Usha Sinha introduce the short story form of storytelling by O.Henry.
A short story is a piece of prose that is typically shorter than a novel, intended to be able to be read in one sitting, with an overall tone or mood that is prevalent throughout the story. William Sidney Porter, who’s writer’s alias was O’Henry, was an American landmark short story writer. His short stories were characterized by a surprise twists at the end of the tale, with features like playfulness and witty narration.
O’Henry’s writing often dealt with narratives of the simple middle class, with his main characters being waitresses, financially unstable artists, etc.
Through her informative address, beautiful and popular works of the author such as ‘The Gift of the Magi’ and ‘The Last Leaf’ were also discussed.
‘The Last Leaf’ is a short story set in Greenwich Village, a hub for the creative collective in New York, during a pneumonia epidemic. The apathetic affection of an old artist helps save the life of a young artist by restoring her will to live by allowing her death to flail dependent on the falling of the last leaf on a tree outside her window, which he paints in an ironical metaphor.
Another one of O’Henry’s most popular works is ‘The Gift of the Magi’, which revolves around a newly married couple that yearn to gift each other brilliant Christmas presents on a minute budget, leading them to understand the mutability of material possessions and sentiment.
Later, Mandakini Tata took over by facilitating a discussion that helped gauge audience reactions and opinions in an open environment.
TIME: 5.30 PM
DATE: Wed, 27th FEB
ENTRY FREE
