An eerie, mystical feeling kept hovering while reading this story. Hallucination, reality, one couldn't quite decipher, but the writing style did afford the reader a fair bit of entertainment. This days I have being reading these short stories at the deadline. Like this, I literally read it a minutes ago. I think, unlike books, it helps me remember them as I am about to write. Even before, I usually read the stories again as I am about to write.
Not much to tell about Rog Phillips (the author). Still, He is quite recognized in the short-story-fiction genre. He wrote great stories like, "The Old Martians", "The Unthinking Destroyer", etc.
Thank you for reading. I try not to give spoilers, :). Everything said herein are actually my own opinion. If there is anything I might have missed out, misinterpreted or quoted wrongly even, please point me towards it in the comment down below. Also, you could drop me your mail, so I could email it to you. It's only just 17 pages or there about, it's free. Till next time.
- Author - Rog Phillips
- Title - The Gallery
- Published - 1959
- Genre - Fiction, Science fiction, Short Stories
PLOT
Arthur was at the verge of concluding his thesis for him to be awarded Ph.D., when he got a frightening telegram from his aunt. He knew what kind of person his aunt was, and that not a lot of things in life could startle her so much so that she would send such a message, included in the message was a call to return home and also for Arthur not to call. Arthur didn't go home as requested as he would have put his thesis in jeopardy. On getting home everything seemed different, including his aunt. All through the journey, rather strange changes seemed to baffle him. His aunt seemed indifferent to his late arrival. This seemed to baffle Arthur more with the introduction of 'picture-TV in full color and stereophonic sound'. The mystery begins to unfold.
CHRACTERS
Arthur the main character. Aunt Matilda, Arthur's aunt. Lana the photographer. Dr. Walters who was supervising Arthur's thesis.
SETTING
Sumac. This was the place where Aunt Matilda lived, and where all the scene think place. Possible A work of imagination. Chicago where Arthur schooled.
PURPOSE
I absolutely have no idea what the purpose of this was. I couldn't even deduce a moral lesson from it for the life of me.
There was a nice bit of mystery to this that made it an interesting read. Not the best book I have read, but strangely, I enjoyed it. I could hardly ascertain if the main character was delirious, hallucinating or just living an illusion. Maybe reality isn't real, maybe YOU aren't real, maybe reality is what you make of it, this story sure made me feel that. At the ending part, the main character started to speak to us directly reminding the reader that it is only but a work of fiction. A very nice step by the writer. Wouldn't recommend this one so much. Nothing to pick from it, just more confusion, haha. Rating this a 3.5/5.