Ladies’ Lunch by Lore Segal

I identified myself with the protagonist Lotte, an 82-year old woman who is progressing to dementia. She gets angry about whatever her caregiver does and tells her son Sam that she (Lotte) has died.

The plot is simple: since Lotte cannot live alone, she was taken to a country town bedsitter from her home, Manhattan. She longs to go back to the apartment in Manhattan, and her four friends, all about the same age with Lotte want to visit Lotte. But unfortunately they themselves are dependent and have no means to visit Lotte. Gradually, communication between Lotte and them grows apart from each other because of their old age.

This is a sad story, but it reveals the inevitable situation old people face sooner or later.

It is amazing that the writer wrote this short story at the age of 90 (she was born in 1928).

Cold Little Bird by Lore Segal

　　This is a very interesting short story. The main theme is the problem of generation gap. It describes the worries Martin has about his son Jonah, a precocious boy. The argument between them about the 9/11 was so vividly described that it absorbed me thoroughly. Probably any parent feels sad or threatened by his/her child who has grown up and speaks up what he wants to say.
　　The story is a little exaggerated but the exaggeration makes the it comical in a black humor way. The ending was suggestive: since Jonah is reading a children’s book, “The Short,” the conflict between them seems to have been subsided, but in reality, as the boy’s body is glowing with electricity, the two have the probability to crash with each other again.