心とろかすような 宮部みゆき

巧妙に仕組んだ作り話が見え見え。登場人物が何か言った後に、裏付けの言葉を付け加える。「そうそう、父親の和男の方は柔道の心得がある」とか「彼女オフロードのツーリングに凝っている」とか。現実味がなく、話が不自然。
着想はうまい。少女が金をゆするグルだとは誰も気がつかない。
俺という犬が語るというのも面白い。

1-900 by Richard Bausch

A dialogue between a man, whose wife ran away from him with their children, and Marilyn (Sharon), a sex phone girl. He calls Marilyn, who immediately starts talking with a hot tone, but he tries to talk about general topics rather than goes into sexual talks. He manages to talk with her for a long time, and when he feels like talking about sex, she refuses saying she has a headache.

I predicted how the story would end. The position of the girl and that of the man changes 180 degrees. It ends with a reversed position, and that is the only way to conclude the story.

The story was too long and I was fed up when I read the first 5 or 6 pages. I don’t like him.

(Maybe he felt lonely and wanted to talk about his trouble with someone, anyone who would listen to him.)

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse by William Saroyan

 Mourad was not punished for stealing John’s horse. Mourad kept the horse in the secret place for more than a month. He should have been punished.
I don’t understand why John did not accuse Mourad of stealing his horse. He was sure that the horse was his when he checked her teeth. And Saroyan failed to explain “the way” when Mourad said, “I know the way with the horse/ John Byro/ dogs."