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."

シェ （ケモノへんと解) 浅田次郎

変な話だ。麒麟という伝説の動物を飼っていたが、麒麟は人の不幸を餌にして生きている。ロッカーで拾われた飼い主の鈴子の不幸を餌にして生きてきて、鈴子の不幸がなくなってくると、麒麟は弱って死んでいく。５０００年も生きたのに。
善人と悪人が分かるというけれど、例がなかったよう。発想は面白いけれど、エンディングが納得できない。不幸を餌にするという発想が分からない。鈴子は麒麟を亡くして、また不幸になる。すっきりしない話だ。

Death of the Right Fielder by Stuart Dybek

　　Right at the beginning, something is strange. Even though the right fielder is dead, no player notices his death for a while, because the position is so minor that nobody pays attention to the right fielder, the narrator says. This is a strange way of beginning a story. That means the right fielder is not a real boy, but a metaphorical existence, metaphor or a symbol of youth before you become seventeen years old.

　　At the end of the story, the players “walk back—getting on to supper, getting on to the end of summer vacation” till they become 35 and over the hill. And around forty, they have completely lost youth, which has been buried under the ground. Longing and missing youth is the theme of the story.  

ふくちゃんのジャック・ナイフ 浅田次郎

ふくちゃんの人物描写。語り手の二郎の心理描写が手に取る様に描かれている。決して難しくない語り口で、自然に物語が流れていくような筆使い。会話も、肩ひじ張らないナチュラル。
起承転結の見事な展開。転でどんでん返しがあり、最後が思い出のジャックナイフで終わる。endingもいい。すみ子もうまく登場させている。

Once More by John Galsworthy

I don’t understand the last part of the story. How could she forgive him after experiencing such jealousy, depression, and anger? She was truly in love with him? She was so weak and dependent on him? A 19th-century woman could act like her, but women in the 21^st century do no act like her. She would reject him strongly.

The Story-Teller by Saki

The story ends with an improper ending, turning the table of the common good.  The children must have been tired of listening to proper stories again and again, but the one the bachelor told was quite opposite from those they have listened to. That is why they say, "a beautiful ending," "the most beautiful story," and "the ONLY beautiful story."
Adult readers may also enjoy the "beautiful  ending." 

OFF by Aimee Bender

The author, Bender, first set three goals: kiss three men. That immediately hocks the reader and let them read until the end. A cunning technique.

The protagonist succeeds in kissing two men, but while she is looking for the third man, she starts a big fuss by hiding the coats. Finally, she fails to accomplish her aim.
Bender is excellent in building the main character, who is arrogant, proud, look down on others, showy, and eccentric. She builds the character through her clothes, her behavior, her conversations,  judgment, and monologues. Her method of building a character is a big help for me in writing stories.