ヴェニスと手袋 阿刀田高

タイトルで読者をmisleadさせている。勝った手袋と道の手袋
女性が二人出てくるが、あまり意味がない。
道端に落ちていた手袋のや小道具が効いている
ベニスの街の様子が、うわっぺらで真実味がない。会議もうわっぺら。

A Man by the Name of Ziegler by Hermann Hesse

Not so interesting, nor moving. The way Ziegler gets the pill (at the Egyptian museum) is good. 
Ziegler  is depicted as a man who puts stress on his appearance, but since the animals in the zoo looks dignified without clothes, he realizes how foolish he is, and throws away his clothes. And he is taken to an asylum.

The story tells that human beings are arrogant. Appearance is not what makes you dignified.

The Tonto Woman by Elmore Leonard

A humorous short story. The plot is good. A tattooed woman gets back her dignity with the help by Ruben Vega. He seems to be kind and sincere to her but on the other hand, he was pretending to be so only because he wants to steal the horses from John, her husband.

Full of humorous pages, especially at the end of the story. The tattooed woman teases her husband: “I am not sure I’ve had the pleasure.” “I don’t know if I want to be married to you.” “Did you hear that? He provides me.”

Vega was a nice guy, saved her and smoothly and naturally parts her giving life to her future. A western style story.

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."

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。