Monday, March 28, 2011

#73 King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov



Lights up on a large, bright bedroom. Franz and Martha lie naked on the bed. They have just finished disporting themselves. Franz, wears a pair of tortoise shell glasses.

Martha: How shall we kill him? Poison? A gun?

Franz: Yes. I want you.

Martha: Later, my love. We must find a way to kill my husband, who is also your uncle.

Franz: Right. (Pause) Wait. What are we talking about?

Martha: Oh, Franz, you’re such an idiot. Perhaps that’s why I love you.

Franz: I feel like I could kill for you.

Martha: Yes. About that, how shall we do it?

Franz: Well personally I prefer the couch…

Martha: Concentrate, Franz!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

#72 Emma by Jane Austen



Emma Woodhouse would be a perfect role model for young women, if she weren’t such a snobby busybody. True, Emma—witty, beautiful, rich, and at the pinnacle of society in her small country village—has reasons to be a snob. In matters of love, however, she is a bit Clueless. Declaring that she herself shall never marry, Emma spends her days interfering in the love lives of her friends—especially Harriet Smith, a shy young woman with little sophistication, whom Emma magnanimously decides to take on as a protégée. Emma’s attempts to direct Cupid’s arrows always hit the wrong mark, until, at last, to her own surprise, she is struck in the heart herself.