The short reason for choosing these stories is that they are among the most beautiful stories which I have ever read, and both deal with what I take to be essential and pressing aspects of the human condition. The first is a kind of parable about a mythical society which exceeds all utopias in brilliance and glory. There is, however, a clear, specific and horrible cost for the unsurpassed joy of its people. One is …showed first 75 words of 277 total…

…showed last 75 words of 277 total…she is going to die, and one in which she seeks to reconcile herself to a long-dead lover, to her failing body, to the fact that she never learned the name of a certain flower she loves. This story raises questions of who we are, what we care about, how a commitment to a cause can give meaning to a life, as well as how the minutiae of life can do the same. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**