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Mastiff
Free online fiction.
The hike had been the man’s suggestion. Or, rather, in his oblique way, which was perhaps a strategy of shyness, he’d simply told her that he was going hiking this weekend, and asked if she wanted to join him. The woman had been introduced to the man several weeks earlier, at a dinner party at a mutual friend’s home in the Berkeley Hills. The friend, closer to the man than to the woman, had said to the man, “You’ll like Mariella. You’ll like her face,” and to the woman, “Simon’s an extraordinary person, but it may not be evident immediately. Give him time.”
The hike had been the man’s suggestion. Or, rather, in his oblique way, which was perhaps a strategy of shyness, he’d simply told her that he was going hiking this weekend, and asked if she wanted to join him. The woman had been introduced to the man several weeks earlier, at a dinner party at a mutual friend’s home in the Berkeley Hills. The friend, closer to the man than to the woman, had said to the man, “You’ll like Mariella. You’ll like her face,” and to the woman, “Simon’s an extraordinary person, but it may not be evident immediately. Give him time.”
11 pages, ebook
First published June 25, 2013
330 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
870 books9,903 followersJoyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 10, 2018
Source: New Yorker Fiction podcast
What an incredibly weird short story ... The narrator allows us to observe the interaction, things said and thoughts not spoke, between a man and a woman in the process of getting to know one another. Their chosen activity: a hike in a canyon. The woman's inner musings are quite discomfiting, however ordinary (in terms of societal norms) they may appear to be. She does not allow herself to speak freely for fear of appearing weak, and yet bases her reactions on his assumptions of those very weaknesses. Her actions are in turn passive and constrained by the presence of the man, and even quite unbelievable stupid when considered in the context of their activity: no water, bag, or jacket for a hike. She tries to exert some of her self on the hike but doesn't quite pull it off, it seems. The man is insecure, controlling, patronizing; more at home with his camera than his companion. He is approaching 60, a University professor, well thought of at work but seemingly socially inept in the presence of a woman. She considers marrying him, he is lonely. Their entire process of getting to know one another seems ridiculous to me. Perhaps a reflection of what counts as intimacy these days.
Their pairing is an odd thing, and I have to admit I fully expected to read that he had killed her and dumped her body in the canyon. There is a level of barely restrained violence below the surface of this male-female interaction. The mastiff, who makes an appearance at the very beginning and end of the short story seems symbolic of this masculine violence, barely restrained by his societally imposed leash and pouncing at the least sign of weakness. The attack on the woman, 'provoked' by the her fearful cries at the sight of the mastiff's barks, sees the man step in between them. She doesn't take this as a protective instinct that any human might have towards another though, she runs with this action of 'him man, him strong' and further contorts herself into a ball of feminine weakness spinning her theories of male protection and so forth. Oates really gives us some disturbing and jarring masculine/feminine ideas at work here to think on. How these ideas simmer and boil over at the slightest increase of heat ... and the uncertainty of knowing when the temperature is going to rise to that tipping point.
Narrated by Louise Erdrich who did a pretty good job.
What an incredibly weird short story ... The narrator allows us to observe the interaction, things said and thoughts not spoke, between a man and a woman in the process of getting to know one another. Their chosen activity: a hike in a canyon. The woman's inner musings are quite discomfiting, however ordinary (in terms of societal norms) they may appear to be. She does not allow herself to speak freely for fear of appearing weak, and yet bases her reactions on his assumptions of those very weaknesses. Her actions are in turn passive and constrained by the presence of the man, and even quite unbelievable stupid when considered in the context of their activity: no water, bag, or jacket for a hike. She tries to exert some of her self on the hike but doesn't quite pull it off, it seems. The man is insecure, controlling, patronizing; more at home with his camera than his companion. He is approaching 60, a University professor, well thought of at work but seemingly socially inept in the presence of a woman. She considers marrying him, he is lonely. Their entire process of getting to know one another seems ridiculous to me. Perhaps a reflection of what counts as intimacy these days.
Their pairing is an odd thing, and I have to admit I fully expected to read that he had killed her and dumped her body in the canyon. There is a level of barely restrained violence below the surface of this male-female interaction. The mastiff, who makes an appearance at the very beginning and end of the short story seems symbolic of this masculine violence, barely restrained by his societally imposed leash and pouncing at the least sign of weakness. The attack on the woman, 'provoked' by the her fearful cries at the sight of the mastiff's barks, sees the man step in between them. She doesn't take this as a protective instinct that any human might have towards another though, she runs with this action of 'him man, him strong' and further contorts herself into a ball of feminine weakness spinning her theories of male protection and so forth. Oates really gives us some disturbing and jarring masculine/feminine ideas at work here to think on. How these ideas simmer and boil over at the slightest increase of heat ... and the uncertainty of knowing when the temperature is going to rise to that tipping point.
Narrated by Louise Erdrich who did a pretty good job.
December 22, 2024
Everything Joyce Carol Oates writes is good. She has a gift of creating characters that speak to you on many levels. In this short story in only 11 pages the reader comes to know and understand Simon and Mariella. Not only that you find you don't like them, then you do, then you don't, do , don't... Read this story. It's free online and then pick one of Oates' novels and enjoy.
July 7, 2013
Great short little story by a master writer! Read it for FREE online at the New Yorker website!
February 9, 2021
The writings of Joyce Carol Oates is very succinct yet insightful. I listened to the NY fiction and Louisa Erdrich's voice is really fitting.
February 20, 2022
The interplay between the Man and the Woman is well done. Their thought process, their positions in life, the expectations of society are all key elements to the story. The dog seems more of a catalyst. Any other writer I may have rated higher. For Oates it feels a little like the beginning of a story that needs to be fully developed. Still worth a read.
Read
July 5, 2013There is a lot in this little 11 page gem. neither character is very likeable, but in the end you see how people fall together almost despite themselves. A little unsettling, as is all good JCO!
November 7, 2022
Well there's not much to say about this well-written book. It's okay but the gist is not there...I just want to see the guy with the dog get jailed or smt idk
The story is a bit too short but that's okay I guess :))
It's still a good book!
Anyway, we read this during Literature Class so yk yk😌😌
The story is a bit too short but that's okay I guess :))
It's still a good book!
Anyway, we read this during Literature Class so yk yk😌😌
Read
August 20, 2023Its not 11 pages its more.its men and woman though .the fear the life the position.its more we read eliven page but we think more than that in life circle.gd write well done in short words.make us think more.
December 21, 2018
A page-turner! Careful of the other reviews, as there are some unhidden spoilers.
February 9, 2017
2.5 stars
I didn't give this 3 stars because, according to Goodreads, that means I liked it, and I didn't really particularly like this story. It was very bland and not really my cup of tea. I don't get romances, and I think the big climatic moment about halfway through the story was supposed to be that revolutionary, I am in love moment. It just didn't do anything for me, I didn't get the story.
I didn't give this 3 stars because, according to Goodreads, that means I liked it, and I didn't really particularly like this story. It was very bland and not really my cup of tea. I don't get romances, and I think the big climatic moment about halfway through the story was supposed to be that revolutionary, I am in love moment. It just didn't do anything for me, I didn't get the story.
April 27, 2016
I've read at least a dozen Oates' stories and have enjoyed maybe 2. This was more conventionally written by most, but still very stiff. She goes out of her way to call the characters "the man" and "the woman," then at the end the woman finally reveals the man's name like it's some big thing. Surprised he wasn't named Jesus or something.
SEMI SPOILER: The story was pretty underwhelming and JCO decided to spice it up with some violence late in the game (though it was pretty predictable a few pages in what would later happen). All I got out of this is #1 JCO does not understand or like dogs very much, and #2 This is not one of the best stories written last year, but it has the name "Oates" attached and so it is treated as such.
SEMI SPOILER: The story was pretty underwhelming and JCO decided to spice it up with some violence late in the game (though it was pretty predictable a few pages in what would later happen). All I got out of this is #1 JCO does not understand or like dogs very much, and #2 This is not one of the best stories written last year, but it has the name "Oates" attached and so it is treated as such.
July 12, 2013
Troubling, how I first disliked these two characters because I found their personality 'mediocre' and then realized that they were just particularly human and real, the author baring their very personal thoughts to us. Interesting how we tend not to like them whereas they are actually regular people and we can easily identify with them.
Besides, I always find very interesting what authors say about their novels, so I enjoyed reading this interview after reading this short story.
Besides, I always find very interesting what authors say about their novels, so I enjoyed reading this interview after reading this short story.
November 25, 2013
This story about mid life dating centers on two lonely people desperate to find the other person attractive. I loved that it was written from both perspectives. Oates uses wonderful language and tells a story that is characteristically freighted with emotion.
July 14, 2013
BRRRRRRRR scary!
August 11, 2017
The author is an incredible writer and captured the emptiness of this story in so many interesting ways.
July 17, 2013
Wow. Oates never ceases to amaze me. This is not actually a novel, but a short story.
July 20, 2013
Perhaps the perfect short story.
February 22, 2014
A very solid short story with some nice shifts between perspectives and interesting use of symbolism.
December 22, 2013
Somewhat surprising ending to characters you think you can predict. I'm sure the couple ended up happy in the end!
May 10, 2014
I read the Persian translation of this story,
it is translated by Forouq Mansour-Ghanaei
and it have been published in Sinema & Adabiat(Cinema & Literature) Magazine
it is translated by Forouq Mansour-Ghanaei
and it have been published in Sinema & Adabiat(Cinema & Literature) Magazine
December 13, 2014
I was absolutely riveted by this story; suspenseful, cunning. Joyce Carol Oates is a master of mood.
June 30, 2019
It was just okay, sort of a Stephen King-esque story but with less energy and more cliches.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews