The Necklace

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  “SHE WAS one of those pretty, charming young ladies, born, as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, appreciated, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. . . .  She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted.” —THE NECKLACE Guy de Maupassant    France, 1884 (pic by Grok) Read this short story here:  https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace

Finished Reading: Midnight in Chernobyl

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 Even before the nuclear facility at Chernobyl was built, it was a disaster waiting to happen, and once it happened, it just wouldn’t stop. It still hasn’t stopped. The explosion was the result of human error—but which human? And which error? Everyone played their Communist-party assigned roles and read from their scripts so well. This powerful, sleepless, relentless page-turning account perfectly mirrors the 2019 HBO limited series, and fills many gaps left by the show. It is the story of what happens when pride collides with fear under pressure and blooms into a mushroom cloud of lies. It’s the end of an era.