“The Piece of String” by Guy de Maupassant (Week 1 Reading)

I chose this story as the first reading of the program because it refuses to give you what most stories give you: a clean villain, a just resolution, a reason to feel okay at the end. Maupassant gives you none of that. He gives you a piece of string, a misunderstanding, and the rest of a man’s life. Read it, and then sit with it for a while. You will not think about it the same way twice.