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Absent-Minded Man by Jerome K. Jerome

This is a humorous story about a man named McQuae who is inattentive to anything around him. He can’t remember invitation details, appointments and even the women he were engaged to. However, when he finally gets to marry a jolly woman named Leena, his friend, the writer thinks that it won’t last long as he will forget about her too. After a considerable time, the writer unexpectedly meets his old friend McQuae, drenched in water on a rainy day. McQuae as always informs that he has moved to the new place with Leena and has forgotten all about it. The writer very calmly takes his friend to a solicitor and finally restores him to his wife.

The story is hilarious. Some of the conversations made me laugh out loud. The first part of the story was narrated in second person, which is the rarest in English literature. This is the only story I’ve read which has this style of writing. So, I enjoyed learning something new.

I didn’t like the fact that the character of Leena was mostly in the shadow of her husband, McQuae, the protagonist of the story. Although she was explained as a cheerful woman, we don’t see her express any such action.

If I could change anything from the story I would have added more detailed information regarding Leena. So that the readers can have a clear idea of how she was able to live with a man like McQuae for so long.

Other than the aforementioned point, I found the story genuinely amusing. It shows that how absent mindedness can put someone in absurd situations. I, myself, often get distracted in many occasions. Now, I have started to focus more on my surroundings. This story has taught me a fine lesson.

I’ve actually wrote this for an assignment where I was supposed to write about a short story I liked. But unfortunately, the teacher is making us write a review on the story SHE tells us. I was so excited about this assignment in the beginning. Now, I’m devastated.