Flash Fiction – Interesting Literature

A Summary and Analysis of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ ‘One of These Days’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘One of These Days’ (or ‘Un día de estos’ in the original Spanish) is a very short story by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014). Running to just three pages, the story can be regarded as a piece of flash fiction or micro-fiction. The story concerns a dentist who reluctantly agrees to extract the Mayor’s tooth; in the course of the treatment, it is clear there is some tension between the two men.

The Shortest…

The shortest play in the world is probably by Samuel Beckett. ‘Breath’ is a 1969 work that was specially written for the theatrical revue Oh! Calcutta! The revue was organised by theatre critic Kenneth Tynan and brought together a host of famous people, including John Lennon and Sam Shepard.