This is a miserable, miserable story about a miserable, miserable man, Iona, who has lost his son.
A horse-drawn cab driver, Iona can’t help but mention the fact of his son’s recent death, and his passengers are cold and unsympathetic. It’s terribly painful to read.
The final moments are heartbreaking, when Iona finally finds someone to listen as he spills out his grief: His horse. An incredible sentence: “The little mare munches, listens, and breathes on her master’s hands.”
Oof.
It’s a powerful story but there’s not much more to it than that.
READ THIS? READ THAT!
For sheer sadness, “Misery” is just about unmatched. But it is essentially one-note – sorrow porn, you might call it. Another terribly sad story, and yet one somehow more nuanced and deeper, is “Dreams,” which traces the path of an escaped convict being led back to justice, and his pathetic dreams of a simple life in nature.
A Chekhov Circus 