Short Stories

iconophilia · October 28th, 2005, 11:11 PM

Short stories can be very powerful because they are dense. I used to be a short story freak (still am, really) and some that I read during my teen years sort of mentally scarred me (in a good way).

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Cask of Amontillado/The Fall of the House of Usher and nearly anything else by Poe
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

and more...

What short stories have stayed with you?

SVZ · October 28th, 2005, 11:17 PM

The Lady and the Dog - Anton Chekhov

**Tati** · October 28th, 2005, 11:36 PM

All of the above are in the anthology used in my first year English class, lol. They are definitely classics.

I love the vast majority of Ray Bradbury's short stories, both in and out of the sci-fi genre. I adore Poe, and I loved a novella I stumbled across called The Persistence of Vision, by John Varley. It was in a collection my parents had in their basement, and I've only recently discovered it's rather renowned. It really is excellent.

reptilian · October 29th, 2005, 01:57 PM

I loved the Yellow Wallpaper. That one definitely stays with me.

Glasgow53 · October 31st, 2005, 11:05 AM

Rocking Horse Winner - can't remember the author

**NoDayButToday** · October 31st, 2005, 02:27 PM

I loved "The Cask of Amontillado" when I read it in high school.

I'm a big fan of the Grimm fairy tales. I have a big anthology in my dorm room.

buttmunch · November 1st, 2005, 06:53 AM

'Children on thier birthdays' Truman Capote.

'Welcome to the Monkey House' Kurt Vonnegut.

'The Kuggelmaas Episode' Woody Allen (absolutely fucking hilarious)

And why have magazines generally stopped printing short stories? There used to be a much larger market and you'd think in today's world, with everyone's MTV attention span, short stories would be making a huge comeback. I love them, myself.

ourmaninBusan · November 3rd, 2005, 03:41 AM

Mask of the Red Death, Amontillado and Ligeia by E.A. Poe

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov

Death in Midsummer and other stories by Yukio Mishima

The Dead, Araby and Evelyne by James Joyce

and, in a more popular vein, Night Shift by Stephen King

Lil · November 3rd, 2005, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoDayButToday

I'm a big fan of the Grimm fairy tales. I have a big anthology in my dorm room.

I was a big reader of fairy tales when I was a child. I loved the scariness, and the getting of comeuppances! I think they have a fantasy element (obviously) but also a kind of neatness - the world is ordered and makes sense, and if you are a bad person, sooner or later you'll get yours.

luvmy2cats · November 5th, 2005, 09:27 PM

When I'm in a short story mood I usually will read something by Guy de Maupassant. My dad had a collection of his works when I was a kid and I would read them, so when I grew up and moved out I took it with me. It's not mainstream reading, but I love his stories.

Lil · November 6th, 2005, 02:48 AM

^^ I did Maupassant for French O level!

Lil · November 6th, 2005, 02:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiki

Have you read Narnia? It is good if you like fantasy/fairy tales. The movie is coming out next month and I can not wait!

I read them a long time ago, but they didn't do it for me, and I'm not sure why. There was a Sunday evening children's TV series when I was little that had a very dodgy lion, maybe that had something to do with it.

ourmaninBusan · November 6th, 2005, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvmy2cats

When I'm in a short story mood I usually will read something by Guy de Maupassant. My dad had a collection of his works when I was a kid and I would read them, so when I grew up and moved out I took it with me. It's not mainstream reading, but I love his stories.

I completely forgot Maupassant. Perhaps I didn't think anyone would
recognize his name. He was a great talent and popular in his lifetime,
which made people think he was frivolous.

He's written some of my favorite stories, including "A Ruse," "The Signal"
and "Paul's Mistress," about a man who cannot handle the news that
his beloved has chosen a lesbian lover instead of him.

gonflable · November 6th, 2005, 09:20 AM

The Last Leaf by O. Henry... I read it a couple of years back, and it stuck. I think it's a wonderful story

Barbara · November 23rd, 2005, 10:36 AM

I don't remember the titles, it's been a long time since I read short stories, but the best authors that spring to my mind are Dino Buzzati, Somerset Maugham, Edgar Allan Poe, Guy de Maupassant and Roald Dahl