Truly great short stories

[Edmond]

What is the best short story of ALL TIME?

[chrissy]

Two of my favorites would be "the tell tale heart' by Poe and "the hunger artist" by Kafka

[Tabac]

The Lottery.

[den]

I loved C.S. Lewis' Narnia books when I was younger, left a huge impression on me and I still have that set of books many years later and have read them many times.

William Somerset Maughams' Of Human Bondage is a great one too.

Yukio Misihimas' The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea

Margaret Laurences' The Diviners

Edited to add: oops, forgot it was for short story...

I'm actually not a big fan of short stories, I like my book to work for me, get my mind right into it, help me forget time...

John Wyndham and Gabriel Garcia Marquez have written some good ones.

[suitenoise314]

Off the top of my head, most John CHeever stories are ace...can't really pick there.
D.H. Lawrence's "Tickets, please"

[Ammaria]

I really enjoyed "Mr. Andrews" by E.M. Forster and "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin. (Although that last one is more of a novella.)

[nome1486]

I really like O. Henry's stories, some of them are so classic. Poe's short stories, especially "The Tell-Tale Heart", are also good. I can't really give an opinion on "the best short story of all time"; there are so many out there.

[Laur-n]

All of Kathy Reichs thriller series...they're filled w/ suspense and her book, De`ja Dead, makes you feel like it's really happening.

[alatar]

i like just about anything by poe and asimov, especially "a feeling of power"...i also really like "the yellow wallpaper" by charlotte perkins gilman. i'm also partial to most of the sherlock holmes stories

[dosty_idiot]

Balzac's "A Passion in the Desert," any Welty, Flannery O'connor, Faulkner, (getting the picture), Willa Cather.

[AbdoRinbo]

What is the best short story of ALL TIME?

'Entropy' -- Thomas Pynchon
'The Story of Byron the Bulb' -- Thomas Pynchon
'All The King's Horses' -- Kurt Vonnegut (or anything else in 'Welcome to the Monkey House')
'The Sisters' -- James Joyce
'The Dead' -- James Joyce

[Melodylemming]

I really like short detective stories. The Peter Wimsey ones by Dorothy Sayers are fantastic, but my favorite of all is a Father Brown story by G.K. Chesterton. I believe it's called "The Sign of the Broken Sword".

[Aurica]

"The Snowstorm" by Pushkin.
"A lodging for the night" by R.L.Stevenson.
"Two gallants" by Joyce.
"A canary for one" by E.Hemingway.
"The Day We Got Drunk on Cake" by William Trevor.

[plea4peace]

I like the Cask of Amontillado, and all of Truman Capote's stories are good, especially a Christmas Memory and, I don't think it counts because it's more of a novella, but Breakfast at Tiffany's.

[Downer]

Difficult question, I'd probably have to go for something by Borges on this - "the Library of Babel" with "the book of sands" coming close,
if only such a thing really existed....
Downer

[bobbybittman]

Ernest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life Of Francis McComber" is a killer. So economical and poignant. You just sit back and let out a big sigh after you finish it.

[Vronaqueen]

Sure, F. Scott Fitzgerald is praised for his novels but his short stories are amazing.


I like the cut-glass bowl---it's got an interesting spin on fate and The Off-shore Pirate because it's so funny and great to read out loud

[Zootopia]

"In the penal colony", Kafka

[Helen]

i remember doing a book of short stories at college and one that struck me was 'rasperry jam' with a young boy and a coupe of mad old women! any one know who thats by?

:)

[gterpenkas]

Poe - The Cask of Amontillado
Vonnegut - The Boy who Hated Girls
Doyle - The Adventure of the Speckled Band

[Lothwen]

fairy-tales written by Anderen :)

[Zieveraar]

:-?

But I would go with a Philip K. Dick short story:

'Breakfast at twilight'.

A rather discouraging story, but then it was written by Dick!

[gatsbysghost]

I'm a big fan of The Lottery, also The Signalman by Dickens. Harrison Burgeron is killer, don't remember who wrote it though. And although I have grown to dislike him somewhat, Stephen King has written some really memorable short stories. There are better ones, but one called Rock and Roll Heaven always springs to mind.

[Johnpug]

i like a lot of the above, esp Kafka & Poe but my fav all time was "Death of Ivan Illich" (sp?)!!!

JP

[Ibtihaj]

Nobody has mentioned Alice Walker ..
I think she is a great writer
her "Kindered Spirits" and "Everydayuse" are awesome ..

[alidif]

I really like Raymond Carver's "Popular Mechanics" and Linda Hogan's "Making Do," but there are so many good short stories that it is impossible to say which one is the best.

[leonthepupil]

I like "Selfish Giant" of Oscar Wilde...and most of his short stories.

[Munro]

I've just finished reading a book of Kafka's short stories and I loved all of them. My favourite from that book, apart from Metamorphosis, which I'm sure I'll hate after writing an essay about it this weekend, are The Burrow, In the Penal Settlement and Investigations of a Dog.

That scene of In the Penal Settlement, when the officer was explaining the execution device enthusiastically to the diplomat while the condemned man just stood there in chains, all in the oppressing sunlight and the intense heat...I just got captured by the atmosphere and tone of the entire story.

The Burrow was appealing to me because of the paranoid hysteria that ensues in the end, and along with Investigations of a Dog it examined human characteristics through the conciousness of animals so well. If anyone else was also captured/entranced, let me know. I'd enjoying talking more about it.

[JaneC]

I too like:

The Lottery
Yellow Wallpaper
The Dead

plus:

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings--Gabriel Garcia Marquez

[becca]

o. henry's a midsummer knight's dream was brilliant and--for blind little me--brought a sweet and unexpected ending. i'm no expert on short stories, but i'll side with o. henry any day!

[Shea]

Has anyone read Poe's The Black Cat? Woooo, :o :o I just read it last night, how creepy!! I was so afraid that it might give me nightmares, but ironically, I did dream about cats, but it was pleasant. :rolleyes: I wouldn't call this the best short story (it was too creepy for me), I prefered Decent into Maelstrom.

Oh, and I love Shirley Jackson's, The Lottery.

[phenomenal_cat]

Nobody has mentioned Alice Walker ..
I think she is a great writer
her "Kindered Spirits" and "Everydayuse" are awesome ..

Alice Walker's a fairly good writer, IMO - but no genius, by any stretch of the imagination. I studied the Color Purple last year, it was very vivid, but seemed a bit naive (to me), especially when she rants about politics and religion.

I like Bernice Bobs Her Hair by Fitzgerald, probably my favourite short story.

[Erik Lonnrot]

yes, Borges is a favourite of mine and among his works, the secret miracle, death and the compass and circuar ruins are my favourites, along with the library of babel of course. But to answer the question which started this whole discussion, it has generally been recognised that kafka's metamorphosis was and is the most technically perfect short story. I would, however, go with something by Borges...maybe not the library of babel, but perhaps, death and the Compass or even Pierre Menard..

[KLO]

I can't choose just one...
"A White Heron," Sarah Orne Jewett
"Big Two-Hearted River," Hemingway
"Fleur" and "Saint Marie," Louise Erdrich
"Red Leaves," William Faulkner
"Blackberry Winter," Robert Penn Warren
"Entropy," Thomas Pynchon

[AbdoRinbo]

Finally another Pynchon enthusiast.

[KLO]

Oh, yes, I find Pynchon fascinating. However, unlike many Pynchon fans, I am not particularly taken with Gravity's Rainbow. I like the short stories, and I really enjoyed Mason & Dixon. :)

[AbdoRinbo]

GR is easy to get turned off to.

[Sindhu]

My nominations:
The Child who Was Tired- Katherine Mansfield
Yellow Wallpaper- Gilman
The Wish House- Kipling.

[heretic]

"The old man and the sea" by Ernest Hemmingway.Extremely good writing and well crafted story.

[Aesopone]

"The old man and the sea" by Ernest Hemmingway.Extremely good writing and well crafted story.

IMHO too long to be considered a true short story...

"The WALL" Jean-Paul Sartre, best short story ever. A classic tale about three men who all know they are going to die...beautiful writing.

[crazycaleb]

What's the rule for short stories? At 50 pages it becomes a novella right? Something like that...

Favorites of mine:
HP Lovecraft - The Silver Key, The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, The Tomb
Neil Gaiman - Murder Mysteries (very, very clever story)

I also really enjoyed "The Lottery", like a few others here. When we read it in my class pretty much everyone thought it was pointless. Then my teacher talked about how people would always ask Ms Jackson what the meaning of her story was, and she would always say "It was just something I wrote", yet despite that many people think it was a social commentary on how we mindlessly do things just because they're tradition. After having that explained to them, the majority of the kids still thought it was a rather pointless story, though they agreed with it's anti-tradition ideas.

I found myself preferring Jackson's explanation of the story. For some reason, I just preferred the idea of her writing a story that happened to show anti-tradition ideas (perhaps out of some subconscious hatred for tradition). The theme is just too obvious and overtly stated for me to think that it was the sole reason for the story being written.

Sorry for rambling, that just goes through my mind when I see the title of that story.

[Katrina]

Two of my favorite would have to be "Cat in the Rain" by Ernest Hemingway and "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

[Robynorr12]

Anything by Raymond Carver:
"After the Denim" and "Call If You Need Me" are two of the best.

Also "In the Cemetary Where Al Jolson is Burried" by Amy Hempell. And, "Taking Care" by Joy Williams.

[sam1]

"The Open Window" was very touching, but not to profound.
"The Necklace."

For something the length of the OLd Man and the Sea, I thought The Bridge of San Luis Rey was the best written that I've read.

[J. Wellington Wells]

Here's another vote for "The Yellow Wallpaper"... or how about "In the Hills, The Cities" by Clive Barker?

[Meg]

there are too many good stories to narrow it down to one, but my favourites are:
"the yellow wallpaper" by charlotte perkins gilman
"the old man and the sea" and "a farwell to arms" by Hemingway
"the black cat" and "the masque of red death" by Poe

[simon]

The Yellow wallpaper is facinating, how she loses it looking at the same thing over and over and imagining it to be alive. I think it is one of the best short stories of all time.

[Monica]

Another old thread. How come I haven't noticed it before?
The best short stories writer, apart from EAP, is Julio Cortazar. All his works are great but I'd like to recommend his shortest one - Continuity of Parks. It is just a two-page story but it's just amazing. I sometimes wonder how it is possible to write stuff like that.

[Hummingbirdtat2]

I'm in the process of doing a paper about "The Lottery". While I don't know if I agree that it's the best one, the reading of it has certainly impacted me deeply .

[simon]

The Lottery is simply put, one of my favorite short stories for it's impact not it's style of writing or other literary elements which were not that outstanding. How is the paper coming and what are you writing it about?

[Hummingbirdtat2]

It's a literary analysis paper, to put it succinctly. You know how it goes, analyze the theme, symbolism, characters, yada yada. I found it a little difficult at first to put the theme into words brief enough to be expressed in a thesis, but once I did that the rest is coming together well. Every time I read the story though, I see some different element that has a fresh impact on me; Tessie running to her death for instance. Are we all that blindly obedient to accepted traditions? Geeeeezzzzzz, how disturbing.

I agree with you though, that the writing style etc. are not necessarily unique or extraordinary, it's the message of the story that is so impactful. I also found it rather amazing that, upon the first reading, I found myself holding my breath waiting for the end even though there's very little reason for feeling such suspense. It's almost as though the very normalcy of the procedure of the lottery is what creates the breathless anticipation. Somehow, one just instinctly knows that this CAN'T be a good thing. In that, I think Jackson was a genuis. She manages to create suspense without the typical tools of suspenseful writing.

[simon]

Quite right Hummer, she is a genius. Have you read any of her other works, short stories, novels? She wrote the Haunting of Hill House, which has some of hte most interesting dialogue I have read.

[Hummingbirdtat2]

I'm embarrased to admit that I haven't. I'm aware of the book, but was not aware until recently that she was the author of it. It's right up at the top of my list though, especially now.

Am I mistaken in remembering that there is also a film loosely based on The Haunting of Hill House?

[simon]

Yes I believe there are one or two films based on the book or at least use some of hte ideas loosely. I have seen only one and it was a mediocre horror film by itself that was entertaining, but hardly had the dialogue or the intrigue and complex relationships of the novel.

If you are intersted in Jackson see if you can find her short story collection where she talks about her works, and discussed the phenomenon caused my The Lottery where she actually recieved letter asking where this town was located so they could destroy it. She also talks about her children and that she got the idea for the story while pushing her baby in it's carriage up a hill. She is a very interesting person, I wonder if there is a biography of her somewhere.

[Hummingbirdtat2]

I actually just read one a moment ago, and of course closed out the window before I read your post. If I can find it again I'll send you the link. It was not a detailed biography; but fascinating none the less. Apparently, she was another relatively disturbed genius along the same lines as our friend Mr. Poe.

In the interest of answering my own question, I did some research. Apparently, 1999's "The Haunting" starring Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones, among others, was a modern remake of a 1963 film that much more closely followed the Shirley Jackson novel. I saw the '99 version, and was relatively spooked by it. However, not having read the Jackson novel yet, I cannot comment on whether or not it did Jackson justice.

Perhaps another discussion for another time?

Also, in one of the reviews I read, the reviewer said that Ms. Jackson's genius was not in what she said as much as in what she didn't say. She was a minimalist; economical in the words she chose and the way she arranged them. How incredible to still be able to cause us to hold our breaths, waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop.

[nothingman87]

"The Dead " by James Joyce

"For Esme with Love and Squalor" and "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" by Salinger

"The Destructors" by Graham Greene

"The Judgement" by Kafka

[TigerTiger]

Hello Everyone

I'm trying to understand the form of the short story better. If you have any favorite stories, please post them here. Also, if you are a writer of short stories, please pass on any knowlege you might have. I'm currently working on rewriting a story of mine, and looking to some of the masters for a little help.

Some of my favorites:

Katina - Roald Dahl
The Birthmark, Wakefield - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Snows of Kilimanjaro - Hemingway
Hell Screen - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
He Swung and He Missed - Nelson Algren
For Esmé- with Love and Squalor - J.D. Salinger

[RobinHood3000]

I don't know about being masters (at least in my case), but we will offer whatever we have. I write some short stories, although my body of work is a little too small to say that I have a definite preference. My best work so far has been in the form of articles and a sole novellette. Length-wise, the upper limit for a short story is a little fuzzy, although I have heard it described as a piece one reads in one sitting.

As for format, the short story is certainly one of the more flexible. Generally, compared to a novel or novella, a short story tends to have a relatively truncated exposition and resolution, although where you cut corners is entirely up to you. Or it may happen that certain ideas or executions have only the right amount of steam in them to generate a short story (as opposed to a novel or novella), in which case you can just have at it and let the length take care of itself.

I must admit that editing is one of my favorite parts of the writing process, especially once you've had a little feedback. As for reading short stories, I have some personal favorites:

"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe

I'll almost certainly think of more later. Best of luck, and welcome to the LitNet Forums,

RobinHood3000

[starrwriter]

Just a few I could recommend:

Rain by W. Somerset Maugham
To Build A Fire by Jack London
The Rocking Horse Winner by D. H. Lawrence
Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Kneel To The Rising Sun by Erskine Caldwell

[rachel]

I echo your two selections M'Lord and your first star.
Anything by O Henry rivets me. Pierces the heart.

[Shea]

I've always liked "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. Morbid, but I like the way the plot is presented.

"A Rose for Emily" is good too but I can't remember the author right now.

[RobinHood3000]

That reminds me..."The Outcasts of Poker Flat" is pretty good.

[Virgil]

Here's some off the top of my head:

Hemingway, "The Gambler, the Nun, and The Radio
Crane, "The Blue Hotel" and "The Open Boat"
D.H. Lawrence, "The Woman Who Rode Away"
Joyce, "The Sisters"
Checkov, "The Girl with the Toy Dog" (?) or something like that.
Conrad, "Youth"
Fiztgerald, "Bernice Bobs Her Hair"

Anyway, these are ones that stick out from memory.

[Riesa]

Oh, I love Bernice Bobs her Hair,

But what about Raymond Carver?
Tiger, Tiger,(I like your username) almost anything by him.

[byquist]

Everyday Use, Alice Walker
Taking Care, Joy Williams
The Horse Dealer's Daughter, DHL
The Lady with the Pet Dog, Chekhov
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love/A Small Thing - Raymond Carver
The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck
I Stand Here Ironing, Tillie Olsen
Blue Winds Dancing, Tom Whitecloud
A Worn Path, Eudora Welty
Soldier's Home, Hemingway
A&P, Updike

[Virgil]

Oh, I love Bernice Bobs her Hair,

But what about Raymond Carver?
Tiger, Tiger,(I like your username) almost anything by him.


I was trying to think of a Carver story, but I couldn't remember any titles. There was a particular story that sticks out of a blind man. Anyone recall that one?

Correction from me:

Checkov, "The Girl with the Toy Dog" (?) or something like that.

I knew it wasn't quite right.

From byquist:

The Lady with the Pet Dog, Chekhov

Thanks.

But you say
The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck
Wasn't that a D.H. Lawrence story? Or do they both have one with the same title?

[Riesa]

Cathedral, By Raymond Carver. That's the one about the blind man.

[Charles Darnay]

As one who has dabbled in the great art of short story writing many times now, I believe that length is turly the least important thing about the short story. A short story should focus on style just as much as a novel does. In fact, the spearation between a short story and a novel (and this can be seen by comparing short stories and novels of the same author) is simply that a short story contains less events. Although less time consuming, a short story should be written in the same frame of mind as a novel; in terms of structure, character development and such. The primary goal of the short story however, should be to entertain the reader quicker than you could in a novel. But other than that, a short story requires just as much planning and thought.

Personally, my favourite is "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde

[Virgil]

Cathedral, By Raymond Carver. That's the one about the blind man.

Thanks Reisa, you're right. That was a very moving story. I've have to reread it, if I could find it. You know, in my 44 years of life, I've almost never thrown any book out. It feels sacriligous to do so.

[Dark Lord]

don't know , but maybe these should fit
The Withered arm by Thomas Hardy
The bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson
The kiss by Antov chekhov
Keeping his Promise by Algernon Blackwood

[Basil]

Irish writer Frank O'Connor wrote a book of literary analysis on the short story; it's called The Lonely Voice. It's a pretty interesting read if you can get your hands on a copy.

[Riesa]

Thanks Reisa, you're right. That was a very moving story. I've have to reread it, if I could find it. You know, in my 44 years of life, I've almost never thrown any book out. It feels sacriligous to do so.


I'm right there with you Virgil. My mom recently sent some of my books she found in a box of my stuff from my childhood. It's so wonderful to pass them along to my children. I remember them so well even thouht I haven't seen them for years and years. My husband thinks I'm nuts, that I should use the library, It's just not the same, is it.

[rachel]

you are completely right dear Riesa. the books from our childhood with all our thoughts and dreams invisibly covering each page is magic to the next generation if we help them have eyes to see. Some of them have become very politically incorrect but I don't give a fig about that . I merely explain what has changed and let my children enter in to that time and space and judge for themselves. I kept certain toys as well.
This Christmas baby Hasia will wear a beautiful dress that belonged to a family member twenty years ago. It fits her like a glove and when you compare the two pictures of the two girls there is such a connection. Also I make dolls, soft ones that can bend etc and I sew each strand of hair on seperately so the child can do things with the hair and never see a bald spot. when these are passed down it is a part of me that will watch over that new little one and kiss him/her with kisses of love.
I think you are a SPLENDID mother Riesa. As for your dear husband - give him a kiss on his dear head , perhaps it will stimulate his brain cells so he will see what you see and learn something.

[MikeK]

"In the Ravine" by Chekhov is a must read
"Three Strangers" by Thomas Hardy
"The Pit and the Pendulum" by Poe

"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" by Dostoevsky, even though he was not a short story writer, may be my favorite short story.

[Riesa]

you are completely right dear Riesa. the books from our childhood with all our thoughts and dreams invisibly covering each page is magic to the next generation if we help them have eyes to see. Some of them have become very politically incorrect but I don't give a fig about that . I merely explain what has changed and let my children enter in to that time and space and judge for themselves. I kept certain toys as well.
This Christmas baby Hasia will wear a beautiful dress that belonged to a family member twenty years ago. It fits her like a glove and when you compare the two pictures of the two girls there is such a connection. Also I make dolls, soft ones that can bend etc and I sew each strand of hair on seperately so the child can do things with the hair and never see a bald spot. when these are passed down it is a part of me that will watch over that new little one and kiss him/her with kisses of love.
I think you are a SPLENDID mother Riesa. As for your dear husband - give him a kiss on his dear head , perhaps it will stimulate his brain cells so he will see what you see and learn something.

Rachel, You have a heart-stopping way of putting things. I'm in awe of your beautiful way with words.

I have a picture of my mom holding me as a newborn, I'm wearing this little red dress. My mom kept the dress all of these years so when my daughter was born, I put her in the same dress and we recreated the picture. My hair is a little less bouffant, but the similarity is there. I've kept this dress along with a couple of Daphne's other baby dresses so maybe someday this tradition can continue. As for my dear husband, he collects tools, and I give him the same 'is it really necessary' look. We kiss each other tolerantly on the forehead often!

__________________________________________________ _____________

:D OH Yes, Short stories:

You may think they are for adolescents but some of my favorite short stories are by Ray Bradbury. He deserves mention.

[Ulalume<3]

I've always liked "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. Morbid, but I like the way the plot is presented.

"A Rose for Emily" is good too but I can't remember the author right now.

I agree that "The Lottery" is a great story, and "A Rose for Emily" is by Faulkner. Here are some of my recommendations:

Anything by O. Henry (especially "The Furnished Room")
"A Worn Path" - Eudora Welty
"The Destructors" - Graham Greene
"Miss Brill" - Katherine Mansfield
"The Lesson" - Toni Cade Bambara
"Eveline" or "The Dead" - James Joyce
"Once upon a Time" - Nadine Gordimer
"Welcome to the Monkey House" - Kurt Vonnegut

[Scheherazade]

I will join those who recommend O'Henry.

The Garden Party and other Stories by Katherine Mansfield

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson is an interesting collection, which consists of interconnected stories about the inhabitants of a small town.

Also The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140063064/qid=1135122542/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_2_7/026-2837073-0110059) is a very good collection; well worth having in one's personal library.

[Riesa]

I don't believe that Flannery O'Conner has been mentioned.

and

Sandra Cisneros has some excellent stories as well.

[PeterL]

Hello Everyone

I'm trying to understand the form of the short story better. If you have any favorite stories, please post them here. Also, if you are a writer of short stories, please pass on any knowlege you might have. I'm currently working on rewriting a story of mine, and looking to some of the masters for a little help.


A good short story doesn't have wasted words. There is plenty of room in a novel to make a mistake and have it blend into the work, as a whole, but short stories don't grant the luxury. Don't think of short stories as novels of small length, although some short stories are just that. Depending on the type of story it is, there are many writers that you might look at as models. Poe was one to the best, but his style look somewhat antiquated now, unless one wants to characterize through language. The others that people have mentioned wrote good short stories. To those I would add Guy de Maupassant, C.M. Kornbluth, L. Sprague deCamp, H.P. Lovecraft, and there are others.

[Monica]

Borges writes nice short stories. And Italo Calvino as well. Angela Carter maybe, also. And of course Julio Cortazar and G.G. Marquez.
Favourites from them: "The Garden of Forking Paths", "The Sign in Space", "The Snow Child", "Continuity of Parks", "Eyes of a Blue Dog". :D

[starrwriter]

I don't believe that Flannery O'Conner has been mentioned.

You're right, O'Conner is true original. I enjoyed her story "Everything That Rises Must Converge" (as much for the great title as for the tale itself.)

[prasanthja]

These short stories are good

A Ramble in Aphasia by O Henry

The Small Miracle by Paul Gallico

Bertie's Christmas Eve by Saki

[Virgil]

A thread just started by Reichenbach should remind us how good a story writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was.

[Weeping Willow]

There is One story of Hemingway i learn in school .. i don't remember the name..
it was something with a watch or a clock... in a dinner.. hmmmm.. well don't remember but it was really good...

[starrwriter]

There is One story of Hemingway i learn in school .. i don't remember the name...it was something with a watch or a clock... in a dinner.. hmmmm.. well don't remember but it was really good...
"A Clean Well-Lighted Place"?

[lavendar1]

"A Clean Well-Lighted Place"? -- That's one of my favorites. Others:

"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"Powder" - Tobias Wolfe
"A Mother in Manville - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
"A Complicated Nature" - William Trevor
"Revelation" - Flannery O'Connor
"Errand" and "Cathedral" - Raymond Carver

There's a great little anthology called First Fiction, edited by Kathy Kiernan and Michael Moore, that features the first published short stories of writers like Raymond Carver, William Faulkner, Alice Munro, and Margaret Atwood (and many more). It's interesting to read the variety of styles and types of subjects these writers started out with - and can be a good starting point if you want to trace how these writers developed their craft across time.

[starrwriter]

I forgot to mention "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" by Conrad Aiken. Great short story.

[Weeping Willow]

"A Clean Well-Lighted Place"?

nop.. i lloked.. i think it was about a guy waiting for some people to come and kill him.. and all the time all the characters are looking at the clock above the bar..
ring a bell???
I can't believe how i can't find this story... :mad:

[starrwriter]

nop.. i lloked.. i think it was about a guy waiting for some people to come and kill him.. and all the time all the characters are looking at the clock above the bar.. ring a bell??? I can't believe how i can't find this story...
It must be "The Killers," a story about some gangsters who come to kill a guy nicknamed the Swede.

[lavendar1]

I just thought of another -- "The Other Two" by Edith Wharton. It's an interesting character study told from an interesting point of view.

[chmpman]

"A Simple Heart" by Gustave Flaubert is a great one.
Also, "Eliduc" by Marie de France if your interested in a twelfth century take on the short story. I kind of like looking at the progression of different literary styles over time. Both are originally written in French, although I only read translations.

[IrishCanadian]

I'm so surprised that no one has yet mentioned "The Dubliners", Joyce's anthology of short stories. It is brillient as a book in itself as well as its story's efficiant structures and human truths ect.. Every story in the Dubliners takes place in one small city (Dublin obvously) and moves upward in the maturity of the main characters from one story to the next chronologically. The incredible complexity of emotion in each small to large egos and situations could be considered existential. And yet, each story stands on its own so beautifully. (You'll have to excuse this ramble, I'm a fanatic when it comes to Irish lit.)

[prasanthja]

The following stories are also good:

The Corsican Bandit by Guy de Maupassant

The Babes in the Jungle by O Henry

[Whifflingpin]

"The village that voted the Earth was flat" by Kipling

"The Rock that changed things" by Ursula Le Guin

just to pick two at random (almost) from those masters of the form

[Xamonas Chegwe]

I just popped in to add "Dubliners" and Guy de Maupassant (just about anything by him) to the list. And I was beaten to it on both counts. What are the chances of that...?

Irish & pras, I commend your taste.

[IrishCanadian]

I'm taking a course in which the first half is a pile of short stories ... so i thought i would save this post till we finished this unit .... but I'v been going through too much good stuff to hold back.
My favorites so far
The Fall of the House of Usher -Poe
Young Goodman Brown -Hawthorne
The Yellow Wallpaper -Gilman
The Birthmark -Hawthorne
and I'm currently taking a quick break from Kafka's Metamorphosis at the moment .. .and I don't know if i like it or not. But I stringly recommend the other ones!

[rodanho]

"A Rose for Emily" is good too but I can't remember the author right now.

I think it is William Faulkner........I think O.Henry is an excellent short story teller. Guy de Maupassant and Anton Chekhov are also great.........

[Taliesin]

Hermit and Sixfinger (http://lib.ru/PELEWIN/hermit.txt) by Pelevin

Oh, and we also like Bradbury's short stories.

[everyman]

Jorges Luis Borges, for me, is the quintessential short story writer of the 20th century. Stories of his ingrained in my memory are "Man on Pink Corner" and "The Library of Babel".

[Pendragon]

I posted once, but I was using my laptop, and it didn't post. I agree with most people here, adding in the short fiction of Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain. With O. Henry, along with those mentioned, I recomend "Roads of Destiny", "The Last Leaf", and "After Twenty Years." For Stevenson, along with "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", there's "The Bodysnatchers" and the terrifying "Thrawn Janet" as wild as any Poe story. For Twain, "Cannibalism in the Cars", "The Invalid's Story", and "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg" are a must! :D :nod:

[IrishCanadian]

Is Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" considered a short story?
Because if it is --it definitely belongs on this list.

[elphaba]

-AFTER THE BALL (or AFTER THE DANCE) by Tolstoy

-Anything in the collection titled INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri
A TEMPORARY MATTER, the first short story in this collection has been known to
be available on the web.

-I know there must be more but I can't think of them now. I tend to like a good short story better than a novel. But I HATE a bad short story.

I think that short stories must be more difficult to write than novels. Even if you don't have a hard limit on length, you still don't have the freedom to take a lot of time to develop characters. You must be able to "draw" the character with a minimal number of "brush strokes". Can be very tough I would think, I've never tried to write one myself. Good luck.

[byucougs]

"Origin and Castrophe" and "Lamb to the Slaughter" both by Roald Dahl are great short stories.
Bradbury is the master of the short story in my opinion. Another one worth mentioning is "Moonface" by Jack London.

[lavendar1]

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce is a good story. The subtle way the point of view shifts really enhances the tale. And I found myself wondering if whoever produced Gladiator back in 2000 was maybe influenced by the last paragraphs in the story -- Farquhar and Maximus seemed to view their last human moments similarly.

[nosh276]

Lost in the Funhouse

by John Barth

It's completely different. It's a series of short stories that form a novel, but in a way no one had before. Go read it.

[bookgeek]

Two awesome short stories:
"Babylon Revisited" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor


as a matter of fact, O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is a collection of short stories that is amazing from start to finish. Believe it!

If you love the jazz age...Fitzgerald cannot be topped. For a surreal experience, check out "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz"

[Virgil]

My favorite short story writer is D.H. Lawrence. Must reads: "The Prussian Officer," "Odour of the Chrysanthemums," "The Blind Man," "Wintry Peacock," "The Horse-Dealer's Daughter," "The Princess," "The Woman Who Rode Away." Lots of others too.

[CatonHotTinRoof]

I'd say

"A Story" by Dylan Thomas or basically any of his stories

[Vedrana]

I notice someone mentioned a story called 'The Lottery'. I'm not sure if it's the same one I have read, but it was a rather creepy little story, and I read it in Year Nine for English. I can't remember who wrote it though.

Roald Dahl is great, so is F. Scott Fitzgerald. I recently read an interesting story by Anais Nin, called "The Child Born Out of the Fog", which might be worth a look. Good luck to you anyway.

[Wendigo_49]

I haven't read many short stories but my favorite author of short stories so far is Jorge Borges ,and I've only read about 140 pages of his so far. My favorite short stories (so far) are The Aleph, Death and the Compass, The Other Death, The Two Kings and Their Two Labyrinths. I also liked The Silent Men by Albert Camus.

[grantplus]

Snows of Kilimanjaro
The Short Happy Life of Francois Macombner

[Idril]

Leaf By Niggle ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Taras Bulba ~ Nikolai Gogol
The Kreutzer Sonata ~ Leo Tolstoy
The Gambler ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

[Themis]

"Leutnant Gustl" - Arthur Schnitzler

[iwnttoknowall]

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Aleen Poe.


Great read. You can read into his mind and his insanity by all of his works.

[mtpspur]

My vote for Gift of the Magi by O. Henry or The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank Stockton.

[Viridis]

Harrison Burgeron is killer, don't remember who wrote it though.

I would have to agree that "Harrison Bergeron" is an excellent story; it's by Kurt Vonnegut.

It's hard for me to pick out a favorite, but some excellent stories are "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton, "The Short, Happy Life of Francis MacComber" by Hemingway (already mentioned by several others), "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, and "The Swimmer" by John Cheever. Oh, and also "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates. There are too many excellent short stories to name them all...

[bazarov]

Kafka - The Metamorphoses
Dostoevsky - Notes from Underground
Camus - The Stranger

[Nightwalk]

Edgar Allan Poe - "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Arthur Conan Doyle - "A Scandal in Bohemia"

J.D. Salinger - "For Esme - With Love and Squalor"

Robert Coover - "The Square-Shooter and the Saint"

Jack Kerouac - "Good Blonde"

Willa Cather - "Coming, Aphrodite!"

[Mary Sue]

"The Open Window" by Saki
"Uncle Fred Flits By" by P.G. Wodehouse
"The Monkey's Paw" by (I think) Munroe

[Kurtz]

"In the Penal Colony" Kafka

[Persephona]

i really liked marquez' s short stories.. i can't remember one in particular, but i can say they impressed me.

[Pendragon]

Some of my favorites:

Bulwer Lytton The Haunter and the Haunted

O.Henry Roads of Destiny

Robert Louis Stevenson The Bodysnatchers

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Speckled Band

Ambrose Bierce An Incident At Owl Creek Bridge

Stephen Vincent Benet The Devil and Daniel Webster

Edgar Allan Poe The Tell-Tale Heart

[higley]

Anything, really, by Ray Bradbury--but especially "The Veldt" and "The House of Usher."

[Pendragon]

Um. The Fall of the House of Usher is by Poe...

But ditto on Ray Bradbury's The Veldt. I also like The Illustrated Man .

[subterranean]

Um. The Fall of the House of Usher is by Poe...

But ditto on Ray Bradbury's The Veldt. I also like The Illustrated Man .

Hi Pen, I happen to like The Illustrated Man too. As a matter of fact, it is my first Bradbury's :).

[bhekti]

The Killers by Hemingway, and the rest of Hemingway's

[higley]

Actually Pen, Ray Bradbury wrote a story titled that too. It's futuristic and is set on Mars. It's creepy and fantastic. x)

[superunknown]

Another old thread. How come I haven't noticed it before?
The best short stories writer, apart from EAP, is Julio Cortazar. All his works are great but I'd like to recommend his shortest one - Continuity of Parks. It is just a two-page story but it's just amazing. I sometimes wonder how it is possible to write stuff like that.
YES! Great to see another Cortázar enthusiast. He's undeservedly unknown outside of the Spanish speaking world as he's really at the same level of literary achievement as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Borges (no kidding, he really is that good), although I've heard that the existing English translations don't do him much justice (he must be incredibly hard to translate, but surely they can do better than what's out right now). "Continuidad de los parques" is totally amazing, it reminds me of an Escher painting, although I think the best has to be "El perseguidor", the terrific semi-biography of Charlie Parker. "La noche boca arriba" is amazing as well. "Final del juego", "Las armas secretas," and "Todos los fuegos el fuego" are all amazing short story books. I've been meaning to have a go at "Rayuela" as well, but I need to have quite a bit of spare time for that as I hear it's quite difficult. The concept of it is fascinating, though... a novel that can be read twice, in different orders? No one else has thought of that.

"No one can retell the plot of a Cortázar story; each one consists of determined words in a determined order. If we try to summarize them, we realize that something precious has been lost."
- Jorge Luis Borges

"Anyone who doesn't read Cortázar is doomed. Not to read him is a serious invisible disease which in time can have terrible consequences. Something similar to a man who has never tasted peaches. He would quietly become sadder... and, probably, little by little, he would lose his hair."
- Pablo Neruda

Anyway, as far as more familiar names go, I absolutely adore Hemingway's "A Very Short Story". I don't know why, but this one really hits me more than any other Hemingway short story I've read, more even than The Killers (which, to be quite frank, I might need someone to explain it to me, but I just don't get why it's supposed to be so great) and The Snows of Kilimanjaro (I don't count The Old Man and the Sea as I consider that to be more of a novella, although that one's amazing not for its content but for the way it's written... it's a poem in prose, and one of the greatest poems ever at that). It's so short but it has so much meaning in it. To me it's the best representation of Hemingway's economization and also a good summary of his general reccurring themes.

Just to give you all a quick taste of Cortázar:

"The Continuity of Parks"

He had begun to read the novel a few days before. He had put it aside because of some urgent business conferences, opened it again on his way back to the estate by train; he permitted himself a slowly growing interest in the plot, in the characterizations. That afternoon, after writing a letter giving his power of attorney and discussing a matter of joint ownership with the manager of his estate, he returned to the book in the tranquility of his study which looked out upon the park with its oaks. Sprawled in his favorite armchair, its back toward the door--even the possibility of an intrusion would have irritated him, had he thought of it--he let his left hand caress repeatedly the green velvet upholstery and set to reading the final chapters. He remembered effortlessly the names and his mental image of the characters; the novel spread its glamour over him almost at once. He tasted the almost perverse pleasure of disengaging himself line by line from the things around him, and at the same time feeling his head rest comfortably on the green velvet of the chair with its high back, sensing that the cigarettes rested within reach of his hand, that beyond the great windows the air of afternoon danced under the oak trees in the park. Word by word, licked up the sordid dilemma of the hero and heroine, letting himself be absorbed to the point where the images settled down and took on color and movement, he was witness to the final encounter in the mountain cabin. The woman arrived first, apprehensive; now the lover came in, his face cut by the backlash of a branch. Admirably, she stanched the blood with her kisses, but he rebuffed her caresses, he had not come to perform again the ceremonies of a secret passion, protected by a world of dry leaves and furtive paths through the forest. The dagger warmed itself against his chest, and underneath liberty pounded, hidden close. A lustful, panting dialogue raced down the pages like a rivulet of snakes, and one felt it had all been decided from eternity. Even to those caresses which writhed about the lover's body, as though wishing to keep him there, to dissuade him from it; they sketched abominably the fame of that other body it was necessary to destroy. Nothing had been forgotten: alibis, unforeseen hazards, possible mistakes. From this hour on, each instant had its use minutely assigned. The cold-blooded, twice-gone-over reexamination of the details was barely broken off so that a hand could caress a cheek. It was beginning to get dark.

Not looking at each other now, rigidly fixed upon the task which awaited them, they separated at the cabin door. She was to follow the trail that led north. On the path leading in the opposite direction, he turned for a moment to watch her running, her hair loosened and flying. He ran in turn, crouching among the trees and hedges until, in the yellowish fog of dusk, he could distinguish the avenue of trees which led up to the house. The dogs were not supposed to bark, and they did not bark. The estate manager would not be there at this hour, and he was not there. He went up the three porch steps and entered. The woman's words reached him over a thudding of blood in his ears: first a blue chamber, then a hall, then a carpeted stairway. At the top, two doors. Noone in the first room, noone in the second. The door of the salon, and then, the knife in his hand, the light from the great windows, the high back of an armchair covered in green velvet, the head of the man in the chair reading a novel.

[carina_gino20]

where can i find online textx of cortazar's short stories translated in English. my spanish is very limited

[Pendragon]

Actually Pen, Ray Bradbury wrote a story titled that too. It's futuristic and is set on Mars. It's creepy and fantastic. x)

Would you happen to know which of Bradbury's collections the story is in? I have a giant book with 100 of his stories and it isn't in there, and I don't recall ever reading it in any other collection either. And that's strange, because he's a great writer, and I love his stories! I'd like to read this one! :nod:

Isaac Asimov's Wendel Urth stories are great, and his ghost story Legal Rites is a fine twist ending! :)

[higley]

It's in the Illustrated Man book, under "Fall of the House of Usher"--got the name a bit wrong at first, sorry ;) It's great.

[subterranean]

It's in the Illustrated Man book, under "Fall of the House of Usher"--got the name a bit wrong at first, sorry ;) It's great.

Is it the first story in the Illustrated Man? Something to do with the lion? Sorry, I read the book long time a go. One of my fav stories in the book is the story of the astrounouts floating in space..an accident happened and one by one they died..I forgot the title.

[higley]

The lion one is "The Veldt." I don't have my copy of the Illustrated Man with me, so I can't remember where it is in the order D: But I'm pretty sure it's also in the Martian Chronicles.

I know the astronaut one you're talking about Sub, and I'm so annoyed at myself because the title's on the tip of my tongue and I can't say it! I hate it when that happens.

Another really good short story Ray wrote is called "A Sound of Thunder." I actually think they made that one into a video game x)

[thibs23]

Metamorphosis by Kafka is amazing.

Also Jonathen Swifts short stories ar good.

And dont forget the Canterbury Tales, especially a Knight's Tale.

[thibs23]

Ohh almost forget the Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

[subterranean]

Ohh almost forget the Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Well, maybe it'd be best to call it one of the best plays ever :). Speaking of Wilde's, I just re-read The Happy Prince and I think it's a fine short story too (if not the best of all time).

[thibs23]

I agree one of the best short stories of the time, had me laughing histarically in the middle of English class, when you can hold a 17 year old kids interest for 2 and a half hours, I applaud.

[subgenre]

O.Henry has great short stories if you'd want surprise endings. Edgar Allan Poe is obviously a good writer in that genre. My favorite right now is Continuity of Parks by Cortazar.

[thibs23]

Just realized that you said best play ever, yeah it is a play but also a very short read, thats what I was trying to portray, haha.

[subterranean]

Just realized that you said best play ever, yeah it is a play but also a very short read, thats what I was trying to portray, haha.

No problem, thibs :). For one second, I thought you said The Happy Prince is a hillarious story ;).

[Zippy]

It has to be Hemingway's Big Two Hearted River. How can a story that's essentially about nothing be so beautiful, captivating and mesmerising?

In fact all of Hemingway's short stories are excellent.

In close second place is Faulkner's Two Soldiers. I sometimes feel that his short fiction misses the mark, but this is the exception.

Third goes to JD Salinger - For Esmé - with Love and Squalor. Again, I'm fairly indifferent to his short stories, but this was fantastic.

Zippy.
:)

[Pendragon]

It's in the Illustrated Man book, under "Fall of the House of Usher"--got the name a bit wrong at first, sorry ;) It's great.
Thanks. I'll have to visit the used bookstore. I seem to have traded my copies of both The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles when I bought this huge collection, figuring all of the best stories would be in it. They aren't! :) Ah, editors. An author cannot exist with them or without them! :rolleyes:

Comedy short stories are great as well. For them I recomend Patrick F. McManus. :lol:

[TEND]

I know the astronaut one you're talking about Sub, and I'm so annoyed at myself because the title's on the tip of my tongue and I can't say it! I hate it when that happens.

Higley, if you do remember could you please share? I'm now quite intrigued as it sounds a very interesting concept and I've never read any Bradbury save Fahrenheit 451.

Ah, wait I believe I found it, is it 'Kaleidoscope'?

[higley]

Yes, that's it! It's called "Kaleidoscope." Thanks, TEND.

[Serenata]

I actually liked. The Lottery. I can never remember the author, but it was well written. I didn't have an idea of the ending, it took be by surprise.

[Scheherazade]

I actually liked. The Lottery. I can never remember the author, but it was well written. I didn't have an idea of the ending, it took be by surprise.By Shirley Jackson. Incidentally, it is one of my favorite stories too :)

[Big Al]

I haven't read a large number of short stories, but my favorite that I've read so far is The Telltale Heart, by Edgar Allen Poe.

So what is The Lottery about? I think I might have to give that one a look.

[Pendragon]

Hugh B. Cave writes a lot of really good short stories, usually dark and ghostly. I don't really have a favorite but The Twisted Men is excellent. Finding his stories would be the problem, as they are usually scattered among anthologies.

[racined]

I would have to say Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" or "An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce.

[Pendragon]

"An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce probably does have one of the best twist endings of all time! :thumbs_up

[Billie_Bumble]

The Gift by O Henry. It's beautiful in it's simplicity. The first time I read it I cried.

[malwethien]

The Open Window (Saki or Sake?)
The Devil and Daniel Webster

[Bookworm Cris]

I like many short stories by Asimov; my favourites are Bicentennial Man, All the Troubles of the World, Nightfall, and Not Final.
I´m a big fan of Machado de Assis. Some short stories that are masterpieces are Missa do Galo, A Igreja do Diabo (Devil´s Church), Teoria do Medalhão.I don´t know if his short stories were translated into English, but if they are, I recommend reading them.
Some short stories of Stephen King I liked: Riding the Bullet, The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Word Processor of the Gods, The Breathing Method.
I also liked The Monkey´s Paw (W.W.Jacobs), and The Black Cat (Poe).

I´ve read many comments here in this thread about The Lottery. It seems interesting, I think I should read it. :)

[teewillis1981]

I would definitely have to say that James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" is the best short story I have ever read. Although Kafka's Metaphorsis comes in a very close second:D

[alennox21]

Tough question. I am fond of "The Most Dangerous Game"
I'm sure it's in the public domain

"The Silver Jar" by Capote is beautifully written, and has a surprise ending.
There are many by Capote which are astonishing.

[Pensive]

My favourite is "Khol Do" By Sadiq Hussain Munto.

[Cheese King]

Here are some of my favorites, for what it's worth:

Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets Jack Finney
The Rocket Man Ray Bradbury
Give It Up! Franz Kafka
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Ursula K. Le Guin
A Little Fable Franz Kafka
Dearth Aimee Bender
Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Mellville
The Beggar Guy de Maupassant
Light Is Like Water Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Eyes of a Blue Dog Gabriel Garcia Marquez

[Cien]

"The Sisters" or "Araby" by James Joyce.

Also, "Eyes of a Blue Dog" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as Cheese King just said.

[oguzhan]

the lottery,metamorphosis and the piece of string..

these are my favourite they need to be my favourite bec we have a lesson at uni. as short storry

[NDL]

Poe's 'The Bordeaux Dilligence."

[bouquin]

my favorite short story writers:
Roald Dahl
E.L. Doctorow
Guy de Maupassant
Jhumpa Lahiri
Truman Capote

[sam96]

I don't about all time favourite but i really liked The little match girl by hans Christian Andersen. and Bliss by Katherine Mansfield

[Tale of 2Cities]

Have you read "The Cosmopolitan" by O'Heanry? If you had, i think you would agree it is amusingly ironic!:idea: Read it some time, seriously!

[papercut]

There are a lot of great short stories. I think one of the stories I found the most moving was All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury. So sad.

[Silvia]

I don't read many short stories, but my father loves Asimov and he introduced me to his writing...so, I would say"the last question"..

[Guzmán]

I don't read many short stories, but my father loves Asimov and he introduced me to his writing...so, I would say"the last question"..
Good one.

I'll add some of my favorites, off the top of my head:
"The fall of the house of Usher" - Poe. This one i guess is my favorite
"The Metamorphoses" - Kafka (I guess i'll consider it a long short story instead of a short novel. Really short stories by K that I really liked were "The Hunger Artist" and one that i dont know its name in English: "La Condena"?)
"Entropy" - Thomas Pynchon
"Calleidoscope" - Ray Bradbury
"The Visitor" - Dylan Thomas

Another great writer of short stories was sci-fi and mystery writer Fredric Brown. Is there anybody here into him?
Lovecraft is great too.

I forgot about Dostoyevsky's "White Nights", i was considering it as a short novel instead of a short story, i dont know why. I guess this one along with Poe's "The Fall..." are my favourites.

[chasestalling]

william faulkner's a rose for emily.

[*Classic*Charm*]

Will you all laugh at me if I say

Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughter

????

It truly is the perfect murder....

[Nick Rubashov]

all time? hard. I love short stories so much, especially Jack London's work, I grew up reading his adventures. Guess I'll go with any one of Jack London's short stories.

[bouquin]

Poe - The Cask of Amontillado
Vonnegut - The Boy who Hated Girls
Doyle - The Adventure of the Speckled Band


I read The Cask of Amontillado back in high school, many years ago ... and I loved it! Perhaps in great part because it was discussed thoroughly in class, thanks to my Literature teacher.


my favorite short story writers:
Roald Dahl
E.L. Doctorow
Guy de Maupassant


update:
I have just finished reading Interpreter of Maladies and now include Jhumpa Lahiri among my favorite short story writers!

[F.Emerald]

I love Nabokov's short stories, my favourite that comes to mind is 'The Admiralty Spire'.

[dorindapaige]

A Rose for Emily - Faulkner
The Cask of Amontillado - Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher - Poe
The Life You Save May be Your Own - O'Connor
To Build a Fire - London
The Sniper - Liam O'Flaherty
The Minister's Black Veil - Hawthorne

[Nick Rubashov]

I just finished reading John Steinbeck's The Pearl and I'm going to go ahead and consider it not only a short story, but one of my favorites.

[Matrim Cuathon]

a lot of the short stories by ray bradbury.

[hyperborean]

The Wall by John Paul Sartre is my favorite short story.

[Cherubino]

A Passion in the Desert - Balzac
Lukardis - Wassermann
The War Prayer - Twain
Kannitverstan - Hebel

I couldn't possibly list only one. I have a folder of short stories from school last year, somewhere. I couldn't find it, and the only one that comes to mind is The Queen of Spades.

[Redzeppelin]

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" - Flannery O'Connor'
"The Chaser" - John Collier
"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" - E. Hemingway
"Hills Like White Elephants" - E. Hemingway
"The Babysitter" - Robert Coover

[wratchild]

Very very difficult question, there are a lot of great tales, but my personal list maybe can be like this:

-Message found in a bottle (Edgar Alan Poe)
-The Dunwich horror (HP. Lovecraft)
-The diary of a madman (Guy de Maupassant)
-Carcasona (Lord Dunsany)

[germanpenn]

Good question. If I were to pick just one I would say "the Zahir" by Borges. Other goodies not mentioned here are:
- "There will come soft rains" by Bradbury
- "Studio 5, the Stars", by Ballard
- "birthday of the infanta" by Wilde
- "Automatic tiger" by Kit Reed
- "The 9 billion names of god" by Clarke
- "The autopsy" by Michael Shea
- "The copper rain" by Lugones

There are so many. But my favourite is the Zahir.

[Serenata]

I liked The Lottery. I forget who it's by.

[Neil Thomas]

The old man and the sea. Earnest Hemingway

[McGrain]

I read Brokeback Mountain having seen the film and thought it was pretty amazing. In face everything in that volume of stories was very good - pressed to think of a better collection.

The Conan Doyle is worth a mention!

[manyreddevils]

Checkhov is almost synonymous with excellent short fiction. Brief, vivid, and devastating.
Tim O'Brien's <i>The Things They Carried</i> is a collection of short stories that are simply stunning. He also addresses in one of them, I don't recall the exact title, the power and essence of a story itself. I consider it a must-read for aspiring writers/human beings.

[*Classic*Charm*]

The Conan Doyle is worth a mention!

I agree! A Scandal in Bohemia is my fav.

[Robert Jordan]

Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber was an amazing short story

[Dorian Gray]

Henry James - A bundle of letters
Truman Capote - My Side of the Matter

[johnA.B.C.Smith]

ligeia - edgar allan poe
the dead - james joyce

when read in comparison whith other stories from the dubliners ( and other writings for poe) excellent but just as poignant and stirring on there own.

[jjharbin]

There are many that are delightful no matter how many times I read them:

Ball of Fat - Guy de Maupassant - Sad, wonderful, and the FIRST story he ever published! Amazing.

Uncle Fred Flits By - P.G. Wodehouse - but it's hard to name one, because he wrote many that are priceless.

The Tall Men, A Rose For Emily - William Faulkner - Two of his best "the past isn't dead -- it isn't even past" stories.

Bartleby - Herman Melville - An automatic selection for anyone confined in a cube. "I would prefer not to." Amen.

The Tell-Tale Heart - Poe - As nearly perfectly constructed as a short story can be.

The Chaser - John Collier - Still works after 50 readings...

And many others, but I wanted to get started on this topic.

[Walter Necks]

"The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" by Alan Sillitoe. Anyone else read this? Never met anyone who has, curious to see what others think of it. For me one of those stories so powerful that, like 9-11 and presidential assassinations I still remember where I was when I first read it. A long time ago now.

For humour I really liked Henry Lawson's "The Loaded Dog". Also his "The Drover's Wife". I still get chills when I read it.

I found this thread by typing "Greatest Short Stories" into GOOGLE. I was curious to see if anyone had ever come up with some kind of list of The
Greatest Short Stories Of All Time. They've come up with several 'definitive' lists for Movies and Books and Albums and probably for Screensavers and Mobile Phone Ringtones for all I know. But nothing for short stories.

I'm less interested in seeing such a list than in the fact that no publication has bothered to even come up with one. Do many people read short stories any more?

[kilted exile]

"The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" by Alan Sillitoe. Anyone else read this? Never met anyone who has, curious to see what others think of it. For me one of those stories so powerful that, like 9-11 and presidential assassinations I still remember where I was when I first read it. A long time ago now.

The loneliness of the long distance runner is a great story. I read it at school when I was 14.

[Hyacinth42]

My favorites are:

An Occurance ot Owl Creek Bridge - Ambrose Bierce
A Horseman in the Sky - Ambrose Bierce
One Kind of Officer - Ambrose Bierce
The Overcoat - Nikolai Gogol
A Rose for Emily - William Faulkner (Not one of my favorites, but after listing all those Ambrose Bierce stories, I'm in a rather morbid mood, and felt like listing this one :p)

[Nightshade]

The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut by Mark Twain

[JBI]

His Wife Anton Chekhov

[Geoffrey]

as I was not here while this thread unfolded, I certainly have not read of of the replies... but I do wonder, was one of my all time favorite stories mentioned?

Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol

"And, instead of hugging one another after their long separation, father and son began to aim heavy blows at the other's ribs, belly and chest, side-stepping, moving, back, attacking again, their eyes glued on each other."

:-)

[Idril]

as I was not here while this thread unfolded, I certainly have not read of of the replies... but I do wonder, was one of my all time favorite stories mentioned?

Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol

"And, instead of hugging one another after their long separation, father and son began to aim heavy blows at the other's ribs, belly and chest, side-stepping, moving, back, attacking again, their eyes glued on each other."

:-)

Yes, I mentioned it earlier. It is simply an amazing story, almost like poetry albeit violent, brutal poetry but still...poetry. I wouldn't say I'm a huge Gogol fan but this story is a standout for me.

[chaplin]

Logically, the best short story ever should come from the best short story writer ever.
And since Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is that writer, the best(s) would be:

A Boring Story (a.k.a. A Dreary Story)
In the Ravine
The Bishop
The Lady with the Little Dog

And Tolstoy also would have a few pieces in contention (even if they are long short, stories:

The Death of Ivan Ilych
Father Sergius
Hadji Murad

And Gogol:

The Overcoat
Diary of a Madman
Nevsky Prospect

Non-Russian pieces (and thus slightly lower in rank):

The Dead - Joyce
Benito Cereno - Melville
The Fall of the House of Usher - Poe
The Metamorphosis - Kafka
To Build A Fire - London

[greowulf]

The Carver story about the blind man was "Cathedral"....also Lawrence wrote "The Odour of Chrysanthemums" - not to be confused with Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums"....

[ballb]

Try anything by Ray Bradbury or William Trevor. Masters of the craft. But my own favourite is a little known short story by PG Wodehouse "In Alcala". It is written with an intensity that I found stunning in Plum`s writing. Suddenly you realize that the jokes have stopped and it hits you between the eyes like a rake from long grass.

[ThousandthIsle]

My favorite short story is The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Two other favorites are Robert Louis Stevenson's Olalla and Poe's Fall of the House of Usher.

Short stories are ideal for making any sort of profound "statement" (or portrayal), or writing something with the intention of making an intense impact. I find that open-ended stories that leave room for interpretation are often the ones that stick with me most... Certain ones seem to pop up in my memory from time to time, when an event or person in my own life will make me 'wonder' in the same way certain short stories did.

[Quark]

I'm trying to start a thread about my favorite short story writer, Chekhov. It's over at:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=429770#post429770

Here's some of the explanation I gave over in that discussion:

"Chekhov is great for online discussion because he's an author that's accessible; but, at the same time, he's poetic and philosophical. Short stories don't make quite the demand that full length novels do, and laconic Realism is easier to grasp than voluble Modernism. But, that doesn't mean that just because Chekhov is terse the stories don't have subtlety. Often, clever turns of the plot reveal meaning and feeling to the story without the author having to directly explain to the reader the importance of events. Joseph Conrad, for example, has to purposely intervene in many of his stories to tell the reader what to think. In The Heart of Darkness, Marlowe has his adventure, but then he has to tell all the other sailors in asides and a final monologue how its important. That isn't to say Joseph Conrad is a horrible writer who should never be discussed online--in fact, I'm reading Nostromo right now. I'm only arguing that it's easier for the reader when the meaning is slowly revealed and not dictated at certain moments. Chekhov is considered one of the masters of the short story for his ability to manipulate the story and not the reader. He doesn't resort to sentimentality or weak intellectualism to tell his stories, yet he is still able to discuss the most important ideas in life like loss, death, memory, idealism, and self-image. It's literary things like this that I hope people get interested in."

Right now we're discussing "Rothschild's Violin". It's one of his best short stories talking about death and loss. You can get the full story, here, on LitNet at:

http://www.online-literature.com/anton_chekhov/1272/

[stanley]

hi guys.Im a chinese in south china.i love reading and im so happy to meet you here.

could you recommend some short stories?or the authers?

if i write wrong sentence,plx forgive my stupid brain.:yawnb:

[amalia1985]

Please, regard this as my personal opinion, because someone once "stoned" me when I recommended a book, and it happened not to be of his liking...

I would suggest you read Oscar Wilde's short stories, which is a classic for me. They would seem like tales, and that's what they are, but their undertone is shocking, indeed. Especially, "The Happy Prince", and "The Selfish Giant", and others.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's ones are also very interesting, dealing with a lot of themes, from science -the amasing "Birth-Mark"- to religion and society.

Last, I would suggest the collection of Tennessee Williams's short stories.They are my personal all-time favourites, thought-provoking, dark, and challenging.

Again, I must say that this is only a personal suggection.

Have a nice time here, stanley!!

[stanley]

wow,you gave me a great suggection!THX MUCH!!!

what did you say.i just need your personal suggection.HAHAH

[amalia1985]

You're very welcome.Have a great reading-time!!

[Nossa]

I loved a short story called 'There Will Come Soft Rains' by Ray Bradbury, I studied it last year and it's pretty good, so you might wanna read this along with other Bradbury short stories. James Joyce's Dubliners is also good. Earnest Hemingway's short stories are also a good read.

[manolia]

I second Joyce's "Dubliners". I am currently reading it and i like it very much :nod:
Try some Edgar Allan Poe's short stories (like "The Black Cat" or "The gold bug" or "The mask of the red death")..i'll always consider him as the best :thumbs_up
I'd also recommend R.L Stevenson's short stories (like "The merry men" don't know if this can be called a short story or a novella ?? but it is rather short anyway) and Dicken's ghost stories (like "The haunted man and the ghost's bargain")

[bazarov]

Dostoevsky's Story from the Underground is the best short story in my opinion (IMO :) ), and his other stories are also very good.

[Nossa]

Try some Edgar Allan Poe's short stories (like "The Black Cat" or "The gold bug" or "The mask of the red death")


I second that. I have the complete short stories and they're terrific.

[lavendar1]

You've got some good suggestions already, but let me add a few:

"The Story of an Hour" -- Kate Chopin (short, sweet, and a good study on form of the short story)

"The Bet," "The Student," or "The Lady With the Lap Dog" -- Anton Chekhov

"Cathedral" or "Why Don't You Dance?" -- Raymond Carver

"The Found Boat" -- Alice Munro

Have fun reading! I like short stories because they're short (duh...) and if they're good, they pull you in right away and (by the time you're done) they give you a bit of a different way of looking at things.

[lisahead]

I once read a short story about a boy who kind of went crazy and thought that his house was buried in snow- does anyone know this story? I would like to re-read it.

[Moira22100]

There is a great story called Harrison Bergeron by Vonnegut. Its quite a bit depressing but its fantastic. (it kind of scares me too)

[stlukesguild]

J.L. Borges' Labyrinths... oh hell, just about anything.
Franz Kafka's Complete Stories
Tomasso Landolfi's Gogol's Wife
Checkov...Checkov...Checkov
ditto Tolstoy
ditto Maupassant
Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics
Henry James
H.G. Wells
Ambrose Bierce
Thomas Mann- Death in Venice
Donald Barthleme

... a decent start.

[stanley]

Thank YOU.
you r very kind and your sharing are very useful for me.

lisahead,i havent read this,sorry.hope you can re read it soon. ^ ^

[ReynardtheFox]

Hmmm, lets go for some genre fiction:
"All You Zombies" - Heinlein
"Flowers for Algernon" Daniel Keyes
"The Last Question" - Isaac Asimov
"The Veldt" - Ray Bradbury
"Nicholas Was" - Neil Gaiman

and . . .

"The Dead" - James Joyce.

[AuntShecky]

All of the suggestions already-posted are truly fine. "Twice Told Tales" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Somerset Maugham
has written many wonderful short stories, which can also
be found in movie versions. ("Trio," "Quartet.")
Also, forgive my American bias, but John Updike, Bernard Malamud, and Raymond Carver will enamour you to the genre.
Auntie

[Thatch]

Let me recommend the humor of O Henry. Aside from humor "The Gift of the Magi" is a classic of his.

[SnowQueen189]

I agree with O Henry...he's fantastic!
Kate Chopin is usually pretty good...
anything by Edgar Allen Poe...I love him!!!

The Thing in the Forest by A. S. Byatt
A Conversation with my Father by Grace Paley
Happy Endings by Margret Atwood
Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants by Nadine Gordimer
The Rocking-Horse Winner by D. H. Lawrence
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

these are a few of my favorites...enjoy!;)

[Janine]

'The Rocking-Horse Winner' is an interesting story of D.H.Lawrence, but this story is a much later one, when Lawrence explored a more supernatural idea. Lawrence has many other great short stories just as interesting and beautifully written. We recently disgussed some in a thread dedicated just for "Lawrence Short Stories". Check it out, if you can find the time. Soon we will resume with 'Odour of Chrysanthamums' - which is one of his most well-known and acclaimed stories.

[Schokokeks]

I would like to second The Dead by James Joyce, I found it excellent, too.
Since you are from China, you might be interested in Yiyun Li, a Chinese writer who two years ago received the Frank O'Connor Short Story Award for her collection A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. I read some of her pieces and liked them very much :).

Some more authors I enjoyed except of those already mentioned are Doris Lessing, Hanif Kureishi, Salman Rushdie and Joseph Conrad.

Have fun reading and let us know which one's your favourite ! ;)

[Janine]

I love the story "The Dead". I also, like the Houston film starring his daughter, Angelica Houston. It is amazing....this film captures the story perfectly. I have viewed it countless times and never tire of seeing it again.

[Dori]

Any short stories by the following authors are exquisite:

Feodor Dostoevsky (The Dream of a Ridiculous Man), Nathaniel Hawthorne (Young Goodman Brown), Edgar Allan Poe (The Cask of Amontillado), and Oscar Wilde (most of his stories).

[ballb]

"In Alcala" is a haunting & beautifully constructed story by PG Wodehose. Think I might have mentioned it elsewhere on this site. Chekov`s short stories are also worth a mention. Conan Doyle churned out many short stories apart from the Sherlock Holmes tales for which he is famous. They make undemanding but enjoyable reading.

[Nossa]

'The Rocking-Horse Winner' is an interesting story of D.H.Lawrence, but this story is a much later one, when Lawrence explored a more supernatural idea

I really liked this story. Even though I didn't understand it the first time I read it..lol

And I second most of the suggestions mentioned above. I obviously forgot to mention O Henry, he's a genius. Kate Chopin is brilliant as well.

[Old Crow]

For me, the work of Franz Kafka is as good as short stories (or writing in general, for that matter) can get. But I'm also a little fanatical in that regard. After that Isaac Babel, Hawthorne, and Poe (most of these have already been suggested) are all excellent. And if you're looking for something more modern (and much less sombre in tone) you might try some of Haruki Murakami's short stories (not exactly high art, but fun anyway.)

[saran]

hello!!!!
I suggest
Sharlok Holmes by Arther Conan Doyel
THE DAVNICI CODE
THE MISARABLES
OLIVER TWIST
THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE

REGARDS

[Janine]

I really liked this story. Even though I didn't understand it the first time I read it..lol

And I second most of the suggestions mentioned above. I obviously forgot to mention O Henry, he's a genius. Kate Chopin is brilliant as well.

Nossa, we are currently doing "Sons and Lovers" - revitalized the reading and discussion of S&L thread. Maybe you would consider joining us. This book by Lawrence was one of his first and the first one that established him as a prominent author. It is a great book. Anyone else intereted please check out our thread. So far we have a number of enthusiastic participants. It should be a stimulating and lively discussion. I believe the book is available online, on this site.

[Nossa]

Nossa, we are currently doing "Sons and Lovers" - revitalized the reading and discussion of S&L thread. Maybe you would consider joining us. This book by Lawrence was one of his first and the first one that established him as a prominent author. It is a great book. Anyone else intereted please check out our thread. So far we have a number of enthusiastic participants. It should be a stimulating and lively discussion. I believe the book is available online, on this site.

I have Son and Lovers...:D I studied part of it during my Practical Criticism course...and I read part of it myself. I loved D.H. Lawrence through it actually. Right now, I have to finish two novels, to start another two for my novel course. I'll try my best to join in though :D

[applepie]

Try some of Poe's short stories. You should be able to find them in collections, and you are likely to get ones like The Telltale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Cask of Amontillado (sp). I also like one call the Black Cat written by Edgar Allen Poe as well. Enjoy your reading:) ~Meg~

[Janine]

I have Son and Lovers...:D I studied part of it during my Practical Criticism course...and I read part of it myself. I loved D.H. Lawrence through it actually. Right now, I have to finish two novels, to start another two for my novel course. I'll try my best to join in though :D

Nossa, that would be great if you could, especially since you have studied in in a course. I can understand your being busy with other books. Our discussion has gotten underway but only today did we start and we have not yet brooched major issues - all of us are still reading the book. A few participants are going to pop in occasionally, so you could do the samel they, too, are busy with other things.

Stanley - another good story would be "Odour of Chrysanthamums", which we are also currently discussing in Lawrence short story thread...not sure if I mentioned that earlier on. I also like the Lawrence story "Things" very much.

[Metanoia]

"The gold bug" or "The system of Dr. Tarr and professor Fether by Edgar Allan Poe. The gold-bug is beyond brilliant the later is beyond bizzare, between the two you will get a good grasp of poe. Poe is the Einstein of short stories. ALL HAIL POE

[Nico87]

Maugham, anyone?

[aswelch]

it has an acquired taste but they are truely under read so I recommend:

JD Salinger "nine stories" and his other works, which are MUCH better than "catcher" which you can find full text here http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/

[Zybahn]

Some great stuff mentioned here. I would recommend Nikolai Gogol, especially his collection Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. The works of Anton Chekhov are also quite brilliant. For more modern work, you can try Raymond Carver, particularly his collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and anything by Katherine Mansfield.

[ReynardtheFox]

Novella/Novelette

The Death of Ivan Illych - Tolstoy

The last month or so of a man approaching his end. Pretty heart-breaking stuff.

[Saprina]

I am looking for interesting and surprising short stories because I am interested in this field of literature


Who is the most famous short-stories writer?
Could you give me useful sites please?

I am waiting for you
With my best regard
Thanks a lot

[Nossa]

You might wanna check out this thread:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28750

It's got many recommendations. You can also find many of these stories on LitNet.

[Dori]

Recently in my American literature class we have been reading some of Ambrose Bierce's short stories. "The Horseman in the Sky" and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" are exquisite.

[stlukesguild]

Recently in my American literature class we have been reading some of Ambrose Bierce's short stories. "The Horseman in the Sky" and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" are exquisite.

:thumbs_up

[ktd222]

Recently in my American literature class we have been reading some of Ambrose Bierce's short stories. "The Horseman in the Sky" and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" are exquisite.

:thumbs_up

I just read The Horseman in the Sky because of your recommendation, Stlukesguild. You're right, what an amazing story! It broke my heart to see the relationship between the father and son "turned" out this way.

[Dori]

I just read The Horseman in the Sky because of your recommendation, Stlukesguild. You're right, what an amazing story! It broke my heart to see the relationship between the father and son "turned" out this way.

He quoted my recommendation (see my post), but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[JBI]

Borges is probably the biggest short writer in the second half of the 20th century. For Americans, O Henry is probably the biggest for the first half.

[Mercury Gone]

Some great stuff mentioned here. I would recommend Nikolai Gogol, especially his collection Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. The works of Anton Chekhov are also quite brilliant. For more modern work, you can try Raymond Carver, particularly his collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and anything by Katherine Mansfield.

I jsut googled something about SHort story writers and found this page. I flipped throught the first three pages of this forum looking for Mansifield, and nada. Then I clicked on the last apge or something and Waa-laa! My two favorites, Gogol and Mansfield. However I just discovered K.M. Three days ago and Im absolutely Smitten.

[Annwynn]

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce. Absolutely amazing. It's been years since I've read it but it definitely left an impression.

[yewon]

recently i found O. Henry's short stories are very impressive and meaningful. but i think Anton chehov's short stories are the best ♡

[Janine]

I jsut googled something about SHort story writers and found this page. I flipped throught the first three pages of this forum looking for Mansifield, and nada. Then I clicked on the last apge or something and Waa-laa! My two favorites, Gogol and Mansfield. However I just discovered K.M. Three days ago and Im absolutely Smitten.

I must try KM's short stories. I had read a poem by her not long ago online and loved it. She was good friends with D.H. Lawrence, who I adore, so I am sure I will like her writing very much.

Ambroise Pierce, humm.... I was just looking at my library audiobook website and saw a collection of short stories that was compiled by AP. I must try his stories, also. They sound so meaningful. I like Maupassant and also Chekhov and D.H. Lawrence, for short stories.

[1967Impala]

Dennis Lehane just came out with some of his short stories and I loved all of those.

[biscuits]

Either Chekov's "Sorrow" or Wilde's "The Happy Prince"

[Aiculík]

We have a thread about "ten favourite novels", but I couldn't find any about favourite short stories... and I'm sure many of us read them quite a lot. So I thought it could be interesting to find out what other people think is "the best of the best of the best" :)

Try to write down:
- the name of the stories / collections
- the name of the author - please don't think that if it's your favourite book, others will surely know who wrote it as well.
- very briefly why you liked it or what's it about

[ex ponto]

Nathaniel Hawthorne "A Wonder Book"
his other short stories
James Joyce "The Dubliners"
A.S.Pushkin
G.K.Chesterton father Brown stories
Serbian short stories by Matavulj, Kocic, Domanovic, Kis.

[mortalterror]

1.The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
He's my favorite author and this is his best story. If I had to say why it's the best, I'd have to start with his amazing sense of style, and the actual rhythm of the language he uses. Then I would mention concrete all of his details are, how true to life his narrative is. Then there is the personality of the characters, and finally the subject matter itself: how a man faces death.
2.The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe
This is dark. It is funny. It is revenge at it's finest. It is four and a half pages without a word out of place. It is almost a poem.
3.To Build a Fire by Jack London
Another bleak, man versus nature, man versus self story. Hemingway and London are both masters of making nature into a character in their work. I love this story because it shows not the stoic facing of death as in Hemingway's story but the frantic struggle of it's protagonist to stay alive.
4.The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
The Ultimate man versus man scenario. A man uses his wits to overcome exceptional odds. A feature of this story is another element of numbers one and three on my list, and that is the understated tone of the narrators. Stories are often better when things are implied or left unsaid. Such is the case in this story's climactic ending.
5.The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Another example of things left unsaid. I love the build up and the misdirection at the beginning, and then the twist at the end which drives the whole thing home.
6.The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
What a beautiful example of repetition for effect and the rhythm of language.
7.All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury
Such a sad story of childhood innocence. I read this as a kid and never forgot it.
8.Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
An insightful account of modern family relationships.
9.The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
The master of irony.
10.Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
Moral, thoughtful, and frequently violent: Orwell.