Best short story writers

[Robynorr12]

Just trying to discover some new writers...

[Rotty1021]

For basic, fun stuff you could never go wrong with Poe.

I'm not too well read with short stories as I am with novels, but de Maupassant is a brilliant writer, by judging the limited stuff that I've read by him.

[Shea]

Hawthorne is also very good. My favorite of his is Young Goodman Brown.

[Koa]

I dont like short stories much, usually...they're too...short... ;)

Pushkin wrote some (kind of)...Belkin's stories or whatever it is translated to... If you like old stuff...

[Thomas Hobbes]

Poe is funny, but in my humble opinion, when it comes to the really, really dark stuff nothing beats H.P. Lovecraft. I've never seen him mentioned here before, is anybody else out there an ardent admirer?

I also like Raymond Carver, but he's not an easy read.

[AbdoRinbo]

Lovecraft was dark, that's for sure. Yet I haven't read any of his short stories.

Anyway, for the hundrendth time I'll state that Italo Calvino and James Joyce are two exceptional short story writers. Under the Jaguar Sun is Calvino's masterpiece, and The Dead is Joyce's. Both are well worth reading if you have an hour or so to kill.

[Thomas Hobbes]

Lovecraft was dark, that's for sure. Yet I haven't read any of his short stories.

Does that imply that you have read his novellas? I'm only acquainted with his stories, but I think I heard somewhere that he wrote a novel...

[Shea]

Oh! I didn't know Lovecraft was an author! I stumbled across his essay on Supernatural Horror in Literature when I was preparing for my Gothic Lit. class. Very informative! I'd like to read something of his, can you recommend a title for me Hobbes?

[Rotty1021]

I have a collection of Lovecraft stories sitting on my bookcase, which was given to me for free from my friend who works at the used bookstore. I love the guy; he's an entertaining eccentric that gives me free books. Nothing beats that when you love reading.

[KLO]

Faulkner's short stories are great, often easier and more entertaining than his novels. And another favorite of mine is Sherman Alexie, especially his book of short stories, _The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven_.

[Thomas Hobbes]

My favourite stories are "The Rats in the Walls" and "The Call of Cthulhu". Also very disturbing "The Picture in the House". Those I can recommend to get started on him. But really I own a Penguin copy entitled "Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Stories", so if you live in the UK then you should definitely check that out.

[crisaor]

Jorge Luis Borges.

[Rotty1021]

I have to do a project for class on a Latin, and I chose Borges, and though I haven't read anything of his I have skimmed through a work of essays by him in the bookstore. It was good writing.

[jesse sutton]

Ernest Hemingway.

[Isagel]

Salinger Nine stories. (Sories like "A perfect day for banana fish" and "For Esme´with love and Squalor".)

Joanne Greenberg "High crimes and misdeamenors"

Boris Vian "The black cat blues" (probably- I have only read it i Swedish) It´s wonderfully absurd.

Ursula K le Guin - "The compass rose" is a favorite. "Four ways to forgivness" is almost 4 small books in one. Science fiction , but also a very good history about what happens when people live in dependence and oppression and the effects it has on both sides. And the long road towards freedom.

Steinbeck.

Even though some people might dislike this - Stephen King, the book Four seasons. The shorts stories "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank redemption" and "Stand by me" are really very good.

[Vronaqueen]

I really enjoy F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories because they deal with so many different subjects. I think his best collection would be Flappers and Philosophers

But I just discovered Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth. He give a first hand perspective from Adam, Eve, the devil, and they're all very funny

[IWilKikU]

Lovecraft's complete works are availiable in the UK in three volumes entitled

Omnibus Volume 1
Omnibus Volume 2

and (drumroll)........................................


Omnibus Volume 3
[/list]

[ajoe]

I also like Raymond Carver, but he's not an easy read.

Oh really? I think Carver is an easy read. You may think it's hard because you don't get everything in a story, but then again, I really think Carver is one of those writers who writes a short story without everything connected, if you know what I mean.

Some of his stories are good. (I especially like "Why Honey?) But most actually are pretty much similar (about alcoholic men left by their wife--as Carver was, too, I suppose) that sooner or later you'll have enough of him.

[Sindhu]

I'd suggest Salinger too and apart from the stories, the Glass Family pieces are "novellas' so shouldn't take up too much time.
Gogol for sure- he's marvellous.
Italo Calino - try Invisible Cities and Mr. Palomar. Also Adam One Afternoon and Other Stories.
Julian Barnes - I LOVE hiswork. If you want short pieces try History of the World in Ten and a Half Chapters. My personal favourite is Flaubert's Parrot - out of this world!

[Ramona]

Definitely Anton Chekhov :nod: !

[Hyacinth Girl]

Personally, I like Henry James' short stories - The Aspern Papers is a particular favorite of mine, also The Beast in the Jungle

[superunknown]

Julio Cortazar is an incredible short story writer. Borges is generally the widely acclaimed Latin American writer when it comes to short stories, but I prefer Cortazar. "Las armas secretas" (The Secret Weapons) is his best collection. I've read his works in Spanish, though I'm sure a good English translation will do justice to him. "The Persecutor" is probably his best, but there's also "La noche boca arriba" (don't know what it's called in English, I'm assuming something like "The Night Upside Down") and "Continuity of Parks." "Continuity of Parks" is absolutely brilliant, it really reminds me of an Escher painting.

[superunknown]

I found "Continuity of Parks". Those of you who don't know Cortazar should really read this.


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. No one in the first room, no one 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.

[jahan]

Hmm..short stories. David Sedaris (memoirs count?) , E.L. Doctorow, Tobias Wolff, James Baldwin, Thurber, .. I'm sure there's more.

[mono]

My favorite short story writer would range somewhere between Edgar Allan Poe, O. Henry, Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Guy de Maupassant, Washington Irving, Henry James, James Joyce, Ursula le Guin, Flannery O'Connor, D.H. Lawrence, Zora Neale Hurston, Leo Tolstoy, and various others (whom I know I have forgotten).
I often love short stories for their creative, often witty, and original content. Whether the same amount of talent seems required to write a novel, I have no idea, and find the comparison impossible to judge or determine; frequently, regardless, I sometimes even enjoy short stories more than novels.

[cuppajoe_9]

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, if I had to pick just one.

[Woland]

Oh! I didn't know Lovecraft was an author! I stumbled across his essay on Supernatural Horror in Literature when I was preparing for my Gothic Lit. class. Very informative! I'd like to read something of his, can you recommend a title for me Hobbes?

I think I have just about every story of his except his earliest juvenalia. Many books that have his name on the cover have only spurious connections to Lovecraft, but he also ghost wrote a lot of short stories for other authors.

His best are probably The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, At The Mountains of Madness and The Shadow Out of Time.

[Mark F.]

"Tales of Ordinary Madness" by Bukowski
"The Old Man and the Sea" by Hemingway
"Notes from the Underground" by Dostoevski

[simona]

A.P. Chekhov

[SmokeBellew]

Oh my, it's so sad nobody mentioned Jack London(((

His Klondike north stories are so brilliant and inspiring. The way he describes strength and honesty of men and courage and will-power of women is............I can't even find words to express it. His short stories always made me become one with the book, and actually virtually visit those places he described.......His stories are written for all ages and for all times.
They can have a great impact on one's character and personality if read in childhood and teens.

Mark Twain is another brilliant example, although he's already been mentioned somewhere above so I won't go into details)))

[Bysshe]

I'm just getting into Lovecraft - I've only read a few of his short stories (including 'The Tomb', 'Beyond The Wall Of Sleep' and 'The White Ship'), but I really like them.

I've always enjoyed Saki, too. :) A completely different type of short story, but still very good.

[Asa Adams]

david mamot is good, however, he mainly does screenplays and such. but i have read a short story by him....just sure what its called :lol:

cheers

[Sarka]

Isaac Asimov's short stories are totally awesome, if you like Sci-Fi. Chekhov's are ironic and depressing, but I happen to like that sort of thing and therefore think they're awesome. And Poe, of course. Arthur C. Clarke (what I said about Asimov applies here too), too, and Margaret Atwood has some pretty good short stuff.

[Psycheinaboat]

A couple of my favorite short stories are The Black Monk by Chekhov and God Sees the Truth but Waits by Tolstoy.

[slipperyyoke]

I'd have to go with either Harte or Melville as my favorite short story author.

[Taime]

Ian Rankin has written some short sharp well-observed crime thrillers.

[Eufrosyne]

Ray Bradbury writes fantastic short stories... And I agree about Chekhov and Gogol! Michael Ende (who wrote the neverending story) has written a collection of dream-like short stories, theyre good too.

[superunknown]

Can't overlook Kafka's "Metamorphosis," either.

[Pendragon]

My vote goes to O. Henry. His masterful use of the surprise ending is amazing! :nod:

[literaturerocks]

i would have to go with either poe or O'henry..those are just some of my favorites..

[harmonica]

My vote goes to O. Henry. His masterful use of the surprise ending is amazing! :nod:

I feel the same, the never-ending chain of paradoxes in O'Henry's short stories DO astonish.

But in general I don't like short stories and never read much....

[Suzieq47]

Salinger, Chekhov, Carver, Updike, Hemingway (particularly "The Short Happy LIfe of Francis McComber: (not sure about the spelling . . .)

Suzie

[Meron]

Completely unexpected tales by Roald Dahl are nice short stories.

[IrishCanadian]

POE!
But thats just because its summer-time reading time right now. I love short stories.

[Bastable]

Anyone know of any great short story writers? I am familiar with Katherine Mansfield and Franz Kafka, but beyond that I don't know of any.

Can anyone help?

[stlukesguild]

Edgar A. Poe
Anton Chekhov
J.L. Borges
Ambrose Bierce
Theophile Gautier
Guy de Maupassant
Julio Cortazar
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Donald Barthleme
Flannery O'Conner
I.B. Singer
S.Y. Agnon
Isaac Babel
R.L. Stevenson
Mark Twain
Sholem Aleichem
Nathaniel Hawthorne
G.K. Chesterton
Augusto Monterroso
Henry James
Leo Tolstoy
Doestoevski
H.G. Wells
Rudyard Kipling
Stig Dagerman

Just a few off the top of my head...

[Lokasenna]

Edgar A. Poe
Anton Chekhov
J.L. Borges
Ambrose Bierce
Theophile Gautier
Guy de Maupassant
Julio Cortazar
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Donald Barthleme
Flannery O'Conner
I.B. Singer
S.Y. Agnon
Isaac Babel
R.L. Stevenson
Mark Twain
Sholem Aleichem
Nathaniel Hawthorne
G.K. Chesterton
Augusto Monterroso
Henry James
Leo Tolstoy
Doestoevski
H.G. Wells
Rudyard Kipling
Stig Dagerman

Just a few off the top of my head...

That's a pretty exhuastive list. I'd certainly recommend Poe!

In terms of less modern stuff, you can't go wrong with the Lais of Marie de France!

[Mariamosis]

H.P. Lovecraft

[MissScarlett]

Anton Chekhov's my favorite, then Katherine Mansfield, but I also like Faulkner. Poe's another favorite of mine. And anyone looking for great short stories should never overlook D.H. Lawrence. Many of his magnificent stories can be found online.

[Annabelle]

I like O. Henry and Anton Chekhov. Maybe because I am only acquainted with these two who write short stories

[Lokasenna]

H.P. Lovecraft

Ooh, yes! I'd forgotten about old HP...

[Mariamosis]

Jean Paul Sartre

[mortalterror]

In terms of less modern stuff, you can't go wrong with the Lais of Marie de France!

Yes, you could.

[Lokasenna]

Yes, you could.

Not a fan of Marie? She's a bit different, I'll admit...

[Adagio]

James Joyce. Dubliners is fantastic.

[Bastable]

Oh hey thanks a lot, that was a great help! Well I reckon i'll have to check out Chekhov for sure, and there are so many others to read, i don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing...

[JBI]

Not a fan of Marie? She's a bit different, I'll admit...

I'll have to say I'm not a fan either. In my into to Western literature course in first year (which is an intro to English if you are going into that field) I had a Francocentric professor who, for the medieval part of the course, decided somehow that that was the most important text. Keep in mind, she chose that over Dante, which wasn't included (the course reading list was a bit of a joke, when you consider the motive for the course). Ever since then, I don't think I can take her work seriously. This professor was a Material bibliographer and spent two weeks talking about the manuscript tradition, which, though it is interesting to some, has nothing to do really with literary study, or Marie de France as a text.

But that's just anecdote. I think, maybe 3 of the Lais were particularly good, some were dreadful though, I must say.


I don't think Turgenev has been mentioned, so I'll throw him out there.

Also, don't forget Alice Munro, Italo Calvino, and Boccaccio

[MissScarlett]

Bobbie Ann Mason and Raymond Carver are also good.

[Emmy Castrol]

James Joyce. Dubliners is fantastic.

I agree with Dubliners. I still don't think anyone beats D.H. Lawrence's short stories and Yukio Mishima's 'Acts of Worship' is a good short story collection too.

[Janine]

I agree with Dubliners. I still don't think anyone beats D.H. Lawrence's short stories and Yukio Mishima's 'Acts of Worship' is a good short story collection too.

Hi Emmy, and welcome to Litnet! I love "Dubliners" and "The Dead" is a masterpiece of writing. I love "Araby" too. Ever see the film rendition of "The Dead". It is a lovely film by Houston staring his daughter.

Well well, another Lawrence short story advocate. Happy to know it. I am highly interested in all of DHL's work; presently trying to accomplish reading his whole cannon but not sure I will achieve that in my lifetime; the man was quite ambitious. We have a excellent Lawrence short story thread, which usually is quite active, on this site. We decided to take a short break a few months back, and have not started it up again. When we do, I hope you will be interested in joining in our discussions. They are usually quite lively and very enlightening and we all learn from each other. I was thinking of announcing a new story soon; we have discussed quite a few so far, but there is always more. I usually do so the first of the month, but I guess it could wait now till this weekend. Let me review some stories I had thought of discussing and I will announce it.

[Janine]

Anton Chekhov's my favorite, then Katherine Mansfield, but I also like Faulkner. Poe's another favorite of mine. And anyone looking for great short stories should never overlook D.H. Lawrence. Many of his magnificent stories can be found online.

Chekhov and Lawrence - great! Threads on here for discussions of their short stories. We can revive them soon. We just took a short break but both threads have been highly sucessful so I hope you join in when we start them up again. I am thinking of starting a Lawrence story on the weekend. Would you be interested? I know of several others who have shown interest lately in Lawrence's short stories so we can gather a good group to add to our regular group of participants.

[Emmy Castrol]

Sounds great Janine! Count me in for that. I think all of humankind can be divided into those who think Lawrence was a genius and those who think he was a madman. As you can see, I think he was a bloody good genius.

My favourite short story collection of D.H. Lawrence is 'The Woman Who Rode Away and Other Stories' because it has two particular short stories which I am finding difficult to locate in the other collections- 'Two blue birds' and 'None of that'. I've been searching for it for ages and can't seem to find a copy. Think its out of print?

[electricpenguin]

Joseph Heller wrote short stories, the best of which I think is I Don't Love You Anymore

Other good shorts:

I Stand Here Ironing - Tillie Olson
And Then Turn Out The Light - Faye Weldon
Blue-Bearded Lover - Joyce Carol Oates
and Angela Carter's collection The Bloody Chamber

Enjoy!

EP :D

[Janine]

Sounds great Janine! Count me in for that. I think all of humankind can be divided into those who think Lawrence was a genius and those who think he was a madman. As you can see, I think he was a bloody good genius.

My favourite short story collection of D.H. Lawrence is 'The Woman Who Rode Away and Other Stories' because it has two particular short stories which I am finding difficult to locate in the other collections- 'Two blue birds' and 'None of that'. I've been searching for it for ages and can't seem to find a copy. Think its out of print?

Emmy,I just answered you post in the Lawrence thread. Happy to know you are interesting and I am definitely of the second persausion - I also think he was a 'bloody good genius!' In fact, I can hardly tolerate Lawrence bashers. We read 'Two Blue Birds' and discussed that about 3 or 4 stories back in the thread. You might check out that discussion - it was very interesting; we loved the story. We didn't read 'None of the That'. I will have to read that one and see what I think. You may be able to find it online; I will check that out, too. I have all three paperback editions, which comprise all the stories, but some of my poor old books are falling appart now. These stories are difficult to come by. I will look on Amazon for you. I found mine as 'used' copies on there, a few years back. 'The Woman Who Rode Away' is a fine story and it has come up in discussion in the thread, but it is a long one and the last one we did was long, too....'The Princess'...it took us about 3 months to finish. I would suggest a shorter story this coming month. Eventually, we will probably do TWWRA, but is practically a novella , isn't it? I did suggest another I have read now twice, and think it is good story, even though it is now out of season and set in winter; 'Wintery Peacock'. I guess that hardly matters though - right? It is a good one, I think.

[Tsuyoiko]

Leo Tolstoy
Neil Gaiman
Isaac Asimov

[Emil Miller]

Anyone know of any great short story writers? I am familiar with Katherine Mansfield and Franz Kafka, but beyond that I don't know of any.

Can anyone help?

What about W S Maugham? I see plenty of names being mentioned here, some of whom I have read, but for sheer craftsmanship and great storytelling, none of them beat Maugham who was a truly great short story writer. Virtually anything by him offers an acute insight into human nature but if you can get hold his story 'Red' you will have learned one of life's important lessons.

[sixsmith]

It took me a long time to get into Carver but some of my favourite short stories belong to him. "What we talk about when we talk about love" is my favourite collection of his though you really can't go wrong with any of his stuff. Richard Ford's "Rock Springs" is a very much in the Carver mould but strong in its own right. Both Ford and Carver are Chekhov acolytes but i really can't get into his stuff - The respective Collected Stories of John Cheever and William Trevor are also necessary for the short story junkie IMO as is Annie Proulx's excellent "Close Range".

[juggernaut]

What about W S Maugham? I see plenty of names being mentioned here, some of whom I have read, but for sheer craftsmanship and great storytelling, none of them beat Maugham who was a truly great short story writer. Virtually anything by him offers an acute insight into human nature but if you can get hold his story 'Red' you will have learned one of life's important lessons.

yes , I agree. Maughm is one of my favorites. I like each one of his stories whether its, painted veil OR moon and six pence OR for that matter Of Human Bondage (IMO this is an epic).

I just like his kind of stories , I mean I crave for them, And I dont know the reason why? I also like Charlote bronte's stories, they have a tinge of Maughm's way. Is there anyother who has Maughm's way of writing.

Did some one read J.M. coetzee's stories. I am unable to appreciate his stories I dont know what other people like in them. they are really sought after. May be I am the one to blame for my non appreciation .

[beroq]

Someone suggested O'Henry and I can't help repeating it. "The Last Leaf" and "The Gift of Magi"(Sp?) are great stories of unexpected ending, which I believe requires a true genius.

A Natural History of the Dead by Ernest Hemingway is a masterpiece literally, the greatest short story I have ever read, a truly moving and shocking piece of art.

[Remarkable]

Oooh, I love O'Henry!

If you want some weird tales that give you the creeps and in the same time seem perfectly natural, then try Roald Dahl. He has some very, very good short stories...

[K.K.]

Anton Chekhov's my favorite, then Katherine Mansfield, but I also like Faulkner. Poe's another favorite of mine. And anyone looking for great short stories should never overlook D.H. Lawrence. Many of his magnificent stories can be found online.

Can anyone recommend specific Cheknov stories? I've read several, but never really took to them-- but perhaps I just started with the wrong ones.

Asimov and Poe are some of my favorites. Stephen Crane also has some well written short stories.

[naphelge]

I am certainly no Lit wiz and I am just feeling my way around getting familiar with short stories, but so far of the authors I didn't see listed already I am enjoying stories by Thomas King, Kate Chopin, Eudora Welty, Sinclair Ross, and Margaret Laurence, and the list is growing!

[JBI]

Are you a Can-Lit student? I have to admit, I like King's novels more than his short stories, and though I like Ross's shorts, As For me and My House to me seems to be a much stronger book. A Bird in the House is a good book though, but still I feel a stronger pull towards Laurence's novels, especially The Diviners (though most people I know didn't particularly like it). But yes, I love Chopin's shorts - I think they are better than her novels, and I would add, since I'm on a Canadian roll here, Morley Callaghan, who is probably the most underappreciated modernist figure.

[thomas212]

T C Boyle seems to specialise in short stories.
Antonio Tabucchi -Dreams of dream and Black angle are two collection of storie.

[DisPater]

Edgar A. Poe
J.L. Borges
Julio Cortazar


I second that.
and I add Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

[Emil Miller]

[QUOTE=juggernaut;697422]yes , I agree. Maughm is one of my favorites. I like each one of his stories whether its, painted veil OR moon and six pence OR for that matter Of Human Bondage (IMO this is an epic).

I just like his kind of stories , I mean I crave for them, And I dont know the reason why? I also like Charlote bronte's stories, they have a tinge of Maughm's way. Is there anyother who has Maughm's way of writing. /QUOTE]

The only writer I know of who has a similar style is Guy de Maupassant who had a great influence on Maugham. The titles you have mentioned are in fact novels rather than short stories although Maugham's style is immediately recognisable in both. The moment you start reading him you know that you are in the presence of a very intelligent writer and at the close of the story you are left wiser than at the start. The novels you have mentioned are among his best but, if you haven't read it already, I can recommend The Razor's Edge as a superb example of Maugham's worldly-wise view of human nature.

[Virgil]

And anyone looking for great short stories should never overlook D.H. Lawrence.
Absolutely!!! His top twenty short stories are as good as anyone's.

[JBI]

Darn, forgot Katherine Mansfield!

[Hank Stamper]

Oooh, I love O'Henry!

If you want some weird tales that give you the creeps and in the same time seem perfectly natural, then try Roald Dahl. He has some very, very good short stories...

I second Roald Dahl.. He is King of the Weird!

I also rate JG Ballard and Poe/Kafka/Borges etc

[promtbr]

I LOVE great short stories and am perplexed that the form has really diminished in readership interest at least by measure of online lit forums..

Plenty of great posts here and suggestions.

My favorites in terms of true masters and gems that can be re-read endlessly:

Anton Chekhov
DH Lawrence
Isaac Babel
Raymond Carver
Ernest Hemingway
Flannery O'Connor
Eudora Welty
Guy de Maupassant
Katherine Mansfield
Bruno Schulz
Jorge Luis Borges
Franz Kafka (though along with Borges and Schulz I admire them more as parables than masters of the form)

Some more recent American writers that have written some gems:
Donald Barthelme
Tobias Wolfe
WH Gass's-- In the Heart of the Heart of the Country
and yes to an above mention of Richard Ford's --Rock Springs

I have heard I really need to check out stories by Julio Cortazar

I love to just grab a random author's short story collection from my shelf, read a story or two (mark it as one I read in the contents) in between novels or other lit I am reading...

[JCamilo]

Machado de Assis, Guimaraes Rosa, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Horacio Quiroga, Felisberto Hernandez, Henry James, Karen Blixen, Hans Christian Andersen, Voltaire, Puchkin, H.G.Wells, Clarice Lispector, Lima Barreto...

[Mark F.]

I don't think anybody mentioned Thomas Mann and Arthur Schnitzler so I'll just throw in those two names. I also like Beckett's short stories which seem to get overlooked compared to his plays and novels, "The End" is a very good one.

[Emil Miller]

I don't think anybody mentioned Thomas Mann and Arthur Schnitzler so I'll just throw in those two names. I also like Beckett's short stories which seem to get overlooked compared to his plays and novels, "The End" is a very good one.

Thanks for mentioning Mann's short stories. He should not be overlooked in this thread as he really is among the best short story writers. Two that I particularly liked were Schwere Stunde and Walsungung Blut but they are all masterly. Schnitzler is also worthy of inclusion. I think he is very similar in some ways to Maupassant in that he captures the atmosphere of imperial Vienna as Maupassant did for Paris during la belle epoch.

[mollie]

Frank O'Connor. His "Guests of the Nation" is a wonderfully readable and beautifully crafted example of the short story.

[Wilde woman]

I really enjoy Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories. Some of them are almost Gothic in the way they depict the prejudices of Puritan society. "The Minister's Black Veil" jumps to mind.

Also, Hemingway's short stories work for me because though I like his content, I'm not a big fan of his style. I don't have the patience to make it through his novels, but his shorts stories are just the right size. :D

Oscar Wilde's short stories read like fairy tales; they're really beautiful in simple lessons and pastoral-like imagery. They're a refreshing change from the satire of his plays.

Finally, I love Flannery O'Connor. Her short stories, set in in the South, are hilarious but also show the cruel, terrifying side of humanity. I read "Good Country People" recently and alternately laughed and gasped in horror.

[ben.!]

I haven't read many short stories by distinguished authors, but I'd say so far that James Joyce is a fantastic short story writer. How he can make the mundane so philosophical and interesting.

[higley]

This is a good thread for me; I almost never read short stories as I always prefer the slower development you usually find in novels. The first collection of short stories I tore through was The Illustrated Man by Bradbury and I went like blazes through the rest of his collection. :) I hate when someone dismisses his work as sci-fi and pays no thought to its intelligence.

I've read a few by Flannery I liked and have been meaning to read more of hers and also of Mr Wilde's. Of course I love Poe.

[dfloyd]

Besides writing some pretty good novels, W. Somerset Maugham is a great short story writer. Some years back, I purchased his collected short stories in four volumes. W;ent through al four volumes without touching another book until I was finished.

Just reread Of Human Bondage. Enjoyed it as much as I did twenty years ago.

My favorite Maugham is The Razor's Edge. Pretty good movie too, with Tyrone Power, Clifton Webb, and Gene Tierney.

[Emil Miller]

Besides writing some pretty good novels, W. Somerset Maugham is a great short story writer. Some years back, I purchased his collected short stories in four volumes. W;ent through al four volumes without touching another book until I was finished.

Just reread Of Human Bondage. Enjoyed it as much as I did twenty years ago.

My favorite Maugham is The Razor's Edge. Pretty good movie too, with Tyrone Power, Clifton Webb, and Gene Tierney.

I have mentioned Maugham more than once on this forum and I am amazed that, whilst people turn out in droves for Hardy and Lawrence, few members refer to Maugham who, in my view, was a better writer than both, there is something turgid about them whereas Maugham is much more readable and is one of the few writers that I have stopped in mid-flow to re-read certain passages because they are so well-written. His portrayal of Thomas Hardy in 'Cakes and Ale' is both amusing and sympathetic and altogether delightful.
I have read all of Maugham's published work over the years and have read 'The Razor's Edge' half a dozen times. You are right about it being one of his best novels and as a depiction of American expatriots living in Paris in the 1920s, I think it is better than Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises; Eliot Templeton is one of the greatest creations of any English novelist.
Another of Maugham's great characters who appears in at least two of the far eastern novels is Captain Nichols who, though a liar and a cheat, saves the lives of the passengers and crew of his boat during a terrible storm through sheer indomitable courage as he fights against the sea in a scene that rivals anything by Joseph Conrad
My favourite Maugham novel is 'The Moon and Sixpence' which I have read three times and there are others I have also re-read because they are such marvellous writing. As for the short stories, I am not surprised that you went through all four volumes without interuption because Maugham's incredible inventiveness means that he never repeats himself and he covers the whole range of human experience. A number of them have been filmed, most notably 'Rain' and 'The Letter' but, whilst they have usually had good directors and actors and have been critically acclaimed, they never quite catch the powerful atmosphere that Maugahm invokes no matter in which part of the world they are set.

[sixsmith]

I have mentioned Maugham more than once on this forum and I am amazed that, whilst people turn out in droves for Hardy and Lawrence, few members refer to Maugham who, in my view, was a better writer than both, there is something turgid about them whereas Maugham is much more readable and is one of the few writers that I have stopped in mid-flow to re-read certain passages because they are so well-written. His portrayal of Thomas Hardy in 'Cakes and Ale' is both amusing and sympathetic and altogether delightful.
I have read all of Maugham's published work over the years and have read 'The Razor's Edge' half a dozen times. You are right about it being one of his best novels and as a depiction of American expatriots living in Paris in the 1920s, I think it is better than Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises; Eliot Templeton is one of the greatest creations of any English novelist.
Another of Maugham's great characters who appears in at least two of the far eastern novels is Captain Nichols who, though a liar and a cheat, saves the lives of the passengers and crew of his boat during a terrible storm through sheer indomitable courage as he fights against the sea in a scene that rivals anything by Joseph Conrad
My favourite Maugham novel is 'The Moon and Sixpence' which I have read three times and there are others I have also re-read because they are such marvellous writing. As for the short stories, I am not surprised that you went through all four volumes without interuption because Maugham's incredible inventiveness means that he never repeats himself and he covers the whole range of human experience. A number of them have been filmed, most notably 'Rain' and 'The Letter' but, whilst they have usually had good directors and actors and have been critically acclaimed, they never quite catch the powerful atmosphere that Maugahm invokes no matter in which part of the world they are set.

A friend of mind has been imploring me to read "Of Human Bondage" for a couple of years now. Changed his life apparently.

[Emil Miller]

A friend of mind has been imploring me to read "Of Human Bondage" for a couple of years now. Changed his life apparently.

I think this book has changed a number of peoples lives. I remember hearing on the BBC, Claire Francis the trans Atlantic and round the world yachtswoman saying that reading the book had changed her life, and it certainly changed mine. Perhaps you don't want to change your own but I urge you to read it anyway if only as a great work of literature.

[wessexgirl]

Besides writing some pretty good novels, W. Somerset Maugham is a great short story writer. Some years back, I purchased his collected short stories in four volumes. W;ent through al four volumes without touching another book until I was finished.

Just reread Of Human Bondage. Enjoyed it as much as I did twenty years ago.

My favorite Maugham is The Razor's Edge. Pretty good movie too, with Tyrone Power, Clifton Webb, and Gene Tierney.

I've just re-read TRE and still loved it. It prompted me to buy the movie with Tyrone Power, as I haven't seen it in years. I'm hoping to watch it over the holidays. I know not all fans of Maugham like the film, but I love Clifton Webb in it, and Herbert Marshall as Maugham. He seems a bit of a stalwart in Maugham's work, as I recently watched The Letter with Bette Davis, and he was her husband in that, and the narrator, (Maugham?) in The Moon and Sixpence.

[faithalina]

A less renowned writer, though certainly no less gifted than many writers already mentioned is Australian writer, Margo Lanagan. Supposedly YA fiction, but certainly deals with some adult themes. Very engaging and imaginative.

Red Spikes and
Black Juice

[Virgil]

I'm embarrassed to admit Brian that I have never read Maugham. With an endorsement such as you just gave above, I will have to find the time to read some. Thanks. :)

[Emil Miller]

I'm embarrassed to admit Brian that I have never read Maugham. With an endorsement such as you just gave above, I will have to find the time to read some. Thanks. :)


Virgil, I think anyone who enjoys great writing is missing out if they don't read Maugham. An inveterate traveller, he could write about virtually anywhere in the world with authority and that is why his stories have the ring of authenticity. His life was as adventurous as one of his own novels and at one point, there was talk about making a film about him. Americans feature in a number of his stories and in The Razor's Edge the protagonist is a young American who goes in search of the meaning of life after a traumatic experience in WW1.
If you get the chance, I'm sure you will enjoy reading it but, be warned, once you start reading Maugham you might, as some readers have found, get hooked to the exclusion of other writers.

[mono]

I'm embarrassed to admit Brian that I have never read Maugham. With an endorsement such as you just gave above, I will have to find the time to read some. Thanks. :)
Ah, Virgil, I have no doubt you would love him! As Brian Bean and sixsmith said, Of Human Bondage remains on my top 10 list of best books ever written, and it had an impact on me that I cannot describe. A reader cannot go wrong with anything written by Maugham - a modern epic, in my opinion. :)

[Virgil]

Ok, I will read On Human Bondage this year. I promise. Thanks to both of you.

[Don Quixote Jr]

It looks like you've gotten lots of good suggestions, I like Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Jack London & Hemingway.
You could also pick up an anthology or two of short stories at a used book store and discover more short story writers you like on your own, although you will also undoubtedly discover more short story writers that you dislike as well...

[ravilobo]

I have decided to start reading short stories. And I need help.

I read - The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Hemingway and Rain by Somerset Maugham. They are good stories, but subtle. I am not ready for this kind of literature.

I am looking for simpler stories, something like - Diary of a madman by Gogol.
Who is the best author for such short stories?

[stlukesguild]

Check here:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43160&highlight=Short+Story

and here:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43163&highlight=Short+Story

My own recommendations would include:

J.L. Borges' Labyrinths, Ficciones, Labyrinths, El Hacedor...) ... 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
E.T.A. Hoffmann- Tales
Augusto Monterroso- Complete Works and other Stories
Robert Louis Stevenson- Short Stories
William Wilkie Collins- Short Stories
E.A. Poe- Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne- Tales
L.S. LeFanu- Tales
Sherwood Anderson- Winesburg Ohio
Hemingway- Collected Short Stories
H.G. Wells- Short Stories
Lord Dunsany- Tales
C.K. Chesterton- Collected Short Stories
Gottfried Keller- Short Stories
Rudyard Kipling- Collected tales
Mark Twain- Collected Tales
Flannery O'Conner- Collected Short Stories
Donald Barthleme- 40 Stories, 60 Stories
Harold Brodkey- Stories in an almost Classical Mode
Dostoevski- Collected Short Stories

I am looking for simpler stories, something like - Diary of a madman by Gogol. Who is the best author for such short stories?

I'm not certain how Gogol is "simpler" than Hemingway... indeed, I'm not certain what you are exactly looking for. By its very nature the short story tends to be stripped down in comparison to the novel: little character development, often simplified setting, etc... Still the writers who use the most seemingly simple... even crystalline prose (Calvino, Borges, Kafka, Hemingway) can at the same time tackle some very complex concepts and achieve a surprising depth.

[mayneverhave]

Ever since http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35769,

I've noticed that stluke's has the immense ability of compiling lists.

[ravilobo]

Thank you stlukesguild.

[JCamilo]

I guess, Gogol have the tendency to be simple, he use humor, he is agile. I would point to Calvino, or Voltaire before him.

[stlukesguild]

Ever since http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=35769,

I've noticed that stluke's has the immense ability of compiling lists.

That just happens when your sitting next to a library of some 3000 books:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3524615592_987a799bfd_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3412/3523807613_7d0f89b742_o.jpg

[LitNetIsGreat]

Check here:

My own recommendations would include:

J.L. Borges' Labyrinths, Ficciones, Labyrinths, El Hacedor...) ... 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
E.T.A. Hoffmann- Tales
Augusto Monterroso- Complete Works and other Stories
Robert Louis Stevenson- Short Stories
William Wilkie Collins- Short Stories
E.A. Poe- Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne- Tales
L.S. LeFanu- Tales
Sherwood Anderson- Winesburg Ohio
Hemingway- Collected Short Stories
H.G. Wells- Short Stories
Lord Dunsany- Tales
C.K. Chesterton- Collected Short Stories
Gottfried Keller- Short Stories
Rudyard Kipling- Collected tales
Mark Twain- Collected Tales
Flannery O'Conner- Collected Short Stories
Donald Barthleme- 40 Stories, 60 Stories
Harold Brodkey- Stories in an almost Classical Mode
Dostoevski- Collected Short Stories



Cool, there is a lot to go at there.

I would like to add Wilde's short stories.

[Mr Endon]

This is all great, but the question hasn't really been answered: "Who is the best author for such short stories? [like Gogol's 'Diary of a Madman']?"

I'd like to know the answer to that question myself: that's actually my favourite short story.
- If you like the theme of madness and don't mind it being cast in a darker tone, try Edgar Allan Poe, or ETA Hoffmann's 'Der Sandmann'. Or Kafka, a great read even if you take his stories at face value.
- As for a light tone and 'simplicity', Woody Allen's stories are hilarious and as 'simple' as they come.

[emily00]

That just happens when your sitting next to a library of some 3000 books:



It's OK, we believe you! Photographs of overladen bookshelves are not actually proof absolute of anything...except a cluttered room!:D

One of the best short stories ever has to be 'The Vendetta' by Maupassant. In the original French, if possible.

Also powerful : 'Odour of Chrysanthemums' by DH Lawrence.

(A bit miserable, both of them, but there you go).

[Jeremiah Jazzz]

It's OK, we believe you! Photographs of overladen bookshelves are not actually proof absolute of anything...except a cluttered room!:D

I don't know about that, the two collected works of Borges I spy are the proof and not to mention a delightful Santa Clause (?)..

[Virgil]

My own recommendations would include:

J.L. Borges' Labyrinths, Ficciones, Labyrinths, El Hacedor...) ... 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
E.T.A. Hoffmann- Tales
Augusto Monterroso- Complete Works and other Stories
Robert Louis Stevenson- Short Stories
William Wilkie Collins- Short Stories
E.A. Poe- Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne- Tales
L.S. LeFanu- Tales
Sherwood Anderson- Winesburg Ohio
Hemingway- Collected Short Stories
H.G. Wells- Short Stories
Lord Dunsany- Tales
C.K. Chesterton- Collected Short Stories
Gottfried Keller- Short Stories
Rudyard Kipling- Collected tales
Mark Twain- Collected Tales
Flannery O'Conner- Collected Short Stories
Donald Barthleme- 40 Stories, 60 Stories
Harold Brodkey- Stories in an almost Classical Mode
Dostoevski- Collected Short Stories


You should check out D.H. Lawrence's short stories. I think they are among the best. I would include Joyce too.

[Babelfish]

Ever since http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=35769,

I've noticed that stluke's has the immense ability of compiling lists.

That just happens when your sitting next to a library of some 3000 books:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3524615592_987a799bfd_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3412/3523807613_7d0f89b742_o.jpg

You have an excellent pile of tinder there. Would you like to come over for a bonfire. I'll supply the matches. :D

[Kevets]

I am generally not a huge fan of the short story, but have found those of Wallace Stegner to be quite good.

[Veva]

I would go in for Poe and Wilde. :p

[emily00]

I would go in for Poe and Wilde. :p


You would go in where, exactly?

[Mr Endon]

I understand that it may sound outlandish, but it's grammatically correct:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/go.
Plus, if Dickens uses it ("He was as ready to go in for statistics as for anything else") I guess it must be English.

Come on people, short stories similar to 'Diary of a Madman'? As I said, I too would profit greatly from answers to this.

[Dostoyevsky]

Gogol, Kafka, Nabakov, Hemingway, Lovecraft, Poe, Chekov

[Raphael Lambach]

Ever since http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=35769,

I've noticed that stluke's has the immense ability of compiling lists.

That just happens when your sitting next to a library of some 3000 books:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3524615592_987a799bfd_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3412/3523807613_7d0f89b742_o.jpg

Wowww
That's great stuff!!!
Well.... I'm reading some Clarice Lispector's short stories and Oscar Wilde's Play...

[Stargazer86]

If you're looking for recommendations on specific stories and not just authors, I have a few that I really enjoy and would be happy to suggest. I love Poe, but i believe you said you were looking for something simple, and you need a g*dd*mn dictionary to read some of his stuff until you're used to it.

The Diamond Necklace by Guy deMaupassant
The Gift of the Magi- O. Henry
Rikki Tikki Tavi- Rudyard Kipling
There Will Come Soft Rains- Ray Bradbury
Dark They Were and Golden Eyed- Ray Bradbury
The Lottery- Shirley Jackson
The Monkey's Paw- WW Jacobs

If you do go with Poe, I would suggest either The Tell Tale Heart or The Cask of Amontillado

[Michael T]

'The Withered Arm' - By Thomas Hardy.

[Mr Endon]

Just remembered another great one: "The Country of the Blind", by H. G. Wells.

[Grimes]

T.C. Boyle's book of short stories, titled "Stories" has some great stuff. I haven't read them all (it has about 70 stories) but the ones that I did were creative and entertaining.

[emily00]

There's always the horribly prescient 'The Pedestrian' by Ray Bradbury.

[Tallgren]

I find Joseph Conrad a bit dense sometimes, but his short stories are an easy way in for the obvious reasons.

Try 'The Shadow-Line'. It may be a novella, don't remember.

[Dr. Hill]

A handful of Kafka stories blow my mind. Read "The Hunger Artist"