Masters of the Short Story

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

So, I just looked at the thread about what people thought were "The best short stories of ALL TIME," and while that is good, as someone who would like to get into short stories more, I was wondering who members thought were true masters of the short story.

I already have a collection of Poe, haha.

[dfloyd]

Not that i have read all that are available, but many: Poe, Maupausant, Chekov, Gogol, Balzac, Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, and many more. But an author that excells in the short story is W. Somerset Maugham. I have read his complete short stories in four volumes published by the Folio Society. Another good collection published by The Folio Society is 101 Short Stories by O. Henry.

I must say in passing, that my favorite Poe short story is The Fall of the House of Usher.

[Desolation]

Anton Chekhov and Franz Kafka come immediately to mind.

[Emil Miller]

Not that i have read all that are available, but many: Poe, Maupausant, Chekov, Gogol, Balzac, Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, and many more. But an author that excells in the short story is W. Somerset Maugham. I have read his complete short stories in four volumes published by the Folio Society. Another good collection published by The Folio Society is 101 Short Stories by O. Henry.

I must say in passing, that my favorite Poe short story is The Fall of the House of Usher.

Maugham is paramount among short story writers because of the range of his output. I too have read all of his short stories and they are nothing short of masterly. Apart from The Letter and Rain which have been filmed and acted on stage, my own favourites include The Book Bag and The Outstation, but virtually anything by Maugham makes fascinating reading of a kind that present day writers simply don't measure up to.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Interesting on the Maugham... I was going to say surely Chekov and Hemingway, but those and others have been summed up rather well already. Balzac is excellent too (spotted as a talent early on by Wilde). Also, Maupassant must be included. And with O Henry, why is it that he seems to crop up in just about every selection of short stories ever, especially if they are of the horror/mystery variety?

I remember reading somewhere about short stories Vs novels - though I wouldn't be such a bore to remember where, that novels are the holiday, but a short story an excellent day out. I think that works myself.

[Whifflingpin]

You cannot omit Kipling from the list.

Graham Greene

Ambrose Bierce?

[Emil Miller]

Interesting on the Maugham... I was going to say surely Chekov and Hemingway, but those and others have been summed up rather well already. Balzac is excellent too (spotted as a talent early on by Wilde). Also, Maupassant must be included. And with O Henry, why is it that he seems to crop up in just about every selection of short stories ever, especially if they are of the horror/mystery variety?

I remember reading somewhere about short stories Vs novels - though I wouldn't be such a bore to remember where, that novels are the holiday, but a short story an excellent day out. I think that works myself.

Well, Maugham, who was born and brought up in France, was an avid reader of Maupassant from quite an early age. So, yes, Maupassant must be included among the great short story writers. I have read all of Maupassant's short stories but Maugham still remains the master as far as I am concerned.
His insight into the human, and particularly English, character is an exercise in psychology worthy of any writer you might care to name.

[LitNetIsGreat]

OK, I'll certainly pencil that in then, is there a certain collection you recommend? I'll have a quick look on Amazon now.

[stlukesguild]

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ambrose Bierce
Henry James
Edgar A. Poe
Guy de Maupassant
Theophile Gautier
Anton Checkov
Leo Tolstoy
Nikolai Gogol
Franz Kafka
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Rudyard Kipling
H.G. Wells
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Ernest Hemingway
Flannery O'Connor
Robert Louis Stevenson
Charles Dickens
Donald Barthleme
J.L. Borges
Julio Cortazar
T.H. Lawrence
Italo Calvino
Stig Dagerman

These would all be among the finest on my list... although I most assuredly have forgotten some.

[wlz]

Heinrich von Kleist
Pushkin
Gogol
Turgenev and Tolstoy: The kreutzer Sonata
Balzac
Maupassant
Coppard
Garnett
Naipaul, 'A Flag on the Island'.
Roald Dahl
Paul Theroux
Ingeborg Bachmann

[wlz]

Apologies for digression, a run through essayists would be good...

Forget the Roald Dahl part above.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

So . . . many . . . names. Thanks, all. I'll definitely check out Maugham, Maupassant, O Henry, and the others.

And I'll throw in my own, judging on sheer imagination, H. P. Lovecraft.

Also, any suggestions for which short story collection to check out for O Henry? I'm looking up free books for my e-reader, and there is a mind-boggling amount there.

[sixsmith]

I can't see Ray Carver or Richard Ford among the names mentioned. Both masters of the form. Carver in particular.

[prendrelemick]

Most of those mentioned are "Great" writers who do short stories as well.

However, worthy of a mention are Katherine Mansfield and Sarah Maitland. Maitalnd is probably lesser known of the two, but has written some amazing stuff.

[conartist]

Chekov's almost unquestionably the greatest. You have to read Hadji Murat by Tolstoy.

Can't stand Poe...

[Pryderi Agni]

I don't know if it qualifies as 'serious', but Stephen King is by far one of the most awesome short-story writers around right now. He's not Poe or Hemingway, of course, but his stories are almost as good as his novels.

Among the classics, I wonder if anyone has ever mentioned O. Henry. He's a fantastic short-story writer.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Totally agree in SK, I have read a few of his collections.

And, yeah, O. Henry has been mentioned, but I just don't know where to start with him, he has so many stories.

[Jeremydav]

Anton Chekhov probably holds the most mastery over the structure and form of the short story, though I've always been most captivated by Kafka's.

[Emil Miller]

OK, I'll certainly pencil that in then, is there a certain collection you recommend? I'll have a quick look on Amazon now.

The problem with choosing Maugham is that his stories have been published in virtually every language in the world and different publishers mix different stories in their collections. My own copies are in French and German and I have forgotten what their original format was in English. The stories fall broadly into two categories:those set in Europe and those in the Far East where Maugham travelled extensively in search of material. I see from the readers' reviews on Amazon that Vol.1 contains Lord Mountdrago; one of Maugham's rare excursions into the macabre which is both funny and disturbing at the same time. I would suggest reading that volume to give you some idea of his style but any one taken at random would be just as good any other. Amazon may be handy for buying on line but you can't check the titles in short story volumes as you can in a bookshop. The readers' comments are interesting but you can ignore the person who says Maugham uses racist descriptions to describe foreigners, it simply isn't true.

[JuniperWoolf]

Stylistically, I think F. Scott Fitzgerald is just awesome. The way that he constructs his stories just blows my mind. He's funny, unencumbered and natural.

As for Poe, I'm another one that can kind of take him or leave him. I find his short stories kind of boring actually. I like his poetry a lot better.



His insight into the human, and particularly English, character is an exercise in psychology worthy of any writer you might care to name.

True that. I haven't checked out Maugham's short stories yet, I'll give them a shot tout suite.

Edit: Oh yeah, and Hemingway = fantastic. When I first read "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" I got all tingly.

[Amoxcalli]

For me, Kafka is the only obvious answer. I've read most of his oeuvre and didn't find one short story disappointing.

I must admit I haven't read a great many short stories by other writers, though. What I've read by Mahfouz and Marquez struck me as rather excellent.

[Modest Proposal]

Totally agree in SK, I have read a few of his collections.

And, yeah, O. Henry has been mentioned, but I just don't know where to start with him, he has so many stories.

Try O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," to see what you think of his style. But I am going to second Raymond Carver because he is only mentioned once and he may be one of the best authors of recent memory. As far as the others are concerned, Kafka and Borges are my favorites but I haven't read my new Gogol and Chekhov collection.

Oh, Joyce and Lawrence both have some great short works.

You might check out the book, Short Novels of the Masters. It's ten short-stories/novellas and it is just brilliant.

[Virgil]

Another one of these list of great short story writers thread? Well, don't forget D.H. Lawrence. He's at his best at the short story form and I would go so far as to say he's the finest English short story writer.

[Dinkleberry2010]

I think Hemingway is the best short story writer of the twentieth century. I don't care that much for his novels, but as a short story writer, I think he is at the top.

[Virgil]

I think Hemingway is the best short story writer of the twentieth century. I don't care that much for his novels, but as a short story writer, I think he is at the top.

I don't know about the very best, but I agree with the sentiment: he's a great short story writer but only average as a novelist.

[Janine]

I just bought two books of short stories that were onsale/clearance from Dover. Both have stories I have not yet read and I am anxious to do so. I agree with Virgil - Lawrence's short stories are pretty extraordinary. I have read all three volumes now and enjoyed many twice over. Our forum short story thread on the author was one of the longest running. I will soon try to revive it and get another active discussion going. We have plenty more of L's stories worthy of discussion. I just need to pick another one and post the title. I hope some of you can join in the discussion, if you like short stories.

I actually didn't used to particularly like short stories; now I love them. I think I now see the brilliance in being more brief, but suggesting so much more. One must really read between the lines (the subtext) and see the larger picture when reading them.

[Jeremydav]

Another one of these list of great short story writers thread? Well, don't forget D.H. Lawrence. He's at his best at the short story form and I would go so far as to say he's the finest English short story writer.

Any you might recommend? I've been wondering about Lawrence.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I read "The Virgin and the Gypsy" by Lawrence. It was alright, didn't really blow me away or anything. It's more of a novella, though. His writing style is uniwue enough to make me want to read more by him, though, but on that story alone . . . meh. Maybe I missed something.

[sixsmith]

William Trevor is also compulsory.

[Janine]

Any you might recommend? I've been wondering about Lawrence.

Hi Jermeydav, and welcome to this forum as well!

I think Virgil might answer this same one (I know he loves this story):

The Prussian Officer

I also liked and we discussed:

Daughter of the Vicar

Witch a la Mode

Odour of Chrysathamums

Things

Some of his longer stories - more novellas - which I like, are "The Fox" and "Love Among the Haystakes"...those are really excellent.

[Modest Proposal]

As far as Lawrence goes 'St. Mawr' is good but 'The Man Who Died' is really interesting, especially to those interested in classical philosophy and religion.

[Janine]

As far as Lawrence goes 'St. Mawr' is good but 'The Man Who Died' is really interesting, especially to those interested in classical philosophy and religion.

Yes, that is an excellent one. "St. Mawr" is a good one, too; but then I think they all are good :lol:...slightly prejudice being a big Lawrence enthusiast. Those two are a little more contraversial but they wonderful in my eyes. "The Virgil and the Gypsy" is also very good. Whoever said they think they 'missed something' when reading it, I say to them, 'I think you need to rethink the story; there is a lot going on there.'

Let me add - I am very happy to see so many members enjoy Lawrence's short stories. I hope when I revive the thread you all will join into the discussion.

[lavendar1]

William Trevor is also compulsory.

I couldn't agree more.

Those already mentioned (especially Hemingway and Joyce), are wonderful; another excellent contemporary practitioner is Alice Munro.