What short stories do you recommend? [Archive]

Big Dante

12-22-2010, 03:35 AM

MystyrMystyry

12-22-2010, 03:50 AM

Jorge Louis Borges has a few collections, most in them are imaginitive and mysterious. You could do a Google Amazon search and see what's out there, thugh be careful of Wikipaedia - someone's gone and described them all in too much detail.

Emil Miller

12-22-2010, 04:19 AM

Hey everyone. I'm a 16 year old who has a strong interest in writing and I am currently reading up on my classics. (Just found the complete Sherlock Holmes which I'm currently enjoying a lot but could use a break from) Anyway I was wondering about some short stories that you would recommend, any genre is fine, just the name, author and a little description about it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I suggest that you try William Somerset Maugham who was probably the finest short story writer of the 20th century. They are set in different parts of the world and all based on his personal experience. Some that come to mind are The Lotus Eater, Footsteps in the Jungle, The Outstation, The Bookbag, Red, The Letter , Rain, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Kite etc.etc. There are many more but they are all masterly and will teach you a lot about human nature.

LitNetIsGreat

12-22-2010, 05:53 AM

Also Guy de Maupassant and Anton Chekov. There are some of those on here so you can read a few and get a taste for them. Again great insight into human nature and excellent short story writers.

dfloyd

12-22-2010, 08:52 AM

Emil Miller

12-22-2010, 09:23 AM

four volumes worth. All those mentioned by B. Bean are excellent, but I have a fondness for his Ashenden series about the Great Game, especially The Hairless Mexican.

But I'm not sure he was the greatest short story writer of the 20th century. Hemingway was at least tied for that honor. Try The Snows of Kilmanjaro or The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber.

I agree that the Ashenden stories are exceptionally good examples of the genre. One of my favourites is Mr Harrington's Washing. The amazing thing is that all his short stories come from his own experience. He was a secret agent in Russia at the time of the 1917 revolution, so Mr Harrington's Washing rings absolutely true.

Seasider

12-22-2010, 09:32 AM

I agree that Maugham is outstanding. Katherine Mansfield The Garden Party almost any of Ray Bradbury..stories from Fahrenheit 450 or The Illustrated Man. DH Lawrence The Odour of Chrysanthemums is a very moving story about a miner's wife who is waiting for her husband to come home from work. Her children are with her and from what she says to them you know that she is very disappointed with the man and the marriage. I won't spoil the ending. O' Henry is a good if old fashioned short story writer. So is Angela Carter. Oscar Wilde The Happy Prince is lovely.

Transmodernism

12-22-2010, 09:49 AM

If you want something dark, modernistic, and extremely well-written, try Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness. It's a novella, and I'm not sure if that qualifies as a short-story, but whatever.

Or, if you want something extremely interesting and theological, you might try the short story The Grand Inquisitor from The Brothers Karamazov; it's a theoretical story about Jesus coming to earth again, to medieval Spain and being thrown into jail by the Spanish inquisition because His message of love and so forth runs contrary to the Inquisition and its goals. Kinda interesting.

KilgoreT

12-22-2010, 12:18 PM

I would recommend "The Bet" by Anton Chekov to anyone. It is about two men who make a wager- if one stays in a single room for fifteen years he wins 2 million roubles (I think, Russian currency). I read it about ten years ago in school and it stuck in my mind, making a great impression. In fact I would say the memory of reading it kept my love for literature alive during those years when I was busy with other things.

"Report on the Barnhouse Effect" by Kurt Vonnegut is also a great short story.

TheChilly

12-22-2010, 03:13 PM

Denis Johnson's "Emergency" and "Jesus' Son" are a couple of good works to consider checking out. Johnson has a poet's eye in his prose.

LuggageFan

12-22-2010, 03:28 PM

Well, read what interests you. If you are reading and enjoying Sherlock Holmes, what about collections of mysteries and stories of suspense? I love the old Alfred Hitchcock collections. "Murders on the Half Skull," "I Want My Mummy", etc. :D

For subject matter a bit more sophisticated and broad, try O. Henry, whose famous "The Gift of the Magi" is a holiday classic (this time of year). :)

Here:

http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html

Gregory Samsa

12-24-2010, 05:40 PM

One of my favorite is Haruki Murakamis "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman".

hazelk

12-24-2010, 05:53 PM

Any and all of Annie Proulx.

TacoButt

12-26-2010, 12:55 AM

When I was 16 I loved Steven K. Dick and Eudora Welty's short stories.

wordeater

12-26-2010, 07:59 AM

Here are some of my favorite stories.

Edgar Alan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart
Roald Dahl, Lamb to the Slaughter
A. C. Doyle, The Red-Headed League
Agatha Christie, The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
Thomas Hardy, Barbara of the House of Grebe

Anton Czekhov, The Bet
Nikolaj Gogol, The Overcoat
Lev Tolstoy, How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

tomt

12-30-2010, 04:16 AM

Can't let this thread go by without a plug for Flannery O'Connor. Particularly "Good Country People" and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own." Both just dripping with irony. O'Connor's dry sense of humor is twisted and hard to match.

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is also a twisted tale. Makes you cringe at the end.

Wordeater mentioned "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl. The climax is unexpected and shocking.

Finally, I like "The Tell-tale Heart" but I love Poe's "Masque of the Red Death." Scarier and Poe's macabre sense of justice is more subtle here.

Have fun. Can't wait to hear what you liked and what you decided to pass on.

MadMorgan

04-12-2011, 09:58 AM

Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star". Winner of Hugo Award 1956. It won't take long to read as it is only five pages, but you will find yourself being drawn back to it to read again, and again. I recommend "The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke". A prolific writer, these short stories span from 1933 to 1998; and that only represents a fraction of his writing. I hope you enjoy it. Best regards, MadMorgan:smile5:
PS: "The Sentinel" is the foundation for the better known "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Drkshadow03

04-12-2011, 10:41 AM

Here is a list of a 1001 Short Stories You Must Read Before you Die (http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/p/1001-short-stories-you-must-read-before.html), which is actually only 334 short stories at the moment.

millwallbill

04-13-2011, 08:08 AM

Would recommend the short stories of Ray Bradbury & PG Wodehouse. Both very literate and beautifully crafted

mohjn760

04-15-2011, 07:23 AM

I would recommend stories of Edgar Alan Poe
-The Angel of the Odd
- "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"
- "The Masque of the Red Death"

Dr Doom

04-15-2011, 09:25 AM

"We're Poor" by Floyd Dell
"The Stolen Party" by Liliana Heker

Very powerful and moving short stories that I never get tired of redaing, though it's been a long time since I last read either of them. Both deal with being poor and the cruel realization that one is poor from a child's perspective.

AuntShecky

04-15-2011, 02:15 PM

Most, if not all, the selections already listed ^^^^ are wonderful. How 'bout these LitNutters, huh? Sometimes I feel unworthy to be in their company.

Anyway, here are a few more, from off the top 'o me head:

John Updike "Pigeon Feathers," "The A&P" (all of his short stories are superlative, but adolescents and young adults will find the two I listed especially noteworthy.)

"Why I Live at the P.O." -Eudora Welty

American short story writers of the 1920s in addition to Hemingway: James Thurber, Dorothy Parker, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson.

"Holiday" by Katherine Anne Porter

"The Jewbird" by Bernard Malamud

"Emporer of the Air" by Ethan Canin

Don't forget the stories in Dubliners by James Joyce. "Araby," one of my faves, has a young protagonist. Read "The Dead" as well, but have a box of tissues ready.

(I'd better click off this or I'll be at it all day! Enjoy your reading!)

tonywalt

04-15-2011, 04:15 PM

"A perfect day for Bananafish" by JD Salinger

tonywalt

05-10-2011, 11:27 PM

The death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy

PerGessle

05-10-2011, 11:32 PM

I suggest that you try William Somerset Maugham who was probably the finest short story writer of the 20th century. They are set in different parts of the world and all based on his personal experience. Some that come to mind are The Lotus Eater, Footsteps in the Jungle, The Outstation, The Bookbag, Red, The Letter , Rain, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Kite etc.etc. There are many more but they are all masterly and will teach you a lot about human nature.

I strongly disagree with this opinion. In my viewpoint, I recommend <Nabokov's dozen> to any one who are interested in Perfect short stories. Within this anthology, Spring in Fialta is my darling. The genuine lyricism and its purity and complexity are very much treasured by dazed me.

Stellar

05-12-2011, 11:30 PM

One of my favorite stories is 'Sonny's Blues' by James Baldwin. Set in Harlem during the jazz era, one man is trying to turn his younger brother's life around. The older brother had made a promise to their mother, when she passed, to always look out for Sonny. The story is concerned with the nature of, and the perception of, what it is to suffer. I'm not doing the story justice at all here, but this is one of the best stories that I have ever read. Beautiful, revelatory argument on the nature of sufferring towards the end.

[PLEASE DO NOT READ THE WIKIPEDIA ENTRY! I just checked that out and IT IS AWFUL! You can find the story online.]

My other pick would be 'The Dead' by James Joyce. I am not going to tell you anything about it. Suffice to say that I am no original in calling "The Dead" brilliant. Most of 'Dubliners' is a pretty good read, 'Araby' is a good one in there as well.

Hey, since you're at it, why not pick up some random anthology? Just go to a used book store, or the library and just make a snap decision? You never know where you're going to find something amazing. I have found several of my favorite stories in older anthologies from used book stores - I don't think I would have found them except by chance. Happy reading!

Stellar

05-12-2011, 11:36 PM

One of my favorite stories is 'Sonny's Blues' by James Baldwin. Set in Harlem during the jazz era, one man is trying to turn his younger brother's life around. The older brother had made a promise to their mother, when she passed, to always look out for Sonny. The story is concerned with the nature of, and the perception of, what it is to suffer. I really don't want to wreck the story, and I'm not doing the story justice at all here, but this is one of the best stories that I have ever read. Beautiful, revelatory argument on the nature of sufferring towards the end of the story.

[PLEASE DO NOT READ THE WIKIPEDIA ENTRY! I just checked that out and IT IS AWFUL! You can find the story online.]

My other pick would be 'The Dead' by James Joyce. I am not going to tell you anything about it. Suffice to say that I am no original in calling "The Dead" one of the best short stories of all time. Most of 'Dubliners' is a pretty good read, 'Araby' is a good one in there as well.

Hey, since you're at it, why not pick up some random anthology? Just go to a used book store, or the library and just make a snap decision? You never know where you're going to find something amazing. I have found several of my favorite stories in older anthologies from used book stores - I don't think I would have found them except by chance. Happy reading!

Stellar

05-12-2011, 11:38 PM

Oooohhhhh! So that's what the "edit" button does. hmmm. Won't be trying that again.

mal4mac

05-13-2011, 08:50 AM

Also Guy de Maupassant and Anton Chekov. There are some of those on here so you can read a few and get a taste for them. Again great insight into human nature and excellent short story writers.

I'll second these. If you want book recommendations, I recently read and greatly enjoyed:

Maupassant - A Parisian Affair and Other stories (Penguin)
Chekhov - Ward 6 and other stories (Oxford University Press)

But both authors are consistently good, so anything you can get from the library should be fine.

Others:

Dubliners by James Joyce - this is the most accessible Joyce you could ever read, as good and as easy to read as Chekhov. Tales about a wide variety of Irish folk. A great read.

Bull Fighting - Roddy Doyle. I'm reading this at the moment. The "bullfighters' are "ordinary" middle aged Irish men who are dealing with loss in various ways. So might be a better read for old fogies. As I *am* an old fogey I'm finding them very enjoyable, very funny and moving...

Ray Bradbury - if you like science fiction. H.G. Wells also....

libernaut

05-14-2011, 02:13 AM

Any of Franz Kafka's short stories are excellent. You can find most of them in a book called "In the penal colony and other short stories"

libernaut

05-14-2011, 02:13 AM

Also Anton Chekhov is good

hazelk

05-16-2011, 06:51 PM

I am forever searching for a collection of short stories to suit me.

My latest that I am just loving is "Same Time,Same Things" By Tim Gautreaux.

Another is "Collected Short Stories" by Patrick O'Brien.

scotta.clark

05-17-2011, 07:01 AM

There are lots of legendary short stories,like "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving, "Regret" by Kate Chopin.

hazelk

05-17-2011, 07:30 PM

How about "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" by Alan Sillitoe ?.

Leobloom

05-25-2011, 02:00 PM

These are my suggestions:
Classics
- Dubliners by Joyce - Some of the best. I advise you read all of them, ideally in one go as a book. Great introduction to one of the greatest of them all.
- Guy de Maupassant - Widely regarded as one of the greatest short story writers. Any collection will do.
- Labyrinths/Fictions/any collection - Jorge Luis Borges - Perhaps the greatest short story writer of the 20th century.

These are some of my contemporary choices:
- Roberto Bolano - One of my favourite authors. Greatly influenced by Borges, his stories are dark and brilliant. Another great intro to another master.
- David Foster Wallace - You've probably heard of Infinite Jest (and, if not, you have now!). He looks set to survive long into the future and have the word 'Classic' stamped on his books in a few decades time.

The vast majority of writers will have published short stories. Look up any writer you like and, chances are, they have short stories out there.

deguonis

05-25-2011, 02:07 PM

:)
* The Cruise of the Scandal and Other Stories – VICTOR BRIDGES
* The collected stories of Fred Urquhart.
:)

Scheherazade

05-25-2011, 02:15 PM

I quite enjoyed "Love of a Good Woman" by Alice Munro.

Panglossian

05-25-2011, 02:35 PM

There's a good selection of free classic short stories and short story collections on manybooks.net

Mariner

05-26-2011, 10:03 PM

Raymond Carver is the best short story writer. Read any of his collections and you will see powerful, emotional stories at their minimal best. He's accesible and simple but there's plenty of depth to every story. Great starting point.

Edward Prendick

05-26-2011, 11:05 PM

He wrote a lot of Fairy Tales, which, if you're looking for short read creative pieces don't shy from, but particularly "The Lady, or the Tiger?" I can't describe it, for that would ruin the first read. I suggest that, if nothing else though.