The last Short Story you read? Rate it too!

[cacian]

I thought it would be good to share Short Stories we have read here and rate them if you may.

The Necklace or The Diamond Necklace in French La Parure by Maupassant.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/La_Parure_-_Gil_Blas.jpg/220px-La_Parure_-_Gil_Blas.jpg

An almost interesting short story it if was not for the end. It did not quite do it for me in terms of reality checks.


a 5/10

[Kyriakos]

It is i think his most often included in anthologies short story. I don't regard it as anywhere near his best work though (which would be in my view the short story The Bringer of Dreams.

I am re-reading the Metamorphosis by Kafka, but my last never before read short story was Borges' The cult of the Phoenix, which i did not like. Given the fact that it is in the same collection as a number of stories i find to be amazing, i would rate it a 5/10.

[tonywalt]

The Outstation by Somerset Maugham - 10/10

Your'e ugly too - Lorrie Moore 9/10

A perfect day for bananafish - Salinger 10/10

To Esme with Love and Squalor Salinger 10/10

Ceiling by Chimamanda Adichie 10-10

[RetsixArp]

"Eleven Beds," by William Harrison: this originally appeared a few years ago in The Missouri Review but is available online & in the collection Texas Heat. It's the story of the life of a couple from teenage years thru old age. Some comic, some erotic passages, but the last paragraph is a tearjerker.

[ChicagoReader]

"Incarnations of Burned Children" -- David Foster Wallace

Just happened to read this in a random anthology and was stunned. I love the long, rolling sentences that flow and keep the action going, and also show the character's thought processes extremely well. The story is very short, too, I could never hope to write such a powerful story in such few words. One of my favorites--10/10 (and I very rarely give such ratings).

[Kyriakos]

Read Kipling's "The mark of the beast".

Well, i was really hoping it would be good. Stay away from it, very boring story with generally no more than half a good sentence all-around. 1/10

[cacian]

"Eleven Beds," by William Harrison: this originally appeared a few years ago in The Missouri Review but is available online & in the collection Texas Heat. It's the story of the life of a couple from teenage years thru old age. Some comic, some erotic passages, but the last paragraph is a tearjerker.

and the score?

[YesNo]

Isaac Bashevis Singer, Gimpel the Fool: 10/10

This is not the most recent short story I've read, but it is one of the best I've read recently.

[Snowqueen]

Sun by D. H Lawrence 7/10

Kali Shalwar by Sadaat Hassan Manto 8/10

Mera Sahib (My Sahib) by Saadat Hassn Manto 10/10

Family Happiness by Tolstoy 9/10

[tonywalt]

Cathedral by Raymond Carver - 10/10

[ChicagoReader]

"At the End of the Mechanical Age" -- Donald Barthelme

Interesting but just ok -- 6.5/10

[TurquoiseSunset]

Lost Mine - Agatha Christie

I'll give it a 5/10...very 'meh' story.

[RetsixArp]

and the score?Sorry: 8/10.

[tonywalt]

"Incarnations of Burned Children" -- David Foster Wallace

Just happened to read this in a random anthology and was stunned. I love the long, rolling sentences that flow and keep the action going, and also show the character's thought processes extremely well. The story is very short, too, I could never hope to write such a powerful story in such few words. One of my favorites--10/10 (and I very rarely give such ratings).

Best writer of our generation - DFW! His biography comes out on 31 August this month.

[tonywalt]

A small good thing - Raymond Carver 9/10

Reading alot of his lately - Hemmingway style in terms of structure, but the similiarities end there, as he captures what's below the surface as good as any writere.

[Pierre Menard]

James Joyce - Araby. Lovely little story about a youth infatuated by his next door neighbour, wanting to go to a bazaar to buy her a gift but arriving rather too late. "I saw myself as a creature derived and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger. 7.5/10


Jorge Luis Borges - The Other. Very Borgesian (obviously) story about two Borges', one of whom is old and the other young, who meet each other one night on a bench beside a river. Typical Borgesian themes about reality, dream and identity. Great story. 8/10

Ryunosuke Akutagawa- The Story of a Head That Fell Off Very cool story from a writer I'm really starting to enjoy. And extra props to the title. Don't have a lot to say about this one. Not his absolute best, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. 7.5/10

[bIGwIRE]

The last short(ish) story I read was Herman Melville's Billy Budd. The first time I read it I was in junior-high. Many years later it remains as one of my all time favorites. A perfect 10/10. "Long live Captain Vere! "

[cacian]

James Joyce - Araby. Lovely little story about a youth infatuated by his next door neighbour, wanting to go to a bazaar to buy her a gift but arriving rather too late. "I saw myself as a creature derived and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger. 7.5/10

Interesting. This one is very similar to Maupassant's The Diamond Necklace.
Araby sounds and look like the word Arabic. In fact Araby reads and translates into Arabic as saying An Arab.



Jorge Luis Borges - The Other. Very Borgesian (obviously) story about two Borges', one of whom is old and the other young, who meet each other one night on a bench beside a river. Typical Borgesian themes about reality, dream and identity. Great story. 8/10
The image of a bench by or besides a river is picturesque.
How often does one finds a bench ,anywhere apart from a park, let alone by a river.
It is almost like saying there is a bench by the sea.
Vey rare indeed.


Ryunosuke Akutagawa- The Story of a Head That Fell Off Very cool story from a writer I'm really starting to enjoy. And extra props to the title. Don't have a lot to say about this one. Not his absolute best, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. 7.5/10
Oops I did not see OFF there.

Thank you very much for posting and sharing.
I enjoyed this one very much.;)

[YesNo]

"Incarnations of Burned Children" -- David Foster Wallace

I just finished reading this. I don't think it is actually a story, but just part of a potential story with a scene where the child gets burned.

What makes it interesting is the sympathy one has with the parents after the tragedy, but Wallace leaves you hanging with that "image", much like 20th century poets felt it was OK to leave their readers hanging with unconnected images that soon made no coherent sense. He does describe the scene well, but he needed to put it into a story.

Wallace is also apparently challenged by the technical use of paragraphs. Although this might seem edgy, it is not in his favor. It can quickly annoy his readers and limit his audience to those willing to tolerate such quirks.

My score: 4/10

[tonywalt]

I just finished reading this. I don't think it is actually a story, but just part of a potential story with a scene where the child gets burned.

What makes it interesting is the sympathy one has with the parents after the tragedy, but Wallace leaves you hanging with that "image", much like 20th century poets felt it was OK to leave their readers hanging with unconnected images that soon made no coherent sense. He does describe the scene well, but he needed to put it into a story.

Wallace is also apparently challenged by the technical use of paragraphs. Although this might seem edgy, it is not in his favor. It can quickly annoy his readers and limit his audience to those willing to tolerate such quirks.

My score: 4/10

Try reading the essay piece "Shipping Out" (available on Harpers website) - it's the best essay I've read. Also his Illinois town fair essay is the best(also Harpers).

[GatorAbe]

F. Scott Fitzgerald's A New Leaf: 8/10 The act of violence to end the story is very uncharacteristic with the author, but the people and their superficial actions/motivations leading up to the ending could be hallmarks of the self-destructive behavior of many of today's unsure young.

[Kyriakos]

Re-read Lovecraft's Dagon.

This time from a better translation, more flowing text. Possibly a 7/10, since it is the start of his mythology, and a good story, but not as great as what followed :)