Some more current short story writers:
Tobias Wolff is maybe the best short writer going. He is simply fantastic.
I like the stories of Mark Slouka a lot, but he's only published the one collection that I know of, Lost Lake.
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Some more current short story writers:
Tobias Wolff is maybe the best short writer going. He is simply fantastic.
I like the stories of Mark Slouka a lot, but he's only published the one collection that I know of, Lost Lake.
All those stories contained within in Mikhail Bulgakov's 'Diaboliad and Other Stories' which includes: Diaboliad, The Fatal Eggs, A Teatise on Housing, Moonshine Lack, and The Crimson Island, among others.
They are all of a most entertaining nature!
Short stories always leave me somewhat frustrated, I want more, more details, more characters, more story so I don't tend to read a lot of short stories but there have been a couple that I've absolutely loved, Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien and Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol.
Did you know he uses the word 'ridiculous' 10 times on the first page alone? I don't remember much else about that story other than that so I looked it up in my little book diary thing, where I write down what I've read, when I read it and what I thought of it and besides that little piece of trivia about how many times the word 'ridiculous' is used, all I have written was "very spiritual". :rolleyes: That wasn't very helpful, I need to learn to be a little more detailed in my critique than that.Quote:
Originally Posted by starrwriter
Don't sell some of the more contemporary short story writers short (no pun intended). How's about:
Annie Proulx - "The Half-Skinned Steer"
Carolyn Ferrell - "Proper Library"
Thom Jones - "I Want to Live!"
and a blast from the past -- Susan Glaspell - "A Jury of Her Peers" (I think there's a dramatic version of this, too).
I appreciate the fluidity of the short story form. And true, it does keep you asking for 'more,' but that's its charm!
Thanks to this website I've now been able to read Taras Bulba --(a guilty pleasure movie from the 60s I assure you. Still looking for Gogol's Diary of a Madman (which was televised over 30 years ago and it still gives me the sivers--a French actor I believe. Was still in high school so we're talking '69-69.
If anyone is interested in adventure type short stories, I can recommend a few by Jack London:
1. To Build A Fire
2. Love Of Life
3. The League Of Old Men
4. The Mexican
5. A Piece Of Steak
6. Courage of A Woman
7. Odyssey Of North
8. White Silence
PS: Some names may be slightly different, because I read them a long time ago and plus they were all in russian.
Good Luck!
I very much like Thom Jones. "My Son, Superman" is a very good story, as well. Basically everything from Pugilist at Rest is top-notch.Quote:
Originally Posted by lavendar1
I have to second the nomination of Bartleby, the Scriviner, above.
I also really like some of Franz Kafka's short stories, The Metamophosis and The Judgement being the best in my opinion.
Nathaniel Hawthorne has some great short stories: I liked The Birthmark and Young Goodman Brown the best of what I've read.
I think the Book of Jonah from the Bible classifies as a great short story, about a prophet who tries to run away from God, and begrudgingly has to save people he hates. If I'm not mistaken, it ends with a great joke!
Why has only one person mentioned Ernest Hemingway? In Our Time is one of the best collections of short stories ever. Moderate praise be damned! "Indian Camp" floored me.
And one person mentioned Faulkner. He's done some great short stories, and my favorite (though I've never read it) is "The Bear," which is all one sentence long. Extreme.
And it seems no one mentioned Flannery O'Connor. I guess her stories are too disturbing for the faint of heart, but c'mon. I wish I could recommend any title other than "A Good Man is Hard to Find," but it's the only one I remember. I've read a bunch, though, and the majority is good.
Well I just now read "Indian Camp" Unspar and it was very moving.
I will echo "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, and each of Jack London's short stories. "The Law of Life", "To Build a Fire" and "A Piece of Steak" were all very real and worth reading.
The only Flannery O'Connor short story that I've read has been "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" which I thought was very telling.
Some people have mentioned J.D. Salinger but I can't believe that no-one has mentioned "For Esme with Love and Squalor". This is my all time favorite short story! It is so stinking real and beautiful that the first time I read it I couldn't move afterwards, I just laid there. Also, "Down at the Dingy" evoked some very strong emotions from me.
Has anybody read "Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilmore Perkins (I think)? I thought that was most amazing. From what I remember the author chronicled a descent into madness over some short period of time, is that correct?
You're right, Grace, "For Esme with Love and Squalor" is a great story.
No one has mentioned D.H. Lawrence stories. In the U.S. unfortuantely we don't read too many Lawrence short stories, but I hope they do in the U.K. He's one of the finest short story writers ever. Some noteworthy mentions from my memory:
"The Woman Who Rode Away"
"The Prussian Officer"
"The Horse Dealer's Daughter"
"The Princess"
"The Rocking Horse Winner"
"The Blind Man"
"Odor of the Chrysanthemums"
Shoutgrace,
I think it's Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
There is always one short story which everytime I read sends a shiver down my spine, a story which shows so much insight into its topic that it is diffuclt to comprehend how its author could have written such a work without an intense first hand experience. The story of which I speak is Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Illych.
Even if you do not have the time or desire to investigate his major works or any of his other wonderful novellas/ short stories, reading this will definitely not let you feel that your efforts were misappropriated.
Do short stories told by characters in a longer novel count? If so, the Grand Inquisitor from the Brothers Karamozov is wonderful. That's the only part I've read of the book, but it's on my summer reading list.
Not sure if these are already up...I notice some good authors like Poe and O Henry.
I strongly recommend Raymond Carver, Hemmingway (no stories in particular) and Henry James, especially turn of the screw. Joyce's Dubliners?