i really liked marquez' s short stories.. i can't remember one in particular, but i can say they impressed me.
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i really liked marquez' s short stories.. i can't remember one in particular, but i can say they impressed me.
Some of my favorites:
Bulwer Lytton The Haunter and the Haunted
O.Henry Roads of Destiny
Robert Louis Stevenson The Bodysnatchers
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Speckled Band
Ambrose Bierce An Incident At Owl Creek Bridge
Stephen Vincent Benet The Devil and Daniel Webster
Edgar Allan Poe The Tell-Tale Heart
Anything, really, by Ray Bradbury--but especially "The Veldt" and "The House of Usher."
Um. The Fall of the House of Usher is by Poe...
But ditto on Ray Bradbury's The Veldt. I also like The Illustrated Man .
Hi Pen, I happen to like The Illustrated Man too. As a matter of fact, it is my first Bradbury's :).Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendragon
The Killers by Hemingway, and the rest of Hemingway's
Actually Pen, Ray Bradbury wrote a story titled that too. It's futuristic and is set on Mars. It's creepy and fantastic. x)
YES! Great to see another Cortázar enthusiast. He's undeservedly unknown outside of the Spanish speaking world as he's really at the same level of literary achievement as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Borges (no kidding, he really is that good), although I've heard that the existing English translations don't do him much justice (he must be incredibly hard to translate, but surely they can do better than what's out right now). "Continuidad de los parques" is totally amazing, it reminds me of an Escher painting, although I think the best has to be "El perseguidor", the terrific semi-biography of Charlie Parker. "La noche boca arriba" is amazing as well. "Final del juego", "Las armas secretas," and "Todos los fuegos el fuego" are all amazing short story books. I've been meaning to have a go at "Rayuela" as well, but I need to have quite a bit of spare time for that as I hear it's quite difficult. The concept of it is fascinating, though... a novel that can be read twice, in different orders? No one else has thought of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Monica
"No one can retell the plot of a Cortázar story; each one consists of determined words in a determined order. If we try to summarize them, we realize that something precious has been lost."
- Jorge Luis Borges
"Anyone who doesn't read Cortázar is doomed. Not to read him is a serious invisible disease which in time can have terrible consequences. Something similar to a man who has never tasted peaches. He would quietly become sadder... and, probably, little by little, he would lose his hair."
- Pablo Neruda
Anyway, as far as more familiar names go, I absolutely adore Hemingway's "A Very Short Story". I don't know why, but this one really hits me more than any other Hemingway short story I've read, more even than The Killers (which, to be quite frank, I might need someone to explain it to me, but I just don't get why it's supposed to be so great) and The Snows of Kilimanjaro (I don't count The Old Man and the Sea as I consider that to be more of a novella, although that one's amazing not for its content but for the way it's written... it's a poem in prose, and one of the greatest poems ever at that). It's so short but it has so much meaning in it. To me it's the best representation of Hemingway's economization and also a good summary of his general reccurring themes.
Just to give you all a quick taste of Cortázar:
"The Continuity of Parks"
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. Noone in the first room, noone 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.
where can i find online textx of cortazar's short stories translated in English. my spanish is very limited
Would you happen to know which of Bradbury's collections the story is in? I have a giant book with 100 of his stories and it isn't in there, and I don't recall ever reading it in any other collection either. And that's strange, because he's a great writer, and I love his stories! I'd like to read this one! :nod:Quote:
Originally Posted by higley
Isaac Asimov's Wendel Urth stories are great, and his ghost story Legal Rites is a fine twist ending! :)
It's in the Illustrated Man book, under "Fall of the House of Usher"--got the name a bit wrong at first, sorry ;) It's great.
Is it the first story in the Illustrated Man? Something to do with the lion? Sorry, I read the book long time a go. One of my fav stories in the book is the story of the astrounouts floating in space..an accident happened and one by one they died..I forgot the title.Quote:
Originally Posted by higley
The lion one is "The Veldt." I don't have my copy of the Illustrated Man with me, so I can't remember where it is in the order D: But I'm pretty sure it's also in the Martian Chronicles.
I know the astronaut one you're talking about Sub, and I'm so annoyed at myself because the title's on the tip of my tongue and I can't say it! I hate it when that happens.
Another really good short story Ray wrote is called "A Sound of Thunder." I actually think they made that one into a video game x)
Metamorphosis by Kafka is amazing.
Also Jonathen Swifts short stories ar good.
And dont forget the Canterbury Tales, especially a Knight's Tale.
Ohh almost forget the Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Well, maybe it'd be best to call it one of the best plays ever :). Speaking of Wilde's, I just re-read The Happy Prince and I think it's a fine short story too (if not the best of all time).Quote:
Originally Posted by thibs23
I agree one of the best short stories of the time, had me laughing histarically in the middle of English class, when you can hold a 17 year old kids interest for 2 and a half hours, I applaud.
O.Henry has great short stories if you'd want surprise endings. Edgar Allan Poe is obviously a good writer in that genre. My favorite right now is Continuity of Parks by Cortazar.
Just realized that you said best play ever, yeah it is a play but also a very short read, thats what I was trying to portray, haha.
No problem, thibs :). For one second, I thought you said The Happy Prince is a hillarious story ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by thibs23
It has to be Hemingway's Big Two Hearted River. How can a story that's essentially about nothing be so beautiful, captivating and mesmerising?
In fact all of Hemingway's short stories are excellent.
In close second place is Faulkner's Two Soldiers. I sometimes feel that his short fiction misses the mark, but this is the exception.
Third goes to JD Salinger - For Esmé - with Love and Squalor. Again, I'm fairly indifferent to his short stories, but this was fantastic.
Zippy.
:)
Thanks. I'll have to visit the used bookstore. I seem to have traded my copies of both The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles when I bought this huge collection, figuring all of the best stories would be in it. They aren't! :) Ah, editors. An author cannot exist with them or without them! :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by higley
Comedy short stories are great as well. For them I recomend Patrick F. McManus. :lol:
Higley, if you do remember could you please share? I'm now quite intrigued as it sounds a very interesting concept and I've never read any Bradbury save Fahrenheit 451.Quote:
Originally Posted by higley
Ah, wait I believe I found it, is it 'Kaleidoscope'?
Yes, that's it! It's called "Kaleidoscope." Thanks, TEND.
I actually liked. The Lottery. I can never remember the author, but it was well written. I didn't have an idea of the ending, it took be by surprise.
By Shirley Jackson. Incidentally, it is one of my favorite stories too :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Serenata
I haven't read a large number of short stories, but my favorite that I've read so far is The Telltale Heart, by Edgar Allen Poe.
So what is The Lottery about? I think I might have to give that one a look.
Hugh B. Cave writes a lot of really good short stories, usually dark and ghostly. I don't really have a favorite but The Twisted Men is excellent. Finding his stories would be the problem, as they are usually scattered among anthologies.
I would have to say Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" or "An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce.
"An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce probably does have one of the best twist endings of all time! :thumbs_up
The Gift by O Henry. It's beautiful in it's simplicity. The first time I read it I cried.
The Open Window (Saki or Sake?)
The Devil and Daniel Webster
I like many short stories by Asimov; my favourites are Bicentennial Man, All the Troubles of the World, Nightfall, and Not Final.
I´m a big fan of Machado de Assis. Some short stories that are masterpieces are Missa do Galo, A Igreja do Diabo (Devil´s Church), Teoria do Medalhăo.I don´t know if his short stories were translated into English, but if they are, I recommend reading them.
Some short stories of Stephen King I liked: Riding the Bullet, The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Word Processor of the Gods, The Breathing Method.
I also liked The Monkey´s Paw (W.W.Jacobs), and The Black Cat (Poe).
I´ve read many comments here in this thread about The Lottery. It seems interesting, I think I should read it. :)
I would definitely have to say that James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" is the best short story I have ever read. Although Kafka's Metaphorsis comes in a very close second:D
Tough question. I am fond of "The Most Dangerous Game"
I'm sure it's in the public domain
"The Silver Jar" by Capote is beautifully written, and has a surprise ending.
There are many by Capote which are astonishing.
My favourite is "Khol Do" By Sadiq Hussain Munto.
Here are some of my favorites, for what it's worth:
Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets Jack Finney
The Rocket Man Ray Bradbury
Give It Up! Franz Kafka
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Ursula K. Le Guin
A Little Fable Franz Kafka
Dearth Aimee Bender
Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Mellville
The Beggar Guy de Maupassant
Light Is Like Water Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Eyes of a Blue Dog Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"The Sisters" or "Araby" by James Joyce.
Also, "Eyes of a Blue Dog" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as Cheese King just said.
the lottery,metamorphosis and the piece of string..
these are my favourite they need to be my favourite bec we have a lesson at uni. as short storry
Poe's 'The Bordeaux Dilligence."