I took a class my sophomore year called Gods & Monsters and we read short stories about Little Red Riding Hood and the like (Angela Carter's "The Company of Wolves" was great). In my Coming of Age class we read a few short stories, including Robert Cormier's "The Moustache" and James Joyce's "Araby," as well as others. Brit Lit last semester offered some good ones too, like "The Horse-Dealer's Daughter."
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| What short story collection shall I get? |
Ever since I decided how much I adore short stories, I've been searching for a really good collection of my favorites plus new ones to explore. Any suggestions?
Since I've been reading short stories, I've found that there's not much to dislike. For one thing, they aren't long (...imagine that...) so I can read one or two and not feel like I'm embarking on a tremendous undertaking. When I sit down to read a book, usually I end up forsaking literally everything else-- food, homework, sleep-- until I finish it in one long sitting. With a short story, I can escape for a little while and when it's done in under 10 pages I can join the world again.
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| Well, this one's not too vivid. |
I'm also a fan of how vivid and thoughtful writers can be in such a small amount of pages. I feel that there is so much imagery, symbolism, and background crammed into a few pages, only it doesn't seem that way. To me, that's almost more impressive than having 500 pages to spread it out over.
I've been working on a young adult book for a while now. Maybe I'll give a short story a try.
This has absolutely nothing to do with what you wrote really. I read your title and thought, "Huh? There must be some reason that she uses the parenthesis in the work packages that I will discover as I read her blog." After reading and finding that you didn't explain the title, I reexamined the word. It seriously took me another minute for my AHA! moment. I guess I should be embarassed to admit that now. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteI really identified with your reasoning for reading short stories. I also have a tendency to read a novel at the expense of all other things in my life, so short stories might be a great fit for my hectic life. Thanks for sharing.
I'm curious, what did you think of "Araby?"
ReplyDeleteAlso, you're writing a book? I hope I read that correctly. I recently started writing a novel (or at least trying to). I'm interested to hear more about your work.
I have always admired how short stories are like poetry: they must use a limited amount of words to create an impact as big as a drawn-out novel. Therefore, the author must choose every word carefully. I agree that it is "more impressive than having 500 pages to spread it out over." Glad you are now a fan of short stories and from what i've read in your blog, you've taken in some good stories. Keep on reading and see you in class.
ReplyDeleteFavorite short story collections? That's a tough one, but here are several I love: Flannery O'Connor's collected short stories (especially "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Revelation), Hemingway's Nick Adams stories (I love his short stories, though I'm not a fan of his novels), and John Cheever's short stories (especially "The Fourth Alarm" and "The Swimmer"). I've also heard good things about Alice Munro....
ReplyDeleteFor an interesting coming-of-age collection (written by various authors), "First Sightings" is also very good.
PS: I LOVE YOUR CARTOON! :)
So I read "The Moustache" the other day and loved it. A very poignant story for sure. Made me think of my grandparents so much--all the missed opportunities I had to learn about them, because I was too busy growing up. Now that I'm all grown up, I'd give anything to hear those stories. Thanks for sharing!
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