1. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    Favorite Short Story?

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Gigi_GNR, Jul 26, 2009.

    What is your absolute favorite short story?

    Mine has to be "Without You" by Del James, because it encompasses so much pain and lost love. Plus, it was the basis of the video for one of my all-time favorite songs by my favorite band, Guns N' Roses (the reason for the GNR part of my name).
     
  2. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. It's probably one of my favorites only because it was the most memorable. I remember reading it at 1 in the morning for school, and although I was really tired, I somehow was sucked into it and ended up liking it.
     
  3. Unit7

    Unit7 Contributor Contributor

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    One of my favorite short story is The Outcast of Poker Flats by Francis Bret Harte. I loved how by the time the story has ended, they were perhaps better people then any of the ones found in the town that kicked them out.

    Also Cyberpunk by Bruce Bethke.
     
  4. arron89

    arron89 Banned

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    Water From the Sun, Bret Easton Ellis.
    The most emotionally draining piece of prose I've ever read. Totally vacuous and empty, and yet as you're falling through this hellish abyss of Eighties California, so much suddenly becomes clear about the human condition. An immensely difficult read (at least I found it to be so), not because of the language or style but because of the effort it takes to empathise with his characters and make meaning of their lives.
    Definitely a must-read, along with the majority of the other short stories in his book The Informers.
     
  5. CharlieVer

    CharlieVer Contributor Contributor

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    Great topic!

    Several come to mind, but I'd have to go with Flowers for Algernon.

    Others worth mentioning include Edgar Allen Poe's Telltale Heart and The Black Cat. Two Stephen King short stories, The Jaunt and Survivor Type really blew me away.
     
  6. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    Oh, I loved Flowers for Algernon! It was so sad at the ending, though. I also read Telltale Heart and Black Cat, coincidentally we read all 3 in my English class. My teacher has good taste. :rolleyes:
     
  7. SameOldSongs

    SameOldSongs New Member

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    I love the subtlety in the dialogue in Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants. :)
     
  8. chrisrozwod

    chrisrozwod New Member

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    My favorite has to be "Bullet in the Brain," by Tobias Wolff.

    Such a messed up format, but it works. I love it.
     
  9. Twisted Inversely

    Twisted Inversely New Member

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    The Star - Arthur C Clarke
    Not with a Whimper Either - Tad Williams
    Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire - Neil Gaiman.

    I like short stories when they are just that, short. Short, simple, with an impact. I suppose that's why I like these ones.
     
  10. rkn

    rkn New Member

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    Honestly, the short story I've thought about most is Shirley Jackson's "the Lottery". Haunting.
     
  11. lovely

    lovely New Member

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    I love a lot of the ones that have been mentioned here already like "The Tell-Tale Heart," "Hills Like White Elephants," and "The Outcasts of Pokerflats." I also really love "Roman Fever," by Edith Wharton, "The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin, "A Rose for Emily," by Faulkner, and "The Cask of Amontillado," by Poe. I could basically go on for days about all of the wonderful short stories there are out there, but my absolute favorite is "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I have read it over and over for school and for fun. I never get tired of it.
     
  12. MSHendrie

    MSHendrie New Member

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    Anything by Edgar Allen Poe namely the classics Raven, Black Cat and so on.
     
  13. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    I love Edgar Allen Poe! He is one of my all-time favorite authors.
     
  14. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    The Pit and the Pendulum was really good too. That and the Cask of Amontillado. I love E.A. Poe. :D
     
  15. bickfordes

    bickfordes New Member

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    My favorite short story is "Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin. She is a master of her craft!
     
  16. Rumpole40k

    Rumpole40k Banned

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    Pickman's Model by H.P. Lovecraft. It has nothing to do with the Cthulhu mythos and is just so well written.
     
  17. JoeMusings

    JoeMusings Member

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    Good Old Neon, by David Foster Wallace

    To date, it is the only short story to have made me cry. In addition, it introduced me to postmodernism and metafiction.

    The story is about a suicidal person. It sounds cliché from the get-go, but it dives deeper, and it becomes both original and genuine. Great read. I recommend it to anyone.
     
  18. Banzai

    Banzai One-time Mod, but on the road to recovery Contributor

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    It's a fairly recent one, but The Clockwork Atom Bomb, by Dominic Green, is one the best short stories I've read :)
     

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