1. Masked Mole

    Masked Mole Senior Member

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    Any Short Stories That Have Stuck With You?

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Masked Mole, Jun 13, 2015.

    Have you ever been so enamored with a short story that you just couldn't forget it?
    I have a few that stick with me.
    The Short, Happy Life of Francis McComber by Ernest Hemingway (I absolutely love how the title works with the feel of the story)
    Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway (Accurately portrays how humans try to cover over guilt)
    The Carriage House by Gogol (Very funny and witty, with a good moral)
    There was also a Stephen King short story about a man who dies and has to make a choice to live his life over again or go to an uncertain destination. I forget the title, but the concept stuck with me.
    Anyway, let's hear yours.
     
  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    The Death of Dr. Island, Gene Wolfe. Gorgeously written and deeply layered.
     
  3. The Mad Regent

    The Mad Regent Senior Member

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    Sredni Vashtar by Saki aka Hector Hugh Munro. (It always reminded me of the fictitious worlds we immerse ourselves in to escape the pains and burdens of life, like the dying boy did.)

    The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens. (Who could forget such a genius piece?)
    The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe. (An amazing grim tale with justice for cats! I love cats. :supergrin:)

    Though it isn't a short story, the Birthday Party by Harold Pinter always stuck with me as well: so much interpretation to be derived from it.
     
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  4. JessAlways

    JessAlways Member

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    The Stephen King short story you are referring to is entitled "Afterlife."
    That would be my favorite, I think.
     
  5. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Pick up a collection by William Trevor. Great stuff.
     
  6. Ben414

    Ben414 Contributor Contributor

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    The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy.
     
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  7. Masked Mole

    Masked Mole Senior Member

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    Nicely done. I love that one too.
     
  8. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain was pretty memorable; it was written in a very intense way.
    Too many shorts to mention by Edgar Allan Poe.
    Om Gud by Jonas Gardell and Svålhålet by Mikael Niemi. Both are Swedish short story collections and they stuck with me 'cause they were so incredibly funny yet emotional.

    There are probably many more, but those I could think of off the top of my head.

    One of the very few works by Hemingway that I liked. It was particularly memorable because I read it out loud with my husband in front of the class (the lecturer decided we should read it).
     
  9. Mocheo Timo

    Mocheo Timo Senior Member

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    A good man is hard to find by Flannery O' Connor.
     
  10. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Silent Snow, Secret Snow has stuck with me since I first had to read it in school.
     
  11. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Also Everything That Rises Must Converge.
     
  12. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    I always come back to The Last Question by Isaac Asimov. It's available online somewhere or another.

    Ooh and Poe's Tell-Tale Heart. My mom had a collection of his short stories that I read and reread I don't know how many times.
     
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  13. Lancie

    Lancie Senior Member

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    The Apple Tree by Daphne du Maurier and Lost Hearts by M.R James are my favourites.

    And for some reason, a short story that was in my GCSE anthology called Snowdrops by Leslie Norris. I loved that story.
     
  14. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Joyce, The Dead has to be on the list.
     
  15. No-Name Slob

    No-Name Slob Member Supporter Contributor

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    The Tell-Tale Heart - Poe
    Harrison Bergeron - Vonnegut
     
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  16. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Last edited: Jun 16, 2015
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  17. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Oh definitely! I cried over that story, don't remember how old I was.
     
  18. Lancie

    Lancie Senior Member

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    I've had an M.R James kick now, and forgot about Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You My Lad. That always gives me shivers.
     
  19. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    MR James is amazing.

    But short stories that have stayed with me ... gosh, too many! Here are a few:

    -'Call of Cthulhu' and 'Whisperer in Darkness' by H.P. Lovecraft
    -'Bartleby the Scrivener'by Herman Melville
    -'The Short Happy Life of Francis MacComber', 'The Old Man and the Sea', and 'The End of Something' by Ernest Hemingway
    -anything by Raymond Carver,
    -The dialogues of Plato could I suppose be called short stories
    -'Life of a Stupid Man', 'Rahomon', 'Hell Screen', 'Spinning Gears', 'Dragon', and 'Green Onions' by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
    -'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' and 'Birthday Girl' by Haruki Murakami
    -'The Man in the Black Suit' by Stephen King
    -'Metamorphosis' and 'Country Doctor' by Franz Kafka
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2015
  20. Hubardo

    Hubardo Contributor Contributor

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    I have a short story anthology by Ursula K. LeGuin and there's one about gender that I think about sometimes. I can't remember the title though...
     
  21. Phil Partington

    Phil Partington Member

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    Some of my favorites of all time:

    - Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappacini's Daughter
    -
    Ray Bradbury's The Veldt
    - Ray Bradbury's The Earth Men (part of The Martian Chronicles)
    - Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
    - D.H. Lawrence's The Rockinghorse Winner
    - Charlotte Perkins Gilmans' The Yellow Wallpaper

    Clearly, I like it dark lol
     
  22. Phil Partington

    Phil Partington Member

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    Oooh Lovecraft! How could I forget him?
     
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  23. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    Maybe because he wasn't as good a writer (or person :() as he was a storyteller?

    Personally, I would have to say Burning Girls, by Veronica Schanoes. The first time I read it, I thought that the resolution to the conflict was disappointingly derivative, however I have since decided that the ending was the greatest twist ending I have ever read in my life :).

    And by ":)" I of course mean ":eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:"

    EDIT: It's about a family of early 20-th century European immigrants who find themselves haunted by a demon when they move to America.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2015
  24. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    Well, he was an absolutely terrible poet.
     
  25. Phil Partington

    Phil Partington Member

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    Eh, a lot of 'greats' didn't make that transition well.
     

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