1. MsMyth71

    MsMyth71 New Member

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    Favorite Short Story Thread

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by MsMyth71, Mar 25, 2010.

    I'm sorry if this has been done before, but maybe another one wouldn't hurt? Peoples' opinions and tastes change and we get new people on the board.

    So, how about it? What are some favorite short stories out there?

    If you want, give details as to what you like about a particular short story.
     
  2. MsMyth71

    MsMyth71 New Member

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    Here's my short list. I could go on and on, but I'll choose a few that stick out:

    In no particular order:

    "We Didn't," by Stuart Dybek. Wonderful tale, told in the "addressed you" voice--dramatic monologue.
    "Until Gwen," by Dennis LeHane. A mystery story told in the 2nd person. Lovely and sad.
    "Rara Avis," by T.C. Boyle. Imaginative and unsettling.
    "Bullet in the Brain," by Tobias Wolf. Just because. He breaks some rules and pulls it off.
     
  3. Lavarian

    Lavarian Contributor Contributor

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    I'll have more later, but I've always been really fond of To Build a Fire by Jack London.
     
  4. arron89

    arron89 Banned

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    I actually do have a new one since the last time this thread was made....
    Something That Needs Nothing by Miranda July joins Water From the Sun by Bret Easton Ellis and Je Ne Parle Pas Francais by Katherine Mansfield at the top of the list.
     
  5. Banzai

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

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    Ooooh! This I can get into!

    My favourites:

    "The Clockwork Atom Bomb" by Domonic Green
    "All You Zombies" by Robert A. Heinlein
    "Pop Art" by Joe Hill
    "The Last Reef" by Gareth L. Powell

    And a host of others I can't remember at the moment... I read too many short stories.
     
  6. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    Almost every short story by Edgar Allan Poe is my favorite. :D
     
  7. Prometheus

    Prometheus Banned

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    The Cremation of Sam Mc Gee by Robert Service
    Batard by Jack London
    The $30,000 Bequest By Mark Twain
     
  8. jmar2

    jmar2 New Member

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    Light of Other Days by Bob Shaw

    Mimsy Were the Borogoves by Lewis Padgett (pseudonym of Henry Kuttner and his wife C.L. Moore)

    John
     
  9. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    The Scarlet Ibis. That one stuck with me for some reason.
     
  10. Aeschylus

    Aeschylus Member

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    I enjoyed "Children of the Corn" and "I Am the Doorway," both by Stephen King. I also loved "The Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgen. And a bunch of others I can't think of at the moment.
     
  11. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    ^ Stephen King short stories are pretty good. I read one once, can't remember the title, but it was about finding some toy monkey in an attic and people died when it was wound up.
     
  12. MissBelle

    MissBelle New Member

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    A Rose For Emily- Faulkner
    The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
    Young Goodman Brown - Hawthorne
     
  13. Loup

    Loup New Member

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    The Royal Game from Stephan Zweig. Simply amazing. The best short story I have ever read.
     
  14. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    For short stories, hands down, The Death of Dr. Island by Gene Wolfe.
     
  15. Eunoia

    Eunoia Contributor Contributor

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    Not necessarily my favourite, but I like Alice Munro's 'Runaway' and Raymond Carver's 'Elephant and other stories'.
     
  16. Dr. Manhattan

    Dr. Manhattan New Member

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    "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
     
  17. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    The Call of Cthulhu or The Outsider, both by H.P. Lovecraft are in there.
    The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allen Poe is another one.
    Ghosts by Lord Dunsany
    Two-hearted Rivier by Ernest Hemmingway
    The Dead by James Joyce is maybe my favourite however.
     
  18. Afterburner

    Afterburner Active Member

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    Yes, this is also one of my favorites. I don't read a lot of short stories, but I'm actually reading For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming; a collection of five James Bond short stories. I've gotten through two of them, and I really like them both.

    This is where I'm gonna have to disagree with you haha.
     
  19. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    Where did you start agreeing? :p
     
  20. Afterburner

    Afterburner Active Member

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    Haha, well I can't agree or disagree on the others, as I haven't read them, but I had to read The Big Two-Hearted River Part II for one of my classes. I think it's just Hemingway's writing style. His short sentences really irritate me lol.
     
  21. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    Fair enough. For me; I don't mind them. That's just his style.
     
  22. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    I like The Gold Bug; for some reason that one just stuck with me.
     
  23. Sabreur

    Sabreur Contributor Contributor

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    Hills like White Elephants and The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway.
     
  24. Dr. RoxoR

    Dr. RoxoR New Member

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    I like most things from Ray Bradbury, especially the stories in the Martian Chronicles. My favorite one would have to be "Usher II", it's funny and poignant, and has a great ending. And the references to all of Poe's stories don't hurt either.
     
  25. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    The Children of the Night is another good one. Robert E. Howard always wrote the best short stories.
     

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