Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Short: Please vote on this list:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...



I would like to read the all time best, top short stories (not collections).

But what are they?

I have found some lists:

50 great short stories everyone should read
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/20...
(I think this one was mentions in last month short story nomination).

The Guardian: 50 great short stories
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

Rather than trust a few literature reviewers personal opinion, I have come to value Goodread’s collective judgment. Specially this group seems to be very, very well read.

Please, I would like to dig into your knowledge, so head over to the Single Short Story list and vote for your favourites:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
They need not be classic (as in before 2000).

I've voted on the list you linked, but it's pretty difficult to find most short stories as one-off editions, so I'm afraid that list sometimes will miss out.
From the stuff that wasn't there, I thought to recommend Katherine Mansfield. But, as one of my friends said, her stories make for excellent suicide motivators, so please *do not* read those when sad, angry, unhappy - they will make you more so.

3 contemporary stories I really liked this year:
The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
The husband stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson
I think I found them all on tor.com

And I agree with Nente, Katherine Mansfield is great!

I voted on the list but only found 7 of my top faves:

Yellow Wallpaper, The Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
Masque Of The Red Death, The Poe, Edgar Allen
Machine Stops, The Forster, E. M.
Willows, The Blackwood, Algernon
Dead, The Joyce, James
Ligeia Poe, Edgar Allen
Beyond Lies The Wub Dick, Philip K.

others (in rough order):

Youth Conrad, Joseph
Man Who Would Be King, The Kipling, Rudyard
Babylon Revisited Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Babette's Feast (inc.in "Anecdotes of Destiny") Dinesen, Isak (Karen Blixen)
Rock Crystal Stifter, Adalbert
Miss Lonelyhearts West, Nathanael
Night Of Christmas Eve, The Gogol, Nikolai
In the Middle of the Fields Lavin, Mary Josephine
When The Wind Blows Briggs, Raymond

Janelle wrote: "The husband stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson
I think I found them all on tor.com"

Thank you. Found these links:

The Devil in America read online:
https://www.tor.com/2014/04/02/the-de...

The husband stitch read online:
https://granta.com/the-husband-stitch/

The paper menagerie is at https://escapepod.org/2012/05/17/ep34...

This is such an interesting subject. I really enjoyed the Katherine Mansfield stories I read, but my collection wasn't depressing.

It's very hard to rank short stories. There are some authors I think are fantastic at it, like Anton Chekhov. There are some stories I think are so important everyone should read them, like The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. There are some that rise to the level of a great novel, like The Dead by James Joyce. There are some that I love because they are by favorite authors, like Ray Bradbury or Margaret Atwood.

One of my favorite stories ever is a newer one, from 2015, Who Will Greet You at Home by Lesley Nneka Arimah. You can read it here:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

J_Blueflower, thank you for this opportunity. I voted for quite a few (could've voted for many more) and then added my current Poe fave--King Pest.

Sounds like a story of Katherine Mansfield would be a good nomination in the short story school.

Woolf's 'The Mark on the Wall' is worthy of mention, as well as a handful of O'Connor's. I'll have to look through my reviews for more, as short stories are not works that lend well to my recollection.

Individual stories:
"The Old Part of Town" - Fumiko Hayashi
"Jacob's Tokyo Ladder" - Keizō Hino
"The Ladies of Grace Adieu" - Susanna Clarke
"A Clean Sheet" - Tatyana Tolstaya
"The Albanian Virgin" - Alice Munro
"Wunderkind" - Carson McCullers
"An Army Newspaper" - Hassan Blasim
"The End of the Road" - Rokhl Korn
"Moon Bathing" - Yanick Lahens
"Girl" - Jamaica Kincaid
"Report on Heaven and Hell" - Silvina Ocampo
"America" - Chinelo Okparanta
"The Headstrong Historian" - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"In France" - Andrea Lee
"books and roses" - Helen Oyeyemi

Collections:
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories - Angela Carter
The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories - Li Ang
Krik? Krak! - Edwidge Danticat
Love and Longing in Bombay - Vikram Chandra

I have a few short story collections, some by one author, other collections that cross genres. I’m currently about halfway through 100 Classic Short Stories. There are many familiar names such as Dickens, Twain, Poe, Hawthorne, Balzac, TS Eliot, Doyle, Kafka, Jacques Futrelle, Washington Irving—many, many more. A few of these I had read before, but though the authors are familiar, most of the stories are not. They span different genres, and I’ve liked some more than others. I figure it will take me at least another year to finish it, as I read a couple a week.

I have also started working through The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. Have only read a few, but like what I’ve read so far.

A few collections I’ve finished are:

* 75+ Classic Mystery Stories — There are a lot by Arthur Conan Doyle, Poe, Dashiel Hammett and Jacques Futrelle...a lot of writers I had not heard of before, but overall I enjoyed this collection.

* Great American Short Stories

* Selected Short Stories by William Faulkner.

* A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor, one of the September group reads.

* The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding: A Hercule Poirot Short Story by Agatha Christie

* The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

* A Christmas Memory, including One Christmas and The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote


And a few to get to some day:

* Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

* Ordinary Life by Elizabeth Berg

* Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories by P.L. Travers

* Dubliners by James Joyce (have read a couple previously)

* The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

* Collected Stories by Carson McCullers

Heather L wrote: "I have a few short story collections, some by one author, other collections that cross genres. I’m currently about halfway through 100 Classic Short Stories...."

Thank you for the recommendations. I am looking the the best individual short stories. What are you favorites?

I highly recommend Stephanie Vaughn’s collection Sweet Talk. Specially, I loved “Dog Heaven” and “Able Baker Charlie Dog.”

Hey Blueflower, I'll bump up your thread with a new recommendation.
A short sci-fi horror presented as a Wikipedia article: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo
Raises quite some questions, even though I don't really believe the actual technology moves in the same direction the author envisages.

The New Yorker Fiction Podcast is fascinating. They invite an author who has published a short story in the New Yorker to read a favorite story from the archive, then the host and the author discuss it afterwards. Lots of good ones there. https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fic...

As far as personal favorites, I love anything by Ken Liu. He's a genius.

Alisa wrote: "The New Yorker Fiction Podcast is fascinating. They invite an author who has published a short story in the New Yorker to read a favorite story from the archive, then the host and the author discus..."

Thank you for the links, Nenta and Alisa.

Looks very interesting. June 2, 2008-issue was Nabokov Signs and Symbols. A story that really needs to be picked apart.

Also FEB 1, 2019 Joseph O'Neill Reads Nadine Gordimer
That would be good for bingo.

Deborah Treisman Reads David Foster Wallace

Margaret Atwood Reads Alice Munro

APR 3, 2017 Salman Rushdie Reads Italo Calvino

Wow.... where to start!?

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Short: Please vote on this list:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...



I would like to read the all time best, top short stories (not collections).

But what are they?Anton Chekhov

I..."

Yippie another list. I have read 5 of these, if you count Hemmingway as "1". Actually I have read collections by Hemingway. I do love Hemingway. Some of these are just more recent than what I am currently reading. There are also so many older classic short stories by classic authors. I loved the Anton Chekhov stories read recently.

I would also like to say that I enjoyed reading A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories and The Birds and Other Stories with the group. Still my favorite was the Truman Capote collection with "The Christmas Story".

Another author to bring up I think would be F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I'm glad the Guardian list mentioned A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. It's one of my all-time favorites.

Nente wrote: "Hey Blueflower, I'll bump up your thread with a new recommendation.
A short sci-fi horror presented as a Wikipedia article: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo
Raises quite some questions, even though I don..."

Thank you Nente for bumping this thread. I revisited the Listopia from post # 1 for short stories. That is a nice resource you started J.Blueflower. It has grown considerably since I last visited. I had also read a handful more that I could vote on. This is an extensive list if anyone is interested:

I have read many that show as unread because I read them in collections. Do others generally rate the individual stories of collections? I have only done that if I’ve picked a particular story to read. This happens sometimes for group short-story reads.

Annette wrote: "I have read many that show as unread because I read them in collections. Do others generally rate the individual stories of collections? I have only done that if I’ve picked a particular story to r..."

I used to list only collections, but recently I changed that; now for new reads I am listing them individually if they are available as a "book" on Goodreads. I also started a short story shelf. With so many short stories available from Gutengerg.org I found individual listings easier to keep up with. Also, I have been using old textbook anthologies, so those are never a single author collection.

Oh I also like listing stories individually, but then I find that these individual editions are too often combined back into collections, for reasons. Just can't care anymore, I note in the review what stories I read if that's important for me, and go on.

I keep wanting to recommend a short story by Mikhail Veller called "The Test" - but although it's all over the internet in Russian, I can't see that it was ever translated into English. So good - I think I read it about 15 years ago, and it stayed with me. Almost enough to tempt one to dig out that old and mouldy translation degree.

Annette wrote: "I have read many that show as unread because I read them in collections. Do others generally rate the individual stories of collections? I have only done that if I’ve picked a particular story to read..."

Same here—I have read many (mostly in high school or college) that show as “not read” here. I don’t usually count the individual stories, especially with multiple collections in progress at the moment. My only issue with the listopia is that some titles included on it are actually (technically) novellas or essays, not what is usually defined as a “short” story.

Nente wrote: "these individual editions are too often combined back into collections, for reasons. Just can't care anymore, I note in the review ..."

Yes, it is annoying.

Just saw it had happened to two of the stories I had votes on
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
I have removed my two unintended votes for a collections.

I doubt many of my favorite short stories have been deemed important enough by the publishing status quo to get their own individual editions, so.

Heather L wrote: "Annette wrote: "I have read many that show as unread because I read them in collections. Do others generally rate the individual stories of collections? I have only done that if I’ve picked a parti..."

Yes our group's "Short Story" category includes novellas - up to 135 pages. This may not be technically a short story, but I also place them on my short story shelf for convenience sake. Shelf titles need to be short.

Aubrey wrote: "I doubt many of my favorite short stories have been deemed important enough by the publishing status quo to get their own individual editions, so."

I find the individual listings tend to be prominent name authors in the public domain. It's about the new ebook publishers mostly. They rip off the free work by Project Gutenberg volunteers, I suspect.

Same thing happened to me. When my mother died in 1996, I was using AOL dial-up. She was a historical researcher focusing on genealogy . I inherited a library of rare books and all her short hand / hand typed files. I spent about six months typing in copies of original wills, deeds, courts records, etc onto Geneology.com. We had family forums. I wanted to freely share information. Our website was purchased and now I have to pay a monthly fee just to access the hours and hours of things I posted. Forget it.

Nente wrote: "Hey Blueflower, I'll bump up your thread with a new recommendation.
A short sci-fi horror presented as a Wikipedia article: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo
Raises quite some questions, even though I don..."

This is excellent! 5 stars and need to reread. Thank you very much for the link.

Link to the story on goodreads: Lena

I thought I would draw attention to this thread as we are planning for 2022 challenges. There are so many good suggestions here.

I think I will start my Short Stories Challenge with selections from The Grey Woman and Other Tales, the Original Classic Short Story Collection by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Heather L wrote: "I have a few short story collections, some by one author, other collections that cross genres. I’m currently about halfway through 100 Classic Short Stories. There are many familiar..."

* 75+ Classic Mystery Stories — There are a lot by Arthur Conan Doyle, Poe, Dashiel Hammett and Jacques Futrelle...a lot of writers I had not heard of before, but overall I enjoyed this collection.

I thought I would respond to this with a little info about Jacques Futrelle. He was a mystery writer at the beginning of his career. He died young, because he was a passenger on the "Titanic". He is a distant cousin to me and this story is one passed down in my family.

Lynn — How interesting that you are related to Jacques Futrelle! I had never heard of him until I encountered his writing in a couple of these classic short story collections. I liked his writing, which prompted me to do a web search on him. I thought it sad such a great talent died so young on the Titanic. Since he was also a journalist, I imagined he was likely on board covering the maiden voyage — though I’m sure the experience would have made it into one of his stories eventually, or perhaps even a novel.

I would like to point to
Alisa wrote: "The New Yorker Fiction Podcast is fascinating. They invite an author who has published a short story in the New Yorker to read a favorite story from the archive, then the host and the author discus..."

https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fic...

Thank you very much, Alisa, for the recommendation.

I really like the concept and there are some fine stories here. If any one else is listening, what are you favorites?

The best one I have heard to far is "Hisham Matar reads Jorge Luis Borges"
https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fic...
The story is Shakespeare's Memory

Oh, The Story of an Hour is fantastic. Thanks for the reminder I need to re-read that, Jillian.

Two stand-outs for me in the last year or so were:
The Cabuliwallah by Rabindranath Tagore
and
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

Looking forward to what stories the group discovers in 2022!

I think that Mary Lavin’s work is not that widely known simply because the short story was her principal focus. I have put one of her collections into my Bingo challenge this year.

I don't think Katherine Anne Porter has been mentioned yet? She wrote several short story collections that had gems.

Another that comes to mind is is The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe.

I really do like Katherine Mansfield as well, though she's already been mentioned. "The Garden Party" is often antholigized, rightly so.

I'm very fond of A Small, Good Thing by Raymond Carver

And there was a wonderful ghost story by John Galsworthy that I have in an anthology boxed up somewhere.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I'm glad the Guardian list mentioned A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. It's one of my all-time favorites."

Many of her short stories are fantastic, that one in particular!

Greg wrote: "I don't think Katherine Anne Porter has been mentioned yet? She wrote several short story collections that had gems.



Yes Greg, Katherine Anne Porter is a powerful writer. The Jilting of Granny Weatherall was a "gut punch".

Lynn wrote: "Yes Greg, Katherine Anne Porter is a powerful writer. The Jilting of Granny Weatherall was a "gut punch""

Love that one Lynn!

My favorites:

How Beautiful With Shoes
The Scarlet Ibis: The Collection of Wonder
For Esme—With Love and Squalor, and Other Stories
Tomorrow
Anything by Edith Wharton, but especially her ghost stories The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton

I would like to point to this list again:
Single Short Story:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Please vote for your favorite short stories. They need not be classics for this list (but most seems to be anyway).

updated my voting by adding votes to:
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I enjoyed short stories a lot about a decade ago, mostly those of JD. Salinger.
In the last year I fell out of my habit of inhaling books, and to lure myself back into my great passion for reading I started with short stories, and utterly got hooked. I read close to 100 stories by now, quite a few of that I consumed as audio books while painting.
So here are my favorites out of the bunch I read:
The Gift of the Magi
The Fall of the House of Usher - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
The Lottery
The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories
The Oblong Box
Lamb to the Slaughter
Dip in the Pool
The Masque of the Red Death
The Way Up to Heaven
The Landlady
The Egg

William Maxwell is among the best at this art.

So here is a list of some personal favorite short stories.

Literary Short stories
The Gentle Boy by Nathaniel Hawthorne
David Swan by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain
A Mother in Mannville by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Idyl of Red Gulch by Bret Harte
NOTE : language


Science Fiction Short Stories
The Sound of Thunder: The Courtney Series 2 by Ray Bradbury
All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury
Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven
Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson
A Rose for Ecclesiastes by Roger Zelazny
To See the Invisible Man by Robert Silverberg
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
Desertion by Clifford D. Simak