My Favorite/Recommended Short Stories - Please tell me yours! - Page 3

deadgloves · 10-24-2010, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Laugh it up, fuzz ball.

FlorenceArt · 10-24-2010, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadgloves

doh. I meant Maupassant. I get my dead frenchmen mixed up in the middle of the night. My bad.

Oh yes, Maupassant is a master!

kennyc · 10-24-2010, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadgloves

Laugh it up, fuzz ball.

wait'll you see the faux-paux I make.

FlorenceArt · 10-24-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadgloves

doh. I meant Maupassant. I get my dead frenchmen mixed up in the middle of the night. My bad.

Well, thanks to you I just downloaded all of his short stories I could find. I have read a few of them, but not that many. His novels are not as good, from what I have seen.

NightBird · 10-24-2010, 02:44 PM

SciFi/Fantasy - all available from Fictionwise:

Robert Silverberg
-Homefaring
-Sailing to Byzantium
-Schwartz Between the Galaxies
-The Secret Sharer

Kristine Kathryn Rusch
-Echea
-Scars

Mike Resnick
-Hothouse Flowers

George Zebrowski
-In the Distance, and Ahead in Time
-This Life and Later Ones
-Transfigured Night

Kate Wilhelm
-The Look Alike

George R.R. Martin
-The Pear-Shaped Man

Horror originally discovered at Horrormasters.com, but some available for free at Amazon and probably here at MR:

Fitz-James O'Brien
-The Diamond Lens
-Seeing The World
-The Wondersmith

Oliver Onions
-The Beckoning Fair One

William Hope Hodgson
-The Derelict
-The Voice in the Night

Charlotte Perkins Gilman
-The Yellow Wallpaper

Clemence Housman
-The Were-Wolf

Hans Heinz Ewers
-The Spider

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
-Green Tea

M.R. James
-The Mezzotint

P. H. Villiers de L’isle Adam
-Torture By Hope

Harriet Prescott Spofford
-Circumstance

deadgloves · 10-24-2010, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

wait'll you see the faux-paux I make.

I'm as a jungle cat, ready to pounce... and point and laugh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Well, thanks to you I just downloaded all of his short stories I could find. I have read a few of them, but not that many. His novels are not as good, from what I have seen.

Growing up I would read his works from a copy we inherited from a great aunt. Bound in soft, sued-like leather, bible thin pages edged in gold leaf... gorgeous, but not a copy you can take on the plane or in the bathtub.

I think I'll follow your example and also go on a downloading spree.

deadgloves · 10-24-2010, 11:18 PM

This is going to sound totally random, overly long, and a bit off topic but downloading Maupassant reminded me of something. Consider this a recommend short story if you must.

In High School we were assigned Maupassant's 'The Necklace' to teach to the class. Our group consisted of myself, two friends, and unfortunate guy that got stuck with us by the teacher- This guy, I shall now call 'Tom.'

My one friend, said we should recreate the story using her Barbies. I actually thought that was a horrible idea. Heck, admitting you still had Barbies in HS was sounded like a horrible idea, but my two friends were set on it and Tom was apathetic about the whole assignment. So Barbies it was. We worked out that instead of diamonds for a beaded necklace she would trade in Barbie's pink convertible for a Barbie scooter. I promised I'd write up a script in time for class tomorrow.

This, of course, meant I wrote it all in study-hall right before class, giving us no time to practice or review what I wrote.

So there we stood in front of a class of our peers; three losers and one reluctant guy playing with Barbies. My script was silly and over the top. I'd removed all Maupassant's subtle story telling and masterful command of human motivation and replaced it with a freight train of telegraphed dialogue designed to get the idea across as quickly and as obviously as possible. Titters could be heard from the students as Barbie tottered across the stage through flashbacks of her youth, getting bamboozled by the slimy used car salesman, and eventually 'vrooming' away in her new/used scooter.

Then the moment came when she confronts Ken, her husband, with her ridiculous purchase, exclaiming something like, "Honey, you know that new Mercedes you just bought me? I got an amazing deal! I swapped it for a scooter like I had in college. The salesman only charged me $15,000 for it with the trade in, isn't that great!"

There in my script Ken's reaction read,

Ken: "What! I... need to sit down."

I realized at that moment, that this was a very poor choice of words for a character lacking knees. I actually panicked a bit, but Tom just read his lines with a shocked voice. Then with a surprising show of initiative, Tom, forced Ken bodily into a sitting position. Feet out, arms akimbo, Ken plopped down before his wife in a complete failure of grace and emotional expression. Our audience exploded with laugher.

Muffled giggles continued even after the play was finished and as the teacher tried to ask us about the themes of the story.
It was epic example of 4 slackers slacking.

One reviewer declared it, 'The best thing I've ever seen!'

The End. I'm sure Maupassant would have been proud.

brecklundin · 10-25-2010, 12:12 AM

One that always stuck with me was...oh, the links are to Google Books readable scans of a good portion of each book, except, of course for Stephen King because he needs his money after all.

The Raft (aka. "The Float", apparently anyway) by Stephen King

Also from my younger years was actually a collection of short stories by Issac Asimov. They are all sort of "locked room" mysteries. As I recall the collection was "The Black Widowers Society".

A couple other short story anthologies are The Callahan Chronicals by Spider Robinson as well as The Sam Gunn Omnibus by Ben Bova. I found both collections by accident and could put neither down until I was done. Ironically the forward to The Callahan Chronicles was written by Ben Bova, the author of the second set. Something I just now noticed...weird!

BenG · 10-31-2010, 11:40 AM

Sometimes Google Books has an extensive preview of books with pages removed at random. If it's a collection of short stories you can read several individual stories.
The Treasury of Avram Davidson is like that:
http://books.google.com/books?id=rnb...page&q&f=false

Before you start reading, scroll down and make sure the entire story is there. There's a notice whenever pages are missing.

Also, I mentioned this in the what are you reading thread, but Connie Willis' novelette, Fire Watch, is available at the Infinity Plus website:
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/firewatch.htm

kennyc · 10-31-2010, 01:54 PM

Sort of on topic.

I just ran across this website that has links to a ton of classic short stories:

http://www.world-english.org/stories.htm

edbro · 10-31-2010, 08:50 PM

Joyce Carol Oates has a new collection of short stories out. Sugerland:Stories. I have not read them yet but she is one of my favorite authors.

kennyc · 10-31-2010, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edbro

Joyce Carol Oates has a new collection of short stories out. Sugerland:Stories. I have not read them yet but she is one of my favorite authors.

Sour?land I think? Link: http://www.amazon.com/Sourland-Stori...tt_at_ep_dpi_1

Krystian Galaj · 10-31-2010, 10:02 PM

All You Zombies - Robert A. Heinlein

edbro · 11-01-2010, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Sour?land I think? Link: http://www.amazon.com/Sourland-Stori...tt_at_ep_dpi_1

Sweet - Sour, What's the diff?

You are correct, it is indeed Sourland

kennyc · 11-01-2010, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edbro

Sweet - Sour, What's the diff?

You are correct, it is indeed Sourland

I love sweet&sour!

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10-24-2010, 02:44 PM	#35
NightBird Wizard Posts: 2,364 Karma: 3724797 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: California Device: KPW, KF, KF HD, iPod Touch	SciFi/Fantasy - all available from Fictionwise: Robert Silverberg -Homefaring -Sailing to Byzantium -Schwartz Between the Galaxies -The Secret Sharer Kristine Kathryn Rusch -Echea -Scars Mike Resnick -Hothouse Flowers George Zebrowski -In the Distance, and Ahead in Time -This Life and Later Ones -Transfigured Night Kate Wilhelm -The Look Alike George R.R. Martin -The Pear-Shaped Man Horror originally discovered at Horrormasters.com, but some available for free at Amazon and probably here at MR: Fitz-James O'Brien -The Diamond Lens -Seeing The World -The Wondersmith Oliver Onions -The Beckoning Fair One William Hope Hodgson -The Derelict -The Voice in the Night Charlotte Perkins Gilman -The Yellow Wallpaper Clemence Housman -The Were-Wolf Hans Heinz Ewers -The Spider Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu -Green Tea M.R. James -The Mezzotint P. H. Villiers de L’isle Adam -Torture By Hope Harriet Prescott Spofford -Circumstance

10-24-2010, 11:18 PM	#37
deadgloves Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 2634 Join Date: May 2010 Device: PRS650	This is going to sound totally random, overly long, and a bit off topic but downloading Maupassant reminded me of something. Consider this a recommend short story if you must. In High School we were assigned Maupassant's 'The Necklace' to teach to the class. Our group consisted of myself, two friends, and unfortunate guy that got stuck with us by the teacher- This guy, I shall now call 'Tom.' My one friend, said we should recreate the story using her Barbies. I actually thought that was a horrible idea. Heck, admitting you still had Barbies in HS was sounded like a horrible idea, but my two friends were set on it and Tom was apathetic about the whole assignment. So Barbies it was. We worked out that instead of diamonds for a beaded necklace she would trade in Barbie's pink convertible for a Barbie scooter. I promised I'd write up a script in time for class tomorrow. This, of course, meant I wrote it all in study-hall right before class, giving us no time to practice or review what I wrote. So there we stood in front of a class of our peers; three losers and one reluctant guy playing with Barbies. My script was silly and over the top. I'd removed all Maupassant's subtle story telling and masterful command of human motivation and replaced it with a freight train of telegraphed dialogue designed to get the idea across as quickly and as obviously as possible. Titters could be heard from the students as Barbie tottered across the stage through flashbacks of her youth, getting bamboozled by the slimy used car salesman, and eventually 'vrooming' away in her new/used scooter. Then the moment came when she confronts Ken, her husband, with her ridiculous purchase, exclaiming something like, "Honey, you know that new Mercedes you just bought me? I got an amazing deal! I swapped it for a scooter like I had in college. The salesman only charged me $15,000 for it with the trade in, isn't that great!" There in my script Ken's reaction read, Ken: "What! I... need to sit down." I realized at that moment, that this was a very poor choice of words for a character lacking knees. I actually panicked a bit, but Tom just read his lines with a shocked voice. Then with a surprising show of initiative, Tom, forced Ken bodily into a sitting position. Feet out, arms akimbo, Ken plopped down before his wife in a complete failure of grace and emotional expression. Our audience exploded with laugher. Muffled giggles continued even after the play was finished and as the teacher tried to ask us about the themes of the story. It was epic example of 4 slackers slacking. One reviewer declared it, 'The best thing I've ever seen!' The End. I'm sure Maupassant would have been proud.

10-25-2010, 12:12 AM	#38
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	One that always stuck with me was...oh, the links are to Google Books readable scans of a good portion of each book, except, of course for Stephen King because he needs his money after all. The Raft (aka. "The Float", apparently anyway) by Stephen King Also from my younger years was actually a collection of short stories by Issac Asimov. They are all sort of "locked room" mysteries. As I recall the collection was "The Black Widowers Society". A couple other short story anthologies are The Callahan Chronicals by Spider Robinson as well as The Sam Gunn Omnibus by Ben Bova. I found both collections by accident and could put neither down until I was done. Ironically the forward to The Callahan Chronicles was written by Ben Bova, the author of the second set. Something I just now noticed...weird!

10-31-2010, 11:40 AM	#39
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,730 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	Sometimes Google Books has an extensive preview of books with pages removed at random. If it's a collection of short stories you can read several individual stories. The Treasury of Avram Davidson is like that: http://books.google.com/books?id=rnb...page&q&f=false Before you start reading, scroll down and make sure the entire story is there. There's a notice whenever pages are missing. Also, I mentioned this in the what are you reading thread, but Connie Willis' novelette, Fire Watch, is available at the Infinity Plus website: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/firewatch.htm

10-31-2010, 01:54 PM	#40
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,930 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2 & PW, Onyx Boox Go6	Sort of on topic. I just ran across this website that has links to a ton of classic short stories: http://www.world-english.org/stories.htm

10-31-2010, 08:50 PM	#41
edbro Banned Posts: 640 Karma: 4911 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Grapevine, TX Device: iPad4	Joyce Carol Oates has a new collection of short stories out. Sugerland:Stories. I have not read them yet but she is one of my favorite authors.

10-31-2010, 10:02 PM	#43
Krystian Galaj Guru Posts: 820 Karma: 11012 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Warsaw, Poland Device: Bookeen Cybook	All You Zombies - Robert A. Heinlein