DuncanEwart Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 I'm reading a collection of Alice Munro short stories at the moment. To my shame, this is the first work of hers I have ever read but it won't be the last. She is widely acknowledged as a master short story writer and I can see why. Reading her work has made me think about the other short story writers whose work I've read over the years- writers such as Raymond Carver, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, James Joyce and Katherine Mansfield, all of whom excel in this art form. If I was to pick out only one story as my favourite it would have to be "The Doll's House" by Katherine Mansfield, a work I first read as an undergraduate over thirty years ago and that has stuck in my mind ever since and that always has the same affect upon me regardless of how many times I have read it- it reduces me to tears. It has my two favourite child characters in literature, "the two little Kelveys", and although these kids only appear towards the end of the story it is their introduction that breaks my heart. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historyman Posted May 10, 2018 Report Share Posted May 10, 2018 Is she the author from New Zealand? I think I've read some of her stuff 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted May 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 Yes, Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) is from New Zealand. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpetfitter Posted May 25, 2018 Report Share Posted May 25, 2018 Guy de Maupassant - a wonderful short story writer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted August 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 I recently enjoyed Frank Bill's collection "Crimes in Southern Indiana", especially "A coon hunter's noir" which is probably up there with the very best short stories I have ever read. Pinckney Benedict's "Town Smokes" does not have a bad story in it. I have read his novel "Dogs of God" and although I liked it, I thought a lot of it read like a collection of short stories- many of the chapters could pass as stand alone pieces. You can tell he is better at the shorter form. A master of it, really. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prahakillie Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 Only collections I've really read have been the Irvine Welsh stuff. I'm not really a fan of short stories but I will give your recommendations a try. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted September 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2020 On 5/25/2018 at 10:13 PM, carpetfitter said: Guy de Maupassant - a wonderful short story writer. I've never read any of his stuff, @carpetfitter, but I've just ordered a collected volume of his work entitled "The Best Short Stories". I'm looking forward to reading it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpetfitter Posted September 12, 2020 Report Share Posted September 12, 2020 I hope you enjoy them. Masterful writing. I read them in my teens and have returned to them a few times. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted October 25, 2020 Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 If you enjoy reading short stories you must try Ring Lardner, who wrote about life in Middle America in the 1920s. As he was a sports writer by training, there is a bias towards baseball and boxing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted November 1, 2020 Report Share Posted November 1, 2020 (edited) O. Henry wrote many short stories , practically inventing the "twist in the tail" which many people think is indispensable in a good short story. His "Gift of the Magi" never fails to raise a chuckle in me for its blatant sentimentality, just as Oscar Wilde could never refrain from laughing at the death of Little Nell. Annie Proulx also does some superb short stories as did Neil Munro. The Para Handy stories still stand up quite well and Lewis Grassic Gibbon also has some fine tales. The one in which a mother casually reveals to her children that she had never married their father, thereby exploding their middle-class pretensions is a beezer. It's the title story from a collection called Smeddum. Find it here: Edited November 1, 2020 by jasper inaccuracy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanEwart Posted November 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 I'm pretty sure I've seen a BBC drama of the story "Smeddum", (quite possibly a Play For Today), starring Eileen McCallum. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom061087 Posted March 28, 2021 Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Jack London did some excellent short stories. My favourite is “to build a fire”. Read it probably ten years ago and for whatever reason i still think about it all the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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