The Short Story Thread

[VideoChrist]

"Bronsky" is right in the tradition of an early Hugo winner, "That Hell-Bound Train." Forget your biases and give it up for quality . . . and a story you might actually want to read again someday.

[J-Sun]

And "Or All the Seas with Oysters" and so on - but there were no WFAs then (briefly an IFA very early on). No bias to forget regarding the story's quality - just which award it should get. That said, I wouldn't pitch a fit if it did win. I just think SF is basically getting swallowed up in fantasy these days - fantasy awards go to only fantasy works while SF awards go to either SF or fantasy (and more and more fantasy). Doesn't hardly seem fair.

[jojajihisc]

Four more from last year that I liked.

"Clean" by John Kessel about a man with Alzheimer's disease that can stop his degeneration but at a high price.

"Day 29" by Chris Beckett about a space traveler who is approaching his time to be sent home via a conversion to an electro-magnetic pulse and will loose all memory within 28 days of his transmission.

"Purple" by Robert Reed is about human prisoners kept as pets by aliens. This story is really intense and is bound to put some people off.

"Younger Women" by Karen Joy Fowler is about a mother of a recalcitrant daughter and her new and unusual boyfriend.

[Connavar]

I read my second Borges story for a short story evening arranged by my Uni literary students club. Funny going to a real book club and talking about an author, a short story for two hours.

Anyway i read Ibn-Hakam al-Bokhari, Murdered in His Labryinth

A 7 page supernatural mystery short story that was two versions of a King who died in a Labyrinth.

[Fried Egg]

I just read a really interesting story by Franz Kafka called "A Little Woman" which, for some reason, tickled me.

[Connavar]

Has anyone ever heard about this author called Saki?

I have just read few stories of his with a character Reginald in The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope. They were so satirical about every victorian topic. Rare to read outright humor stories that is actually subtle,funny.

[Randy M.]

Originally Posted by Connavar

Has anyone ever heard about this author called Saki?

I have just read few stories of his with a character Reginald in The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope. They were so satirical about every victorian topic. Rare to read outright humor stories that is actually subtle,funny.

I'm surprised no one else has responded to this.

Saki was well-known for his ghost stories as well as his humor, stories like "Gabriel Ernest" and "The Open Window." I'm not sure where you are, Connavar, but I recall that Barnes & Noble in the U.S. put out a huge collection of his work a few years ago. I haven't seen it in awhile, but I'd bet if there's one such collection there are others.

I remember in early college a teacher gave me a paperback collection of his stories and I greatly enjoyed them.

Randy M.

[Randy M.]

Recently finished To Charles Fort, With Love by Caitlin Kiernan. Several good stories, but possibly the most striking was the last, "Andromeda Among the Stones," which recounts the story of a family that takes on the responsibility of shielding one world from other worlds, and the cost of that responsibility. It's harrowing and sad and beautifully written.


Randy M.

[dask]

I read recently read a story of his called "The Music On The Hill" in this anthology. I'm always suspicious of single name authors but I remember liking this spooker a lot.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Randy M.

Saki was well-known for his ghost stories as well as his humor[...]

And his blending of both. Though he also wrote that rather nasty little classic, "Sredni Vashtar", whose pungency I don't think even L. P. Hartley could have surpassed....

In other words, Conn: Any time you come across his work, do not stop, do not hesitate... just grab it and run.....

Speaking of such writers... I forget: Have you ever read any of the stories of John Collier? If not, I'd strongly suggest looking up a copy of Fancies and Goodnights.....

[Connavar]

When i read Saki i got everything i wanted from witty,satirizing his times type author. Everything i assumed people hailed an author like P.G Wodehouse for and then i read he influenced Wodehouse in his bio. I cant remember last time i laughed at subtle,witty humor. Usually i read parody, more crude stand up type humor.

Funny enough it also says he is compared to O.Henry as a master of short story. I bought The Gift of Magi by O.Henry at the same time as i bought this Saki collection.

I was impressed by Saki's ability with the short story. I havent seen any macabre parts of the stories i read. Any author who can write great short stories that are at max 10-14 pages is someone to read much more of. I will get his complete collection !

I also read he died in the last two years of World War I, just like William Hope Hodgson. I wonder how many classic authors today died then really.

[Randy M.]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

And his blending of both. Though he also wrote that rather nasty little classic, "Sredni Vashtar", whose pungency I don't think even L. P. Hartley could have surpassed....

In other words, Conn: Any time you come across his work, do not stop, do not hesitate... just grab it and run.....

Speaking of such writers... I forget: Have you ever read any of the stories of John Collier? If not, I'd strongly suggest looking up a copy of Fancies and Goodnights.....

Great call, especially since it was reissued lately, at least in the U.S., by NYRB. Even after reading them several times, I still find "Evening Primrose" startling, "Back for Christmas" amusing, and "Bird of Prey" disturbing (and, I think, it was recently included in the Vandermeer's The Weird). The other stories range from funny to unsetting, and a few are both -- note especially "The Lady on the Grey" and "A Touch of Nutmeg Makes It."

I think of Saki and Collier as being alike in that there's really no one else quite like them. I haven't read much of Gerald Kersh, but some of his stories shared some of that kind of inventiveness, though they seem a bit earthier. I've read even less Roald Dahl, but what I've heard about him, maybe a bit of his work shares aspects of theirs. And some stories by Fredric Brown lean in their direction, but his humor is nowhere near as understated.


Randy M.

[Connavar]

Im enjoying my first SF storytelling of Henry Kuttner in Robot Have No Tails collection. The Galloway Gallagher stories.

The second story "The World is Mine" about fuzzy rabit like martians and Gallager trying to solve the murder of his future self was so wacky and hilarious that i was wondering what people around me in the coffee shop i was reading the story thought about my laughing hehe.

[j. d. worthington]

Randy, I would say you're pretty much spot on on all counts, save that I think Dahl shares a bit more of that approach. Yes, I suppose it is fair to say that Kersh is a bit earthier -- an apt description, that -- yet his craftsmanship is often underrated. I've found that (at least with his shorter tales) on first reading, they seem a bit rougher hewn, yet they stick with me... and on rereading, I find that (like Bierce) there is a good deal more subtlety going on than a first perusal usually indicates....

I must admit, too, that I am especially fond of the collection Nightshade and Damnations, and would highly recommend it to anyone who is curious about Kersh, but hasn't read him before....

I was also unaware of the rerelease of Fancies and Goodnights; something I am very glad to hear about....

[Fried Egg]

I just finished a story of note: "Vrolyk" by Mark Sammuels. A very effective weird horror tale that offered another take on the idea of "body snatchers". Taken from the collection "The White Hands and Other Weird Stories".