Favourite Short Story

[jojajihisc]

Originally Posted by springs1971

Orson Scott Card: Maps in a Mirror; I think he's a much better short writer than novellist and some of them stay with you forever.

I've heard that before. I've only read a couple of either though. Any other short stories of his you'd recommend?

[springs]

Originally Posted by jojajihisc

I've heard that before. I've only read a couple of either though. Any other short stories of his you'd recommend?

Well, this sent me happily through an anthology I love and stays by my bed, but I rarely get round to reading.

Yet, when I looked at it I realised some of these stories come into my mind time and time again. It's a huge anthology; combined 1 and 2 but my favourites are probably

Lost Boys
Unaccompainied Sonata
A plague of butterflies
Porcelain salamander; how often do I feel like one, like if I stop moving it all ends? Busy busy busy.

But if you like Scott card, I recommend it. A lot.

[JamestheLast]

Among my favorites:

An Appointment in Samarra attributed to W. Somerset Maugham
although I know it as recited by Boris Karloff not from print.
The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce
The Black Cat by Poe
The Interlopers by Saki

After I post this I know I will think of a few more.
I am really fond of Richard Matheson short stories but I know his work best from tv versions--like his Prey.

[Randy M.]

Originally Posted by MJRevell

What is your favourite short story and why? Is there a collection of short stories you particularly like?

Only one??!! Hoo, boy ... Okay. I'll try.

"Homecoming" by Ray Bradbury -- I would nominate this as one of the great, if not the greatest, American fantasy short story of the 20th century. It takes the tropes of the horror story and makes a very human statement about love and loss, about being an outsider and also about family. (If I didn't choose this, I'd probably go with Fritz Leiber's "Smoke Ghost".)

And there are so many great collections:
The Martian Chronicles and The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Good Neighbors and Other Strangers and Still I Persist in Wondering by Edgar Pangborn
The Collected Stories of Ernest Hemingway
Collected Stories by Raymond Chandler
The Selected Stories of Ring Lardner
12 Stories by Frank O' Connor
The Two Sams by Glen Hirshberg
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Night's Black Agents & You're All Alone by Fritz Leiber
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories & Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler
None So Brave by Joe Haldeman
Extremities by Kathe Koja
Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith
The Throne of Bones by Brian MacNaughton
The Collected Stories of William Faulkner
The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
Seven Men by Max Beerbohm
The Continental Op & The Big Knockover by Dashiell Hammett



Randy M.

[Alex, The G and T]

Too many dozens of candidates. And tons of great titles named in this thread.

Here's a few that have stuck in my mind over the years:

Fritz Leiber, Gonna Roll the Bones for vivid imagery
Ambrose Bierce An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge wicked twist-turney
Edgar Allen Poe The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether Humorous Horror? tweaking the fine line between madness and sanity

[calyxte]

My absolute favorite is 'Space-time for Springers' by Fritz Leiber. Lovely and sad.

There was also one called 'Allies' that was published not so long ago, about dogs and their relation to humans during an alien invasion/extermination, but I can't remember the author right now.

[Sapha]

I apologise if my forum archeology offends, I didn't want to post any redundant threads.

A Sound of Thunder byRay Bradbury
The Lame Shall Enter First by Flannery O'Connor
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Telltale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

...are a few of my favourite short stories.

*puts her fedora back on her head and grabs her bullwhip*

[Illusive]

SF Stories:

"The Veldt," Ray Bradbury
"'Repent Harlequin' Said the Ticktock Man" & "I have no Mouth and I Must Scream," & "The Prowler at the Edge of the World," (best when read alongside "A Toy for Juliette," Bloch) Harlan Ellison
"The Gernsback Continuum," William Gibson
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," Ursula K. Leguin
"Nightfall," Asimov
"Faith of Our Fathers," PKD

Non SF:
"The Dead," Joyce
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" & "Eyes of a Blue Dog," Garcia-Marquez
"The Duel," Borges
"Patriotism," Mushimo
"What We Talk About when We Talk About Love," Carver
"How To Tell a True War Story," O'Brien
"The Swimmer," Cheever
"The Black Cat," Poe


I guess that's a pretty odd mix, but I am sort of a fan of the short story, and those are the ones that come to mind.

[Dante DiBenedetto]

The Right Hand of Doom by Robert E. Howard was a favorite of mine as a kid. It's certainly not the best I've read, but it holds a special place in my heart.

Nowadays, I couldn't tell you. I've read some many high quality short stories, I wouldn't know where to start.

[nightdreamer]

Mine has to be "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett, not, I must point out, SFF. It's one that I probably never would have chosen to read on my own, but was required to in a class on speculative fiction that I took. I can't see where it's even that speculative. As for why I like it, I've long been a feminist and girl empowerment advocate, and young Sylvia kicks some ethical butt. She reminds me a lot of Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird.

Picking my favourite SFF is a bit tougher. I'm not sure that one stands out that much. Some that have stuck in my mind for a long time are "The Dreamsender" by Timothy Zahn, "Moment of Inertia" by Charles Sheffield, one called "For Whom the Telephone Bell Tolls" (I think), the author of which I can't remember, and one neither the title nor author of which I can remember which was the most unusual werewolf story ever, about a doctor programmed to turn into a superhuman killing machine at the right trigger.

I'm sure that Asimov's I, Robot, is technically an anthology of short stories, but it almost reads like a disjointed novel. Taking it as an anthology, collectively, they may be my favourites, as I was astonished in my youth how he could wring so many interesting stories out of those three laws. And as we all know, he didn't stop there.

[Vince W]

I couldn't single out any in particular as there are just too many to choose from; however -

Most of the Conan stories would fall into this category.
I love many of Asimov's short stories.
Philip K. Dick's short stories are very good.
And I loved Burning Chrome, William Gibson's collection of short stories.

[matle]

I completely missed this post in a scan of topics and started pretty much an identical post so no doubt il receive a chiding for that!

A pail of air sounds up my street. Has anyone read the original short story I am Legend was based on? I keep meaning to give that a look

[matle]

I also read 'the girl who shook the world tree' on Tor recently and really enjoyed that

[Nerds_feather]

same answer as in the other thread:

My favorite recent story is "The Other Graces" by Alice Sola Kim.
My favorite recent novella is "Amor Vincit Omnia" by KJ Parker

[Juliana]

Any of the stories in Asimov's I, Robot collection.

Pretty much any short story written by Agatha Christie! But especially the ones with Miss Marple... What a great character!!!