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Literature Please come visit. People get upset, write poetry about it, and post it here. Sometimes we also talk about books.

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Old 09-10-2008, 01:21 PM   #1
Disaffected Shoelaces
 
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Short Stories

Who reads or writes them? Who writes them well? They seem to get neglected in comparison to novels and poetry, which is a shame as I've read some amazing ones and would like to read more.

Raymond Carver
Angela Carter
Bukowski (thread on whom made me think about this in the first place)

... have written some of my favourites, but I don't really know of many good authors who indulge. If you've read some good stuff, then hook me up.
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:31 PM   #2
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Angela Carter is great.
Sylvia Plath has written one or two, I think.
I don't want to seem pretentious, but I really like Edgar Allen Poe too.
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:36 PM   #3
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I know I'll probably get gasped at for saying it here, but although I have a mild liking for Edgar Allen Poe,, I really don't cream myself over his stuff. Maybe I just need to read more; I've only really dipped my toe in, I guess, but it didn't honestly strike much of a chord.

Angela Carter is amazinng though, isn't she? Definitely one of the best women writers - if not THE best - ever. Some of her short stories were crap, but some were just awesome.
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:42 PM   #4
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Poe is an acquired taste for me; I've found that the more I read it, the more I like it, but I always feel a little ashamed of telling people I like his work because it is widely name-dropped by mallgoths these days (whose knowledge of Poe stretches only to a Halloween Simpsons episode).

And yes, I would have to agree with Angela Carter on every level. I have the novel Wise Children lying around the house. I keep intending to read it and forgetting though.
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:46 PM   #5
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Definately should dip your toes into more Poe! His horror is good, but he also had a pretty good sense of humour, and some stories had a Jules Verne feel to it. Neil Gaiman has two very good books of short stories, Fragile Things and Smoke And Mirrors (Smoke is the better of the two, IMO). Stephen King's Everything's Eventual is a very good collection as well, my favourites in that are Riding The Bullet and Everything's Eventual.

I'm reading a book right now that is an anthology of short stories that appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's magazine. So far so good!
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:51 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by a morbid curiosity
And yes, I would have to agree with Angela Carter on every level. I have the novel Wise Children lying around the house. I keep intending to read it and forgetting though.
Apart from Nights at the Circus, I think it's her best one. You're in for some serious awesomeness.

A tip though: there is a Shakespeare-style list of characters at the back, which won't ruin the story (promise) and without which it can get very confusing. I highly recommend using it!

Saya, thanks - I've heard of Gaiman but have absolutely no idea who he is. I'll look for him.
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:53 PM   #7
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Short stories are great, I love reading them and writing them. *is working on one right now* I like the way they´re almost forced to speed up the energy and pace all through the whole thing until -bam- catharsis. Great reads for boring bus trips to university.
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:56 PM   #8
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I like them because they cut the shit of some novels, but keep the themes and message. Plus they're so easy to write, plotting (my downfall - I get carried away sometimes) is minimal, and you can decide whether they're worth extending without wasting too much time if you decide they're not that great.
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Old 09-10-2008, 02:08 PM   #9
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Oh, I just remembered a really really good story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl.

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html
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Old 09-10-2008, 02:10 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Saya
Oh, I just remembered a really really good story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl.

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html
Oh yeah, I've seen that one before. I bought a book of RD's short stories for adults in a charity shop for 10p a few months back. Bargainous. But nothing can rival his kids' books for sheer twistedness.
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Old 09-10-2008, 02:12 PM   #11
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I should look for that book, does it have a name? We did Lamb To The Slaughter in school, grade eight or nine. I loved it so much that was the only text book I never gave away or sold.
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Old 09-10-2008, 02:17 PM   #12
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It's called Completely Unexpected Tales. I didn't finish reading it in the end though, a lot of the stories were quite mediocre so I just thought "what am I doing when I could be reading Factotem?" (Last B I hadn't read at this point, and it was just sat on the shelf glowering at me.) "Lamb to the Slaughter" was the best one, to my memory.
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Old 09-10-2008, 02:29 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saya
Oh, I just remembered a really really good story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl.
lol I remember I read that short story in Grade 9 it's kind of funny how the detectives ate the evidence in the end without suspecting anything. Good story.
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Old 09-10-2008, 02:53 PM   #14
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Bukowski, Chekhov, Gogol, Camus, Borges, Wilde, Hemingway.
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Old 09-11-2008, 11:51 AM   #15
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Camus wrote short stories?!

Damn, I have to step up my reading list. I'm slacking if I didn't know THIS.
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Old 09-12-2008, 04:00 PM   #16
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Sorry if my reply is a bit late on this, but I got into short stories last year when I had it as an English class.

I love Raymond Carver; I think Distance is a masterpiece. Aside from that, I think that Ernest Hemingway, Sherman Alexie, and Checkhov are amazing. I'm going to be an English major in college; I think I'll see if I can study Carver's literature and others in that vein.

Aside from that, I've never found a more cathartic experience than when I wrote short stories. It enabled me to touch on topics I wouldn't dare touch with poetry, or was too afraid to discuss otherwise. I definitely would recommend that most writers attempt a short story at one point.
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Old 09-12-2008, 04:42 PM   #17
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There are several authors I really like, but some on my long list of favorites that write/wrote particularly good short stories in addition to their other work include Poppy Z. Brite, Kurt Vonnegut, Phillip K. Dick, and Neil Gaiman. There are other really good works too, but those are some more contemporary authors that come to mind.

Another classic short story that is particularly haunting that most of you have probably read is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. If you haven't already read it in school or otherwise, I highly suggest it.
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Old 09-12-2008, 04:53 PM   #18
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I read and write them, although read more than write. But yes, writing is fun, cathartic and liberating, but when my muse is in high gear it also makes one obsessive, forgetting to go to sleep or keep appointments or even eat. 'Tis a labor of love.
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Old 09-12-2008, 06:25 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saya
Oh, I just remembered a really really good story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl.

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html
That was so cool!
I like how it ended >~<

-Mei
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Old 09-13-2008, 01:22 PM   #20
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I've written some (Just posted one here actually), and I enjoy reading them quite a bit.

as for good Short story Authors, I really enjoy Gurney Norman's "Wilgus" stories, Niel Gaiman's are also really good.
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Old 09-20-2008, 11:12 AM   #21
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I love to write my short stories and right now I haven't written any new ones but maybe I should....
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