Old Books, New Readers discussion

It's time to pick our June 2020 BOTM already! And we are going to do something different this month.

The theme for June is classic short stories. We will pick two and have two threads this month. You can pick which one you want to read - or read both. To give more people a chance to nominate a story, only one nomination per person please. The stories receiving the top two number of votes will be chosen.

Rules
1. One nomination per person
2. Poll will be set up when we reach 10 valid nominations
3. Short stories should be written prior to 1960 and be 'classic' worthy.
4. It would be great if you could share why you want to read or reread this short story.
5. It would also be great if there was a free version of your nomination, to make it easier for folks who cannot go to a library.

I'd like to nominate The Illustrated Man
By Ray Bradbury (1951). It's obviously classic sci-fi, I read it years ago but have forgotten many of the stories. I remember that they each have real character and imagination, tending to be concerned with the impact of new technologies on our emotions.

I choose"The collection of Chekhov short story". he wrote very simply about human nature and ordinary events that can have a deeper meaning. I like it ❤

I second Chekhov short stories.

I'd like to reread something from Dubliners by James Joyce. The tone is a bit melancholy, but every story has something beautiful, and they're even better than his novels in my opinion.

My choice for a short story is "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin (1957). I read this in one of my fiction workshops, and it has never left me. A man is forced to deal with his heroin-addicted brother, and learns a lot about himself. This story gives a voice to the ostracized.

Here is a link to the PDF:
Sonny's Blues

Zeinab wrote: "I choose"The collection of Chekhov short story". he wrote very simply about human nature and ordinary events that can have a deeper meaning. I like it ❤"

Zeinab, can you suggest one specific story by Chekhov?

Brenda wrote: "I second Chekhov short stories."

Brenda, would you like to nominate one specific short story by Chekhov?

Hannah wrote: "I'd like to reread something from Dubliners by James Joyce. The tone is a bit melancholy, but every story has something beautiful, and they're even better than his novels in my opinion."

Brenda, can you nominate a specific story?

I have so much work that I read only few pages before I fall a sleep each night so I would love to read a short story- I suggest The Black Cat by Edgar Alan Poe

How about The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov?

If Brenda chimes in I will let her choose since it was her nomination but might I suggest "The Dead" from Dubliners by James Joyce

Hannah suggested Dubliners, I second Chekhov. Just so it doesn’t get confusing. :))

It was Zeinab’s nomination for Checkov so I’ll wait before I nominate a title, as I only seconded the nomination.

I like to nominate

https://www.free-ebooks.net/short-sto...

There's none more 'Classical' than Edgar Allan Poe, master of short stories.

Don't know if I did this right:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

The Tell-Tale Heart 💓💓💓

I would like to nominate In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka.

Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy

Sylvia wrote: "Zeinab wrote: "I choose"The collection of Chekhov short story". he wrote very simply about human nature and ordinary events that can have a deeper meaning. I like it ❤"

Zeinab, can you suggest one..."

I suggest "The Lady with the Dog"

Jazzy wrote: "How about The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov?"

But this is a play
not a short story

Chekhov, maybe from the book:
Five Great Short Stories, (Dover Thrift Editions), $1.99 on Kindle: "The Black Monk", "The House with the Mezzanine", "The Peasants", "Gooseberries", "The Lady with the Dog"

...but I can go also with the play "The Cherry Orchard" (it's just 66 pages though).

I am not sure whether my nomination classifies as a short story or a novella. The title has always interested me and I have never read anything by the author. My nomination is "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" by Carson McCullers.

I would like to nominate The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

I would like to nominate Evelyn Waugh's short story Mr Loveday's Little Outing (1936) . I don't know anything about this story, other than it's supposed to be "a blackly comic tale of a mental asylum and its favourite resident", which sounds interesting to me.

However, I could not find a free digital version of it anywhere on the internet, so I'm not sure if this counts as a valid nomination... (In that case: Never mind, I'm also happy to read any of the other short stories that have been nominated so far.)
I'm very much looking forward to June!

I will nominate any collection of short stories by Eudora Welty. She had a tremendous sense of language and location, unlike any other writer.