Exceptional Books discussion

HI Everyone,
Please leave your top Short story selections here. Hermoine is the moderator of this section.

Definitely The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. Oh, and The Nose by Nikolai Gogol.

Hands down for me it's 'I Stand Here Ironing' a story in Tell Me a Riddle.

'Enna Hittims' impressed me in Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories. This is a short story in the children/YA category.

Hi everyone! I'm really excited to start a "Top 100 Short Stories" list. Try to "link" the short story compilation/title to your post, if possible :) I can't wait to hear your suggestions!

Paula wrote: "Hands down for me it's 'I Stand Here Ironing' a story in Tell Me a Riddle."

I loved this short story when I read it. There is also an old movie looslely based on one of the stories from Tell Me a Riddle.

I really enjoyed stories by John Cheever who really was the voice of suburban life, similar to John Updike.

Hermione wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm really excited to start a "Top 100 Short Stories" list. Try to "link" the short story compilation/title to your post, if possible :) I can't wait to hear your suggestions!"

Well, I have already posted my suggestions: The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe and The Nose by Nikolai Gogol.

Nightfall - by Isaac Asimov
Rocking Horse Winner can't remember who wrote it
A Clean, Well Lighted Place - by Hemingway
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall - Catherine Anne Porter (or her Collected Stories. She was a master)
The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury a series of SS

Off the top of my head

The List so far:
1. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings "The Tell Tale Heart"
2. The Nose
3. Tell Me a Riddle "I Stand Here Ironing"
4. Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories "Enna Hittims"
5. The Stories of John Cheever
6. Nightfall
7. The Rocking Horse Winner
8. A Clean Well Lighted Place
9. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"
10. The Illustrated Man

Oooh, I loved "The Rocking Horse Winner" -- great suggestion! Commenters: any ideas about the list so far? Any additions that come to mind? :)

Wasn't D. H. Lawrence the guy who wrote "The Rocking Horse Winner"?

Yes, he was :)
Since I'm the moderator, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be nominating books, but what do you all think of Flannery O' Conner's A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories? Especially "A Good Man is Hard to Find" :)

I had been suspecting a Lawrence short story would be nominated for this list sometime!

And I haven't read A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Is it good?

It's EXCELLENT! I read it for my English class years ago, and I loved it :) It does have quite a bit of religious symbolism, but it is really great.

The Rocking Horse Winner is one of my all time favored short stories. I can't believe I forgot about it. I read it when I was living at home and felt the same pressures.

Another I was thinking about is The Monkey's Paw, though I'm not sure if it is a long short story or a short novella—similarly, The Most Dangerous Game.

Perhaps they're novelettas?

I think The Monkey's Paw can be included.

Agreed! Let's include "The Most Dangerous Game" as well.
Some other suggestions (feel free to comment!): The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, The Gift of the Magi, and The Cask of Amontillado are definitely some of my favorites :) O. Henry is an excellent author- does anyone else on this thread have any favorites from his short story compilations?

*slaps head* How could I forget O. Henry??!! He's, like, one of my favorite short story writers. Oh, and Guy de Maupassant.

I have a great story to suggest. It's by Guy de Maupassant, and it's a horror story which I don't know the original name of, but is translated both as "The Englishman" and "The Hand".

I was able to find The Hand, but not "The Englishman". Are they alternate titles of the same short story?
For all of you who want to learn more about the author, here's his link: Guy de Maupassant

The Hand and The Englishman, as I mentioned before, are alternate titles for the same short story. But I think "The Hand" is the more common title.

Just remembered one I loved when much younger: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. I'd have to look under my bed for Nag and Nagaina, before going to sleep ;-)

Rudyard Kipling! Hehe, love The Jungle Book very much.

I'd like to nominate The Mezzotint and Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories - both by M.R. James. Not just excellent ghost stories but also great short stories.

H.G. Wells produced some great short stories too - I'd nominate The Country of the Blind.

James Thurber's short story The secret Life of Walter Mitty is brilliant and is a real contender for the top 100.

The List so far:
1. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings "The Tell Tale Heart"
2. The Nose
3. Tell Me a Riddle "I Stand Here Ironing"
4. Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories "Enna Hittims"
5. The Stories of John Cheever
6. Nightfall
7. The Rocking Horse Winner
8. A Clean Well Lighted Place
9. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"
10. The Illustrated Man
11. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
12. The Monkey's Paw
13. The Most Dangerous Game
14. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
15. The Gift of the Magi
16. The Cask of Amontillado
17. The Hand
18. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
19. The Mezzotint
20. Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories
The Country of the Blind and Other Science-Fiction Stories
21. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty


Woohoo!!! We're already at #22- great work, all of you! I can't wait to add more suggestions :)

Here's one you won't find on most critics "literary" lists...

...though I'm glad to see a few people above have already mentioned it:

"NIGHTFALL" by Isaac Asimov.

Not only is it, IMO, the best sci-fi short story ever written...

...but the best short story PERIOD.

I acknowledge that the prose itself would probably not be considered "masterful" or "transcendent"...

...but the story - and how it makes you think - is.

Todd

I'd suggest Ursula K. Le Guin's short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas which is in the collection of her best short stories The Wind's Twelve Quarters

She's a Grand Master of both Science Fiction and Literature, whose books work on multiple levels.

Emma Zunz, the Aleph, the Inmortal and the Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges, Continuity of Parks, the Night Face up and Bestiary by Julio Cortázar...

Kiens wrote: "I'd mention Willim Faulkner's stories "Barn Burning" and "A Rose for Emily" from Barn Burning and Other Stories.

Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"
Nathaniel Hawthorne'..."

Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery are great short stories!

I'd like to suggest three collections of short stories, two of which are by the same author.

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea: Stories by Ursula K. LeGuin, Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri.

The List as of 9/29/11:
1. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings "The Tell Tale Heart"
2. The Nose
3. Tell Me a Riddle "I Stand Here Ironing"
4. Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories "Enna Hittims"
5. The Stories of John Cheever
6. Nightfall
7. The Rocking Horse Winner
8. A Clean Well Lighted Place
9. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"
10. The Illustrated Man
11. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
12. The Monkey's Paw
13. The Most Dangerous Game
14. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
15. The Gift of the Magi
16. The Cask of Amontillado
17. The Hand
18. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
19. The Mezzotint
20. Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories
The Country of the Blind and Other Science-Fiction Stories
21. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
22. Nightfall
23. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
24. Emma Zunz
25. The Garden of Forking Paths
26. Jorge Luis Borges's "The Immortal"
27. Julio Cortazar's "Continuity of Parks"
28. Julio Cortazar's "The Night Face Up"
29. Julio Cortazar's "Bestiary"
30. Barn Burning and Other Stories's "Barn Burning"
31. Barn Burning and Other Stories's "A Rose for Emily"
32. Short Stories By Ernest Hemingway, including: The Snows Of Kilimanjaro, Hills Like White Elephants, The Killers (short Story), The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber, Soldier's Home, A Clean, Well-lighted Place, A Day's Wait, Big Two-hearted River "Hills Like White Elephants"
33. Young Goodman Brown
34. The Lottery and Other Stories "The Lottery"
35. The Lady With the Little Dog and Other Stories, 1896-1904 "The Lady With the Little Dog"
36. A Fisherman of the Inland Sea: Stories
37. Interpreter of Maladies
38. Unaccustomed Earth
39. Kew Gardens

Both "The Lottery" and "Young Goodman Brown" are great suggestions!!

Also, what about Harrison Bergeron?

I'd like to suggest Dubliners, a collection by James Joyce and also something by Joseph Conrad - perhaps The Secret Sharer.

Awesome! Conrad is SUCH a great author. Hmmm... what do y'all think of the list so far? Anything to take out/replace?

The Blimp wrote: "I had been suspecting a Lawrence short story would be nominated for this list sometime!

And I haven't read A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Is it good?"

It's one of my favorite short stories of all time : )

The Blimp wrote: "Kiens wrote: "I'd mention Willim Faulkner's stories "Barn Burning" and "A Rose for Emily" from Barn Burning and Other Stories.

Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"
Nathan..."

"Hills Like White Elephants" is excellent, but "Barn Burning" by Faulkner transcends even that--one of the most amazing pieces of literautre I've ever read : )

I have really enjoyed: The Boat by Nam Le, Notwithstanding Louis De Bernieres, any of Richard Brautigan's collections and David Malouf's Every Move You Make.

How about Babylon Revisited (F.Scott Fitzgerald?).

My absolute favorite is "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is deliciously creepy and amazing. Here's a link where you can read it for free (thank you again, Project Gutenberg!): http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1...

Absolutely great story, Laura. Definitely belongs on the list. Thanks for the link!

The best short stories I can think of are Chess Story by Stefan Zweig, In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka and The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin. Amok and Other Stories is a great collection by Zweig.

Notwithstanding was the first book I ever read by Louis de Bernières and it is wonderful. Both funny and sad and beautifully written.

My top 10 are as follow:
1)the Ant and Grasshopper by Somerset Maugham
2)the old mad at the bridge Ernest Hemingway
3) A pair of silk stockin by Kate Chopin
4)the Story teller by Saki
5)Hills like white Elephant by Ernest Hemingway
6) war by luigi Pieranello
7)Demon lover by Elizabeth Bowen
8)lottery by Sherly Jackson
9)Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway
10)moonface by Jack London

Daphne du Maurier The Birds & Other Stories and definitely agree with the The Lottery.

The Metaphor, by Budge Wilson

My top two are "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor. Both authors have collections of short stories with many more excellent stories in them.

My top fifteen short stories (today) are;

1)The Lady with the Little Dog - Chekhov
2)Wild Horses - Rick Bass
3)Cathedral - Raymond Carver
4)Emergency - Denis Johnson
5)For Esme - With Love and Squalor - J.D. Salinger
6)Sixty-Five Million Years - Richard Bausch
7)In the Garden of the North American Martyrs - Tobias Wolff
8)The Connor Girls - Edna O'Brien
9)A Good Man is Hard to Find - Flannery O'Connor
10)The Blue-Winged Teal - Wallace Stegner
11)The Ledge - Lawrence Sargent Hall
12)Timothy's Birthday - William Trevor
13)Doctor Jack-o'-Lantern - Richard Yates
14)Fits - Alice Munro
15)Gryphon - Charles Baxter