Last week, I opened up MSN to check the weather (they had this great program attached to the weather reports where you could complete tasks daily, earn points, and plant a tree, but sadly it’s been discontinued). I usually glance at whatever headlines are showing to see what I missed overnight. However, instead of the doom and gloom of word politics, I found an article titled “43 of the Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language”. I was intrigued (and you can find the article here).
As an avid reader, my first instinct was to scour the list and see how many I had read. Unfortunately, I’ve only read twelve of them, and most of those were in middle and high school.
Of the ones that I did read, these were my favorites:
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. This is the story that turned me into a lover of all things Poe. I think I read it in 7th or 8th grade and just became obsessed. This and “The Cask of Amontillado” are my favorites.
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry I probably read around the same time as Poe. I love how the author subtly twists the story and surprises you at the end. And it’s always something I didn’t see coming, either. Honorable mention to “The Ransom of Red Chief”, another fantastic story.
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. To my pre-teen self, this was the most savage thing I’d ever read. People hunting people? That was insane to me! Although, as an adult, it’s not nearly as shocking.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. This was another that really grabbed me by the throat. Looking back, I am now wondering how some of this was appropriate for middle school aged children. However, this is a story that has stuck with me for decades, so the schools must know what they’re doing. Also, I just love Shirley Jackson in general.
As a side note, when The Hunger Games originally came out, a friend insisted I read it. Since she wasn’t a big reader, I figured that if she was this excited about a book, then I really did need to read it. Once I finished it, my biggest takeaway was that it felt like Suzanne Collins had woven together both “The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Lottery” and turned both stories on their heads.
Lastly, but by far not least, “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx. Several years after the movie released, I borrowed this from the library because I’m one of those nerds who wants to read first. That was probably a mistake because this book broke me so badly that I still haven’t had the heart to watch the movie. Let me just say that I finished it one morning before work and wound up having to text my boss to let him know I was going to be late because I could not stop crying.
Of the ones listed that I haven’t read, there are many that I still hope to read soon.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I’ve seen this referenced so many times in so many places. It’s high on my list.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury. He’s an icon, obviously, and I loved “A Sound of Thunder” when I read it in school. More Bradbury is never a bad thing.
“The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier. Mostly because of the Hitchcock adaptation. But also partially to see if she’s better as a short story writer than she is a novelist. I’ve tried two of her novels (My Cousin Rachel and Rebecca) and was hugely disappointed by both.
“House Heart” by Amelia Gray. Honestly? I looked up a summary and man does it sound crazy. I don’t know about you, but I do love this kind of thing.
Have you read any of the stories I mentioned here? What about the others in the article? I thought the author of the article did a good job of collecting a wide variety of themes and topics. She also deserves a lot of credit for noticing that the initial list is ‘much too white and male’ and adding a long list of authors who aren’t necessarily white or male.
I love writing and reading short stories.
I have read 14 out of the 43 on that list for sure.
The fact that “The Birds” and “Brokeback Mountain” were both short stories surprises me. How cool.
I do, too! But then, I can’t carry a plot long enough to write a whole novel. 😀
Awesome, that’s a good chunk!
“Brokeback Mountain” was more of a novella, but I agree. Such deep stories in so few pages. I think that shows talent better than any novel.
I love short stories… both to read and to write 🙂 I’ve read all the ones you have (and honestly, probably in school as well). Poe and Bradbury are two of my favorites.
I need to check out “House Heart” just because of the name!
Agreed! I always have a collection of short stories somewhere. Currently have 72+ hours of Sherlock in audio I’ve been working my way through.
Love Poe and really need to read more Bradbury.
I know, the title grabbed me, and the description sold me. You can find it free to read here.
I’ve only read two of the whole 43, both of which you mention, The Tell-Tale Heart and Brokeback Mountain, but then I’m not American, so that may sway it. I do love a good short story – as you say it takes a real talent to get an idea across well in a short story! Poe was a master of the horror-type (not always strictly horror but they usually horrified in some way!), and I’ve read most, if not all, of his. I’ve also read a lot of sci-fi, or more correctly speculative fiction, short stories, as I love the genre – the short stories almost make you think more than full novels. There are so many great ones by the likes of Bradbury, Heinlein, but one that stuck with me was The World Well Lost by Theodore Sturgeon, which is about a prison transport ship where two seemingly harmless aliens are on board, and the human crew can’t understand why they are criminals. If you can find it, I suggest you check it out! It’s somewhat ahead of its time, like a lot if speculative fiction, which generally gives us questions to think on!
I do wonder how many were American on that list. Daphne du Maurier is English, but other than that, no clue. I went through a period in high school where I tore through Poe, Robert Bloch, Lovecraft, and worried my mother. Hahaha. I’m only just starting to get more into sci-fi and speculative fiction – love Bradbury and John Scalzi, but want to read more Philip K. Dick and Heinlein eventually.
Ooh, I did find that the short story is in a collection called A Saucer of Loneliness, now to hit the two used bookstores near me to see if I can find it.