Short reads

zalaz alaza

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I read short stories and essays pretty frequently in between/during reading novels or other larger works. The shorter format is in fact my favorite form of literature. I like them because they are readable in one sitting and contain at least one complete idea. Personally, I would be interested in creating conversation around this style of writing, though less formally than with the official bookclub. My thought is that if any of us reads a short story or literary essay(like those written by Borges or DFW) of interest we could just make a thread here and if people want to read that themselves and comment on it at there leisure it would be good enough. What do you think @Remember_Summer_Days ? What do the rest of you guys think?
 
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my little blog, for example. (danger: you can get lost in thoughts and sentences XD)
 
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Chao Tse-Tung

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RIG

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my family hosts Laurence Millman for dinner sometimes and he always leaves some of his books for us. i'm not big into mycology stuff but one particular book is collection of bizarre short stories. it's called The Cannibal Lynx: Innu Tales from Labrador. i actually asked him if i could adapt some of the stories in my game which he was cool with
 
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№56

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I just finished Manhole 69, another short story by J.G. Ballard. It's a great example of Ballard's style of psychological science fiction and reads like a more down-to-earth version of the "Russian Sleep Experiment" copypasta that also manages to be far more disturbing thanks to its realism.
Ballard references Chekhov's The Bet in that story, so immediately after finishing I went and re-read that too. The ending made a strong impression on me when I read it as a kid, and it turned out to be as good as I remembered it being.
Both stories have similar themes and make a good double feature. (Read the Chekhov first so you don't get spoiled!)
 
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RealTomCruise

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I just finished The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, definitely not quite a short story instead stretching a great deal into novella length. Regardless I was able to finish it within one sitting and it was a nice albeit fairly grim break from the denser non-narrative books I have been reading of late. I have heard quite about the book beforehand but had never actually read it.

Based on what I had heard, I had expected the entire thing to be of a more solely satirical nature in line with the first chapter in which Gregor's main concern is to get back to his bureaucratic job. I was glad to see it take a more dramatic tone as his family slowly starts to turn on his lack of humanity. I can not comment on the style of prose being that it is translated, but the copy I read was fairly straightforward and blunt which I feel served the story well. Looking forward to reading the Trial at some point in the near future.
 
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Mana Moonlight

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Ray Bradbury's Kaleidoscope. Is about a bunch of spacemen/astronauts who got ejected into space after their spaceship blew up, so then they spend the next odd hours floating around in space awaiting death by crashing into an asteroid field, running out of oxygen, burning up on re-entry, etc etc. Love the prose, love how the astronauts eventually come to terms with their fates after bickering. Ends surprisingly poignantly despite such a grim premise.

In fact, go ahead and do yourself a favour and snatch The Illustrated Man when you have the chance. Myself, I'm on the lookout for The Martian Chronicles. Love this guy's prose, how it's a sort of perfect marriage of olde Victorian/Faulkner flowery prose, with Hemingway's punchiness and bluntness. I also have no idea what I am talking about.
 
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thomas wolfe's a bullet in the brain is a fun short one. as for horror joyce carol oates' where are you going where have you been is dreadful in the sense where it instills actual dread, its a good one.
i also like otessa moshfegh's homesick for another world compilation, the last one especially stuck with me.
 

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