Nathan Tyree: The Great Shorts
A recent conversation got me thinking about the truly great short stories. I decided to craft a list of my favorite short stories. It was my intent to create a list of ten stories. Once I started the list I found that I could not limit myself to ten. Here's the list:
1. The Wavemaker Faulters - George Saunders
2. The Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried - Amy Hempel
3. The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore - Harlan Ellison
4. The Cask of Amontillado- Edgar Allan Poe
5. Nashville Gone to Ashes - Amy Hempel
6. Greasy Lake - T.C. Boyle
7. Man From the South - Roald Dahl
8. The October Game - Ray Bradbury
9. A Small Good Thing - Raymond Carver
10. Hills Like White Elephants - Ernest Hemingway
11. Apocrypha - Dan O'Brien
12. The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
13. After the Plague - T.C. Boyle
14. The 400 Pound CEO - George Saunders
15. A Perfect Day for Bananafish - J.D. Salinger
You may agree, or disagree with my picks. However, I doubt that any lover of literature could deny the greatness of these choices.
Upon looking over my choices a few things strike me.Ten of these stories are (in one way or another) about death. Seven touch on madness or mental illness. Three of them deal with revenge. Saunders, Hempel and Boyle all appear twice. No one appears more than twice. The list is decidedly modern (or even post modern).
I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from that.
A recent conversation got me thinking about the truly great short stories. I decided to craft a list of my favorite short stories. It was my intent to create a list of ten stories. Once I started the list I found that I could not limit myself to ten. Here's the list:
1. The Wavemaker Faulters - George Saunders
2. The Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried - Amy Hempel
3. The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore - Harlan Ellison
4. The Cask of Amontillado- Edgar Allan Poe
5. Nashville Gone to Ashes - Amy Hempel
6. Greasy Lake - T.C. Boyle
7. Man From the South - Roald Dahl
8. The October Game - Ray Bradbury
9. A Small Good Thing - Raymond Carver
10. Hills Like White Elephants - Ernest Hemingway
11. Apocrypha - Dan O'Brien
12. The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
13. After the Plague - T.C. Boyle
14. The 400 Pound CEO - George Saunders
15. A Perfect Day for Bananafish - J.D. Salinger
You may agree, or disagree with my picks. However, I doubt that any lover of literature could deny the greatness of these choices.
Upon looking over my choices a few things strike me.Ten of these stories are (in one way or another) about death. Seven touch on madness or mental illness. Three of them deal with revenge. Saunders, Hempel and Boyle all appear twice. No one appears more than twice. The list is decidedly modern (or even post modern).
I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from that.
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The Cask of Amontillado is not only my favorite short story, but is also my favorite piece of Poe penned literature. I have read it hundreds upon hundreds of times.