(Part 2) Best short stories according to redditors
We found 1,999 Reddit comments discussing the best short stories. We ranked the 580 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
They went 5th
edit: The fifth science quickly realised how unclear that is. Its a quote from this book. Going 5th would basically mean the entire civilisation merged there consciousness with a being that it created that is on a higher level of consciousness.
The Shawshank Redemption was a novella written by Stephen King, so maybe The Bachman Books, which is a collection of four short novels written by King.
It's been a long time since I read them, but one of the stories that stuck with me is about a national competition where teenagers have to keep walking at a certain speed, and if they fall below that speed they're killed.
Another story in the collection is The Running Man, which was turned into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.
My favorite SF short story writers (in no special order):
EDIT--added Amazon links
EDIT2--Also Gardner Dozois' "The Year's Best Science Fiction" is always ridiculously good. I haven't read this year's collection, but I am sure it's excellent.
Yes, a very big difference. They're totally different formats. The novellas are written books (though A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms does have illustrations). The graphic novel is a comic book and, true to its format, focuses more on its art than prose and dialogue.
If you're looking to get into them I'd suggest reading the actual novellas first, then checking out the graphic novels. A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms is an excellent way to read them (it includes all 3 novellas Martin has published thus far), the illustrations within it are top notch:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Gumbo Tales - by Sara Roahan -- The most beautifully written book about New Orleans cuisine I've ever encountered. Hilarious, poignant, reflective, uplifting and sad. Don't read if you're hungry. Or if you're not near food because you will become hungry.
The World that Made New Orleans -- Ned Sublette -- A narrative history book that looks at all the cultures, people, government systems and all the historical events that shaped the formation of New Orleans. Great read, if only for the chapter where the author incredulously wonders why people would argue Thomas Jefferson didn't sleep with his slaves.
Nine Lives - Dan Baum -- An oral history of nine New Orleanians that lived through Hurricane Betsy and Hurricane Katrina. Includes tales from the wife of legendary Mardi Gras Indian Tootie Montana, marching band director Wilbert Rawlins (also featured in "The Whole Gritty City") and the President of the Rex Organization, among others. Beautifully composed and written.
City of Refuge - Tom Piazza -- Historical fiction following a group of people as they recover from Katrina. Looks at people from every walk of life in New Orleans and does a great job of transmitting their individual struggles in the wake of the storm.
New Orleans, Mon Amour -- A collection of writings and short stories about life in New Orleans. Probably the most romanticized of all the books I've listed but no less awesome.
I also have to second the recommendations made for Confederacy of Dunces (one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud books you'll ever read) and the Moviegoer.
(Edit: City of Refuge is fiction)
Great movie! I watched it after reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven in my 9th grade English class.
The movie is based on one of the short stories in that collection. Both the book and the screenplay were written by Sherman Alexie. I'm not Native American, but being Mexican and living in southern Arizona, I can relate to this book. I recommend it to everyone.
Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman. His short stories are a good place to start, and the comic series The Sandman is the most enriching, exciting treatment of magic and (invented? elaborated? extrapolated?) mythology I have seen in any fantasy literature.
He has the very greenest thumb, at a time when the hothouse of imaginative literature is in its utmost floridity.
Get in there.
This actually made me look.
"Not sexy at all. The writing is all choppy and weird. I just couldn't get into it. I looked at the previews of all the other titles this Author has and the writing style is the same. Avoid!"
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1EYNW15TPNB8Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00P2SX76E
"Pure Garbage……all of this author's titles are a waste of money & time."
https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00TKJBWQ8/ref=acr_search_see_all?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
"Great idea but poorly written and never finished a satisfying ending"
https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00OGW2XRG/ref=acr_search_see_all?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
So far as I could scroll, there wasn't a single review above one star...
https://www.amazon.com/Valkyries-Last-Flight-Worlds-Underlord-ebook/dp/B07QZRV3HQ
Is that it?
I tried, but I accidentally wrote bigfoot romance.
My Date with Satan is a collection of short stories that relies on flawed characters and shock value. If you like Palahniuk and Vonnegut, that would probably be a good fit.
New Orleans, Mon Amour is really, really, really good. Essays by Andrei Codrescu about the city: https://www.amazon.com/New-Orleans-Mon-Amour-Writings/dp/1565125053
Jorge Luis Borges - Ficciones
His stories are just awesome, they are really creative and detailed
this is the first story from the book:
http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/0066/borges.pdf
Find the Bachman Books 4-novella collection at your library or used from Amazon or another used books source. The Running Man's in there as well and I've always enjoyed that one.
Spent the last weekend taking on The Tantric Consort program, which delves into relationship as a powerful arena of spiritual growth. It consists of tried and true techniques within Reggie Ray's repertoire while providing a framework that most meditators seldom pursue. Meditation is almost always an isolated, solo affair (even when we practice in shared space), which speaks to the real concern of using practice as a means to transcend the human experience and suffering while closing ourselves off to others. This program asserts that with a consort we can address some of the most challenging aspects of life, thus deepening our intimacy with the world at large. There is nowhere to hide as consorts behold each other while traversing a shared path regardless of challenges that arise along the way. Even early on the benefits of this practice are immediately apparent; as such, my partner and I are including this daily in addition to our regular meditation routine.
EDIT: To clarify, one not need be in romantic relationship to take this material on. Dedicated spiritual friendships are equally as viable, and the tantric approach of visualization is also available (and equally effective in its own right). You may find more information in parts I and II of a talk on consort practice.
I've also been reading Buddhist Fasting Practice this last week, as I've been a fan of intermittent fasting for several years as a means to address previously mentioned health issues. Nyungne, a technique associated with Chenrezig (aka Avalokiteśvara, Kuan Yin), is when one eats a single meal the first day then abstains from both food and drink on the second while conducting a series of meditative rituals. Eight continuous 2-day cycles equate to the merit of achieving stream-entry, 108 to that of an arahant. Though I haven't read on the actual practice just yet I plan on following it in the near future: I'll report findings in due time.
As I've continued to slow down and settle in I see how much I contend with the doing/fixing/productivity mind. Staying in over the weekend proved how important it is to use that energy and inclination as fuel for practice. Also, I've felt creativity surge in light of sitting more, and my passion for literature has thus reignited (after a decade long interest in Jorge Luis Borges I'm delighting in his collection Ficciones). I'm pleased with how former intuitions are proving correct as I return to a more consistent sitting regiment.
The Cyberiad, one of my favorite books.
Thorr, have you read Days In Midgard?
I'm not sure how good the book is, since it's been sitting in "wishlist hell" for the better part of two years for me. But maybe it's of value to your questions?
Before you write anything, please read this.
The Prince of Egypt animated movie soundtrack is only available on Turkish iTunes.
"It's too quiet in here!" "Damn kids, with their newfangled silence."
Here you go
Anything from this collection
But my favourite stories are:
Manhole 69 - about an experiment to eliminate the need for sleep.
Now:Zero - a man discovers he has the ability to kill people by writing in a notepad.
Chronopolis - a dystopian future where time-keeping is banned.
The Last World of Mr Goddard - an old man tends to a model version of his city.
Mr. F is Mr. F - a man seems to be ageing backwards...
Billenium - a dystopian future where the world's population is 20 billion.
The Garden of Time
The Watch-Towers
Man on the 99th Floor
Now Wakes the Sea
Minus One
The Sudden Afternoon
Time of Passage
Basically they're all worth a read!
Jhumpa Lahiri! Insightful and captivating. Great stuff if you are interested in the immigrant experience or in India, generally. Since I haven't read her novels yet I will single out [Interpreter of Maladies] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/039592720X?pc_redir=1405339911&robot_redir=1) for your consideration, it's a collection of short stories.
I liked it so much, I bought the book. I still have it somewhere.
https://www.amazon.com/Mikes-Corner-Daunting-Literary-Snippets/dp/0821223895
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris includes a few shorts specifically written for this type of debate challenge. Those are all in first person and at least one of them is from a female POV. The one I'm specifically thinking of is a bitchy rich woman complaining about how her sister doesn't appreciate her Christmas present... Turns out she paralyzed her sister in a drunk driving accident, then stole her husband and the insurance money.
The short stories in Stacey Richter's My Date with Satan could probably be orated pretty easily. The majority are in first person from a female POV. There's an art student planning to become a cat lady as performance art, a private high school student with her face sliced open, someone who kidnaps their date's autistic sister to keep as a pet...
https://www.amazon.com/Nervous-Fluid-BR549-ebook/dp/B07GN296B2
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
I'm currently reading Up In The Old Hotel, by Joseph Mitchell, who used to write for the New Yorker. It's a collection of largely non-fiction stories, most of which concern eccentrics living in New York City around the time of the FDR presidency and a little after. It's a great read, though for some reason I had to accustom myself to it. I'm now enjoying it more than when I started it.
I'm also reading a collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies, for which she won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. I've only read the first two, but they are terrific. I'm treating the book as if it were a fine box of chocolate truffles. The stories seem too fine to be gorging oneself on them.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
>it's just surreal that the natives of this land only gained the right to vote in it less than one century ago and it's kind of sickening to think about how archaic this time is.
I don't want to look like I'm forming a pity party, but the Civil Rights Movement didn't really help out Indian Country. We had to have our own round of protests and fighting in the 1970s. Check out the American Indian Movement, the Occupation of Alcatraz Island and especially the Alcatraz Proclamation, among others. What really stunning is that the American Indian Religious Freedom Act didn't come about until 1978, let alone the fact that they had to pass it at all!
>Are there any books, movies, or another form of media that are true stories or realistic fiction that depict American Indians in a way that you find to be interesting and faithful?
Anything by Vine Deloria, Jr. is awesome, although he is more historian and scientist than he is story-teller. A short list of my favorites:
If you want to read some great fiction that depicts American Indians accurately, start with Sherman Alexie:
Outside of those authors, some popular picks are Black Elk Speaks and Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
As far as movies go, any self-respecting Indian has seen the movie Smoke Signals dozens of times. Powwow Highway is a favorite of mine, and Dance Me Outside is movie gold, although it doesn't get enough attention.
>I'm thinking - why hasn't HBO or some big network done a drama that focuses on American Indians? This could be a very interesting book, as well... Or is this idea something even somewhat appealing to you as a young American Indian?
I'm not sure what you are thinking, but I have my own ideas. I'd like to see a series that focuses on a single reservation for each episode, and details the hardships that the people of that reservation deal with on a daily basis. Call it a pity party, but there are children in the United States right now that live in houses with dirt floors and sleep on pallets and go to school on 30-year-old school buses on unkempt dirt roads (and sometimes off-road) where they learn a curriculum outdated for a decade or more........ I can go on and on. Get in your car and drive to Pine Ridge Reservation RIGHT NOW, you'll be convinced that you walked into a third world country in the middle of a war. Its not pretty. The corruption in the tribal government needs to be put in the spotlight, and the part that the Federal and State governments have played in this tragedy need to be righted. That's the facts.
I found it to be a VERY interesting read. A lot of verifiable cool stuff surrounding that artifact. I recommend buying a book this good, but you can find torrent and Kindle versions online.
Here is the Wikipedia
Amazon link with reviews
The Amazon listing does say you can sign up for a free newsletter of Harolotte-porn.
https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Go-Camping-Adventurous-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00OGW2XRG
>From the Author
>google link <--- Join my NEWSLETTER and get FREE PORN!
i've ordered Herr Pep and Boquita. really pumped to read those. on the internet, Marti Perarnau has interesting guides to various European leagues.
the best soccer book of ALL time though is by Eduardo Galeano, El futbol a sol y sombra, also known as Soccer in Sun and Shadow.
Inverting the Pyramid is Great, How Soccer Explains the World is awesome, and Alex Bellos' book, Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life is also really, really great.
Amazon UK and the Orion/Gollancz site have it as an April 4th release. That Amazon US link lists the publisher as Gollancz, so it would seem a bit odd for the publisher's "home" market to not get it first or simultaneously? That said, there are plenty of weirdnesses in regional publishing, so who knows...
FWIW, the bibliography page of the editor's site has it listed as a March release.
I've recently begun this book: The Fifth Science by Exurbia.
Highly recommend
Days in Midgard is an outstanding book you should own anyway and includes a short story called "Reporting" that includes the following description of the Mistress of Niflheim:
> She was dressed as a lawyer, in a nice suit, and I suppose she could have been good looking if she had decided to be. She apparently hadn’t made that decision. And she didn’t take much care of her hair, which looked, well, scraggly. Do people still use that word these days?
>
> […]
>
> It was interesting watching her turn. Not just that time, but any time she turned. It was always done slowly and deliberately. I remember thinking it felt like she was shuffling something around behind herself, hiding some other half of herself that she didn’t want me to see. Just one of those odd quirks, I suppose. The image has always stuck with me, though. It was a little creepy. She was a little creepy."
I'm currently reading Moorcock's magnum opus: Stormbringer. It's an amazing, bleak fantasy novel about the culmination of prophesy and the inevitability of destiny; and it's some excellent counter programming to his contemporary (Tolkien)
Basically, Elric is forced once again to take up the cursed sword that gives him vitality while it drinks the souls of it's victims, and he finally has to face the prophecy that's been hanging over his head his whole life.
I'm also reading a new pulp adventure story that's free on the kindle store for the next few days: The Valkyrie's Last Flight by Lex Scott. It's a fast paced, visceral, low fantasy adventure, about a mercenary, betrayed and hounded by her once allies. Lots of action, really well written. (Oh, and it's free!!)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QZRV3HQ
The Fifth Science by Exurb1a. Haven't had time to read it yet, but it seems promising!
"The Galactic Human Empire was built atop four sciences: logic, physics, psychology, and sociology. Standing on those pillars, humans spent 100,000 years spreading out into the galaxy: warring, exploring, partying — the usual. Then there was the fifth science. And that killed the empire stone dead."
I haven’t read Lafferty myself but I need to.
This looks like a hell of an introduction to him:
https://www.amazon.com/Best-R-Lafferty/dp/1473213444/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Lafferty&amp;qid=1565973519&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-2
The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem is available as a Kindle ebook.
https://www.amazon.com/Interpreter-Maladies-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/039592720X
Helping Friendly Book. Although he would probably want you to buy Mike's Corner: Daunting Literary Snippets http://www.amazon.com/dp/0821223895/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_awdm_N8Skub1E67SHX
Stacey Richter She only has two collections of short stories out and I'm dying for more. Great dark sense of humor.
Check her out
Another good read: Nine Lives by Dan Baum
And
New Orleans Mon Amour by Andrei Codrescu
Read an autobiography or non-fiction book that's relevant, until you feel confident enough to write it. Then write it. There will be mistakes, no matter what. You catch these in editing by passing them by people whose knowledge on these subjects you trust.
For my story "True North", which takes place in the Canadian North and has an Inuit-Metis secondary character, I read two books on Inuit beliefs, two short books on survival (focusing on the article survival stuff), and a few dozen online articles on life in the arctic and religious beliefs of Inuit people. I still got some things wrong, and some of them pretty darn wrong. I fixed these in edits.
For my story "Ars Poetica", which has a poet/sniper as the main character, I found an official sniper guide (US Military IIRC), and went through it twice, highlighting relevant passages and using the knowledge to determine character actions and scene descriptions.
Research is key, and it really pays off. Not only does it help you avoid errors, it adds color to your descriptions, makes your story more believable with key details, helps develop scenes and guide character action, and stimulates your imagination.
Read a book, I am reading this Eduardo Galeano book and recommend it. Each chapter is usually one page, and max four or five pages. Great for intermittent reading.
El futbol a sol y sombra (Spanish Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/843231255X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EuhFDbWBWT0DN
If you like short, yet truly bizarre, literary snippets, you should really check out Mike’s Corner....
This is not really similar, but my favorite author is in the broad sf genre, and a lot of the classic sci-fi writers (Asimov, Clarke, etc) were big fans. He’s kinda hard to categorize because his stories were a mix of science fiction, magical realism, Native American tale tales, and Catholic mysticism. It’s been said that he is the best there ever was at whatever it is that he did. Most of his books are out of print, but there’s a best-of collection coming out later this week: https://www.amazon.com/Best-R-Lafferty/dp/1473213444
Futbol a sol y sombra by Eduardo Galeano. I read it in Spanish, so I don't know how good the English translations are.
You're from Washington, you say? From this collection.
Edit: Just remembered this one. Favorite line is from a story called "Love Too Long:" "I want to rip her arm off. I want to sleep in her uterus with my foot hanging out. Some nights she lets me lick her ears and knees. I can't talk about it. It's driving me into a sorry person."
catsfive: ^^original ^^reddit ^^link
This. No understanding of Hitler is complete without an understanding of his dealings in the dark side of the Occult. Trevor Ravenscroft's "The Spear of Destiny" is a good primer on this. One cannot, for instance, understand Hitler's hate for the Jews without first understanding that many of his racial purity beliefs come from Hitler's obsession with The Spear (my pic here).
It does indeed seem kinda difficult to get Rage now. Here's the cheapest I could find (from an Amazon affiliate).
Edit: seems to be cheaper on B&N.
One of the best/funniest books I've ever read. Read the first few pages here: http://www.amazon.com/Cyberiad-Stanislaw-Lem-ebook/dp/B00CKDFE9W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1426673223&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+Cyberiad
Pure brain candy.
Same here. I am tempted to buy this copy. I have heard good things about Empire of the Sun, I'll look it up. My favourite novel so far has been The Unlimited Dream Company.
https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Seven-Kingdoms-Song-Fire/dp/0147526353
so this is a thing
This. No understanding of Hitler is complete without an understanding of his dealings in the dark side of the Occult. Trevor Ravenscroft's "The Spear of Destiny" is a good primer on this. One cannot, for instance, understand Hitler's hate for the Jews without first understanding that many of his racial purity beliefs come from Hitler's obsession with occult lore like the Norse legends or The Spear of Destiny (my pic here).