What’s Your Favorite Short Story?

[Indysoda]

Favorite short story ever read?

[Prudie]

The Maupassant necklace story I will always remember. I did it in A level French but could never call it a favourite - the 'denouement' made me cry for her. Awful.

[Canary42]

No absolute favourite, far too many candidates, and varied throughout my life as I went through fads for various genres/authors. Certainly "The Necklace" would be on my list. As would "Hide and Seek" by Arthur C Clarke for example. For something a bit longer "Oranges are Not the Only Fruit" by Jeanette Winterson. I will follow this thread with interest as reminders of other old favourites turn up.

[Unsureme]

"Rag And Bone Man" by Pauline Henderson.

[Prudie]

Can we add most hated? If so I was encouraged to read First Loves, Last Rights - short stories by Ian McEwan. The most unbearably depressing collection possible, as is everything he's ever done I'm aware of - I mean look at Atonement, What The Funicular.

[Atheist]

For me, Saki, Maupassant and also Somerset Maugham. I'm not well read in modern short stories and haven't read much that I enjoy, but that's probably because most writing is average and won't last, whereas we don't see the older short stories which have disappeared leaving only the best still available. I think that good short stories are few and far between because they are so difficult to write -- no room for waffle, every word counts, and they must leave a feeling of satisfaction somehow, which needn't be a plot finale.

[Jackdaw33]

Jeffrey Archer's books of short stories are good entertainment value.

[Tilly2]

Lamb to the Slaughter. Roald Dahl.

(and almost any other of his short stories)

[Jackdaw33]

I's forgotten about Roald Dahl. Many of his short stories were made into a TV series in the early 80s.

[CrapAtCryptics]

Master of life and death - Robert Silverberg

[Rosie29]

As a ps - I enjoyed all the stories in Hilary Mantel's collection The Assassination of Mrs Thatcher.

[maggiebee]

James Robertson was challenged to write 365 stories over 365 days. Each story had to have 365 words. I've got the book and dip into it now and again - lots of great wee stories.

[Tilly2]

Yes, they were Jack. Tales of the Unexpected.

[Old_Geezer]

All You Zombies was rather good.

[rowanwitch]

A good one for Christmas, the Star by Arthur C Clarke

[Arrods]

Short horror story:

The last man on Earth was sitting in his house.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door .....

[jno]

The Nine Billion Names Of God.

Let's Go To Golgotha!

[Ken4155]

^
Must have been a woman caller:-/

[JimF]

And God typed "DELETE LINE 1 TO INFINITY", pressed Enter, and nothing had ever existed.

[andy-hughes]

Although not the OP, it always makes me laugh - the shortest review of a pop single I have ever read -

I think it was in the NME, and the single in question was from an artist called Snow, who holds the record for the biggest selling reggae single in history in the American charts, his song Informer.

Snow's commercial success was directly inversely proportional to his critical worth, the music press loathed him, hence the pithy response to his follow-up single.

The song - Girl I've Been Hurt

The review - I'm not surprised.

[MargoTester]

The Legend of Gelert the dog. A Welsh folk tale that my Mum used to tell my as a child, it always made me cry. Unfortunately I can't post a link as my iPad is having a silly half hour.