Comments on: Looking for short stories.

Question: Looking for short stories.

davebush — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:16:19 -0800

I'd like to read some short story collections that have the same feel as movies like "Lost in Translation" and "The Station Agent." I guess "introspective" is the key word. All recommendations will be much appreciated.

By: brina

brina — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:37:28 -0800

I have to recommend the works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman ("The Yellow Wallpaper," among others) and Dorothy Parker.

For Gilman, I'd recommend this collection, which has her most important shorts but not the novella "Herland," which I personally believe is not her best work. She was a magnificent short story writer, though.

For Parker, you can't go wrong with The Portable Dorothy Parker, which has many great short stories, a few essays, and some poetry. (Her poetry is not my favorite, but her short stories are very moody and introspective. Very lonely, almost hopeless in some ways.)

What I've recommended mostly focuses on the experiences of women, and particularly the experiences of women in bygone eras. But it's good stuff regardless of the subject matter.

By: LoriFLA

LoriFLA — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:47:06 -0800

You might enjoy Andre Dubus. Not to be confused with Andres Dubus III, although he is good too. Selected stories may be a good place to start. I have this collection and found it very entertaining. Others.

A few of his stories and novellas have been adapted into movies, In the Bedroom and We Don't Live Here Anymore. I list these movies only to give you a feel of some of his subject matter.

By: mumkin

mumkin — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:33:34 -0800

Graham Greene comes immediately to mind. Gosh I like Graham Greene. I've only read his novels, that I can recall, but he did write short stories if that's what you're after.

By: hwickline

hwickline — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:52:22 -0800

Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver and Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson are both really excellent, and have that introspective feeling to them...

By: lauranesson

lauranesson — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:48:00 -0800

I recently stumbled on Barry Holstun Lopez, and while I've only read Winter Count, the stories leave me the same kind of wistful as Raymond Carver does.

By: phil

phil — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:29:12 -0800

i'm not exactly sure why but the wind-up bird chronicle reminds me of lost in translation. it is not a short story but the short story version can be found in murakami's the elephant vanishes.

By: Soda-Da

Soda-Da — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:31:12 -0800

Short stories by:

Shirley Jackson - 'The Lottery' is her most widely read story but she wrote others that are as good or better. Most of them involve characters that are struggling to fit into society.

Patricia Highsmith - Her stories are twisted and suspenseful.

W. Somerset Maugham - His best stories are the ones taking place in the South Seas.

By: Bella Sebastian

Bella Sebastian — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:36:27 -0800

I would say Lorrie Moore fits this bill nicely. I reread her book "Birds of America" at least once a year.

By: GaelFC

GaelFC — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:41:41 -0800

Haruki Murakami! He's wonderful, has both short stories and longer novels.

By: Neiltupper

Neiltupper — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:19:41 -0800

Less than 200 miles from you davebush, is the birthplace of Alice Munro, widely considered one of the world's finest writers of short stories.

By: KokuRyu

KokuRyu — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 17:20:31 -0800

Second Andre Dubus, and most, most, most definitely second Alice Munro. She is the best writer of her genre. Period.

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:40:33 -0800

Interpretor of Maladies is a collection of somewhat-introspective stories starring people who are dealing with life as outsiders in strange new environments (much like "Lost in Translation").

By: rmless

rmless — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:42:49 -0800

Second Lorrie Moore and I'll add Alf MacLochlainn's The Corpus in the Library for that strange detached feeling that both of the movies you mention also have.

By: i_am_a_Jedi

i_am_a_Jedi — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:29:36 -0800

After Dark by (the aforementioned) Haruki Murakami would fit the bill nicely.

By: ITheCosmos

ITheCosmos — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:55:16 -0800

I'd recommend Tatyana Tolstaya's short stories. I've been recommending them to everyone who'll listen, lately. Very Russian, sort of got the same lonely, strange, existential feeling as the movies you mentioned. Oh, and agreed with others on Lorrie Moore and Haruki Murakami, they're both great.

By: M Edward

M Edward — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:15:00 -0800

You might try Safety of Objects by AM Homes. It is suburbanite introspective.

And I nth the Murakami collection The Elephant Vanishes but to get to the truly introspective by him you must read South of the Border, West of the Sun. It is semi-autobiographical so there is a lot of looking back by the narrator over his life decisions. It's also more novella sized.

By: carpyful

carpyful — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:28:47 -0800

ooo!

nthing Haruki Murakami!
Especially "On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning"

It's so good that I demand you read it right now:

Linky goodness