Short stories with alternating storylines?

July 26, 2014 7:44 AM

I'm looking for examples of short stories that have two oscillating storylines that ultimately intersect. I mean two different characters on two different trajectories whose paths ultimately cross. This is a frequent structure in novels, but I'm looking for short stories where this is done. I'm sure Alice Munro has done it, but I can't think of examples off the top of my head. Anyone know of any?
posted by swheatie to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but Joan Silber's book Ideas of Heaven is a cycle of short stories, any of which could stand alone, but all of which are connected thematically and by at least one character.
posted by prewar lemonade at 8:36 AM on July 26, 2014

A piece entitled Here's the Story by David Gilbert that recently appeared in The New Yorker uses this structure.
posted by carmicha at 8:45 AM on July 26, 2014

Here's my favorite.
posted by KRS at 12:38 PM on July 26, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks for these, folks. I read the David Gilbert story, and it's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'm just hoping to find more examples. I've also read both the Silber and Lahiri -- but am hoping to find stand-alone stories with this structure. I agree with you, thereemix. I love Lahiri's stories, but don't feel as strongly about her novels -- the last one anyway. Didn't read the first.
posted by swheatie at 3:43 PM on July 26, 2014

The one that came to mind first is The Paradise Lounge by William Trevor.
posted by billiebee at 4:02 PM on July 26, 2014

One of my favorite authors does this frequently. Look at Jorge Luis Borges's Axolotl for a version of this. (There's another story of his, the title of which I am blanking on at the moment, with two male characters, one riding a motorcycle down the street, the other being offered up as a Mayan sacrifice. The way the stories ultimately intersect is amazing.)
posted by GoLikeHellMachine at 12:52 AM on July 27, 2014

Damn, here's why I shouldn't post in the middle of the night: "Axolotl" is by Julio Cortazar, as is the other story, the one whose title I couldn't think of. That story's title in Spanish is "La noche boca arriba" which is translated into English as "The Night Face Up."

Borges has a lot of twinning in his stories and stories in which a character meets himself, which is why I was confused!
posted by GoLikeHellMachine at 1:17 AM on July 27, 2014

This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths" might possibly fit.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2014