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Four short stories that haunt me
Something I was thinking about, doing the "favorite books" meme, is how utterly impossible it is for me to do any kind of list along those lines, without either questioning the right of most of those books to be on the list, or thinking of a dozen more books that should have been. I guess the problem is that there are so many different axes on which one can relate to a book. There are books that are beautifully written and gorgeously plotted, in which I didn't relate to a single character; books that I will freely admit were sentimental tripe that pushed my buttons in ever possible way despite their utter lack of literary merit; books in which the central concept, twist or story idea was so awesome that I kept re-reading them despite their lack of other merits; books that made me see the world in a different way but were so depressing I'll never read them again.
But short stories are easier -- because they're so much less complex, I think. With most short stories, the thing that sticks with me is a single vivid concept or twist or image. As usual, I'm sure that I'm forgetting something important, but (continuing the evening's trend of writing about books rather than actually writing them), here, in no particular order, are what I think are my top short stories of all time (until I remember the ones that aren't on the list, anyway). There were supposed to be five, but when I came up with four right off the top of my head and then ended up waffling between several different stories as to which one deserved to be fifth on the list, I decided this meant it should probably be four.
Tom Godwin, "The Cold Equations"
Really can't describe how affecting this was for me when I read it the first time, or how profoundly it stuck in my memory. There's quite a bit of really interesting critical analysis of this story out there that's probably more intriguing than the original story itself, and as an adult, I find it a lot less moving and profound than I did as a teenager. Still, anytime that I think about short stories, this one inevitably tops the list.
Jack London, "To Build a Fire"
The only one on this list that's not science fiction. I was very young when I first read this (in fact, it may have been read to me), and the stark imagery and the sense of impending doom has never lost its impact, no matter how many times I've read it. Probably it helps that freezing to death is a concern I grew up with, something that's always a distinct possibility; rather than being an abstract fear that is unlikely to happen to me, it's more like confronting the bogeyman under the bed.
Connie Willis, "All My Darling Daughters"
All the best short stories have a sucker punch at the end. This one punched me so hard I'm still reeling from it, ten years later. The first time I read it, I had to immediately go back and re-read it over and over, just to try to understand what the author had done to build that dawning, perfectly crafted sense of horror culminating in the moment when your whole understanding of the situation turns upside down.
R.A. Lafferty, "The Six Fingers of Time"
Lafferty writes impenetrable novels (I've never managed to finish one) but utterly sublime short stories. The concept in this one is just incredible, and I think the aspect that really makes the story memorable is how the author makes you believe in what is really a completely outlandish idea by breaking it down, step by step, and filling it with tiny everyday details. I still catch myself, at busy moments, wishing I could do what the protagonist of this story can do (despite the inevitable "felled by hubris" moment at the end).
A few of the ones that did not make the list: "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett; "As Never Was" by P. Schuyler Miller; "The Unpleasant Profession of Dr. Jonathan Hoag" by Robert Heinlein; "Nightfall" by Arthur C. Clarke; "The Man Who Lost the Sea" by Theodore Sturgeon; "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes; "Unicorn Variations" by Roger Zelazny; "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs.
What about you?
But short stories are easier -- because they're so much less complex, I think. With most short stories, the thing that sticks with me is a single vivid concept or twist or image. As usual, I'm sure that I'm forgetting something important, but (continuing the evening's trend of writing about books rather than actually writing them), here, in no particular order, are what I think are my top short stories of all time (until I remember the ones that aren't on the list, anyway). There were supposed to be five, but when I came up with four right off the top of my head and then ended up waffling between several different stories as to which one deserved to be fifth on the list, I decided this meant it should probably be four.
Tom Godwin, "The Cold Equations"
Really can't describe how affecting this was for me when I read it the first time, or how profoundly it stuck in my memory. There's quite a bit of really interesting critical analysis of this story out there that's probably more intriguing than the original story itself, and as an adult, I find it a lot less moving and profound than I did as a teenager. Still, anytime that I think about short stories, this one inevitably tops the list.
Jack London, "To Build a Fire"
The only one on this list that's not science fiction. I was very young when I first read this (in fact, it may have been read to me), and the stark imagery and the sense of impending doom has never lost its impact, no matter how many times I've read it. Probably it helps that freezing to death is a concern I grew up with, something that's always a distinct possibility; rather than being an abstract fear that is unlikely to happen to me, it's more like confronting the bogeyman under the bed.
Connie Willis, "All My Darling Daughters"
All the best short stories have a sucker punch at the end. This one punched me so hard I'm still reeling from it, ten years later. The first time I read it, I had to immediately go back and re-read it over and over, just to try to understand what the author had done to build that dawning, perfectly crafted sense of horror culminating in the moment when your whole understanding of the situation turns upside down.
R.A. Lafferty, "The Six Fingers of Time"
Lafferty writes impenetrable novels (I've never managed to finish one) but utterly sublime short stories. The concept in this one is just incredible, and I think the aspect that really makes the story memorable is how the author makes you believe in what is really a completely outlandish idea by breaking it down, step by step, and filling it with tiny everyday details. I still catch myself, at busy moments, wishing I could do what the protagonist of this story can do (despite the inevitable "felled by hubris" moment at the end).
A few of the ones that did not make the list: "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett; "As Never Was" by P. Schuyler Miller; "The Unpleasant Profession of Dr. Jonathan Hoag" by Robert Heinlein; "Nightfall" by Arthur C. Clarke; "The Man Who Lost the Sea" by Theodore Sturgeon; "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes; "Unicorn Variations" by Roger Zelazny; "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs.
What about you?