Questions tagged [short-stories]
For questions about stories with a fully developed plot, themes, and characters, but significantly shorter and less detailed than a novel.
3
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19 views
Looking for a short story about painters who fake a death
I'm trying to find a short story about two painters. They realize that nobody ever becomes famous or earns any money from their work until after they die. So they decide to fake one of them being ...
0
votes
1answer
72 views
Short Story Identification - From English Textbook, about Person Living in Wrong Time Period
When I was a Junior in High School (2007-2008) my English teacher used an English textbook that had a story about someone who thought they were living in the wrong time period. I cannot remember ...
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1answer
23 views
What is the meaning of this sentence: …for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man
It is a line of one of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, and it says:
We gave him a hearty welcome; for there was nearly half as much of the
entertaining as of the contemptible about the man...
I ...
2
votes
0answers
23 views
What are Trubies?
Nalo Hopkinson's short story "Ours is the Prettiest" (published in the collection Falling in Love with Hominids, 2015) mentions Trubies several times, for example:
Page 190:
I swung aside the ...
2
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0answers
20 views
Relevance of tiger limerick to Gilla's story
In the short story "The Smile on the Face" by Nalo Hopkinson (published in the collection Falling in Love with Hominids, 2015), the author intersperses the story with fragments and lines from the ...
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0answers
36 views
Story about a precious bottle of wine; owner waiting for the perfect occasion
A wonderful story about a man who owns a bottle of luxury wine and waiting for an important occasion to open the bottle, at the end the bottle is lost and drank by a homeless man does who not know its ...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
What were the “Leicestershire clowns”?
In Sir Walter Scott's "Chronicles of the Canongate" we have the following
"indigestion, from having swallowed victuals like a Lei'stershire clown bolting bacon"
I have not traced any other ...
24
votes
1answer
5k views
English short story where a wife makes an investigation officer eat the murder weapon
I remember reading this English short story during my school days; it was part of our English curriculum 18-19 years ago.
Plot:
It starts with a wife killing her husband with turkey or chicken or ...
4
votes
0answers
23 views
Why does Uri get a special answer when his balloon pops?
In Miriam Roth's classic Hebrew children's book A Tale of Five Balloons (Hebrew: מעשה בחמישה בלונים), five children each get a balloon:
In sequence, each child sees their balloon pop. And each is ...
0
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0answers
32 views
Chekhov story involving a “peeping tom” priest and a newly married couple?
The story takes place on a ship and involves the priest spying on the newlyweds couple in their cabin.
Can't remember the title though. (It was re-published in one of his short story collections in ...
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0answers
20 views
Does “The Whalebone Parrot” draw inspiration from any specific Apache sources?
"The Whalebone Parrot" is a short horror story by Darcie Little Badger. In it, a parrot is killed, and then possesses Loretta to try to kill the cat that killed the parrot.
Darcie Little Badger often ...
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0answers
31 views
How is the possession by “The Whalebone Parrot” related to Loretta's Native American identity?
Darcie Little Badger's short story "The Whalebone Parrot" tells the story of young Emily in the 19th century struggling with her sister Loretta's possession by what turns out to be the eponymous ...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
What is the language which appears in “The Whalebone Parrot”?
"The Whalebone Parrot" by Darcie Little Badger is a short story freely available online about a family living on a small island with a cat and a parrot. An important theme is that both sisters are "...
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0answers
32 views
The Merchant of Venice
İs there any short version of the merchant of Venice to play?
We are going to play it in our class but the problem is that the story is too long and we don't have enough time for all of it. I need a ...
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0answers
27 views
“The South” by Jorge Luis Borges: book/movie differences?
What are some of the differences and similarities between the book "The South" and the movie? The book is about Juan Dahlmann with his accident. I know that the cat is in different places, that the ...
1
vote
1answer
65 views
What's the name of that short story written by C.S. Lewis about female vanity?
There's a short story written by the Christian author C.S. Lewis concerning the vanity and solipsism of women, but, for the life of me, I cannot remember the name, and a Google search proved fruitless....
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0answers
27 views
Is Irene actually delusional in “The Famine King”?
At the end of "The Famine King", we are given the impression that Irene is delusional and that everything that relates to the windigo is actually just imagined:
“Where did that bruise come from?” ...
0
votes
1answer
32 views
What's going on in Charlotte Riddell's Old House in Vauxhall Walk? [closed]
Maybe I'm looking too hard for meanings that aren't there, but can someone explain to me what's going on in Charlotte Riddell's Old House in Vauxhall Walk?
How was the second burglar caught?
What was ...
2
votes
1answer
51 views
“The impostor magician Smerdis” from Borges
In the Jorge Luis Borges short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius the only historical name the narrator and Bioy recognize from the cyclopaedia entry on Uqbar is that of
the impostor magician Smerdis,...
3
votes
1answer
165 views
What is “the fabled obelisk” alluding to in The Boy at Mugby?
In this fragment from The Boy at Mugby within paragraph 60:
The swelling tumult was arrested in its rise. Sniff, bore away by his servile disposition, had drored up his leg with a higher and a ...
-2
votes
1answer
60 views
Trying to re-find a horror/suspense short story involving a painting [closed]
I remember in high school our class read a horror/suspense story involving a man who finds a painting at a garage sale. I can't remember many other details about it but would like very much to read it ...
2
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0answers
40 views
Book by eastern European author about small house toys including a dog called Floki
I vaguely remember one book from my childhood, which I would be glad to have around. I do not recall much, but I think that it was written by (possibly) Slovenian author, or Slovak. Perhaps even Czech ...
10
votes
1answer
167 views
Short horror story I read two years ago about a Jack-in-the-box
About two years ago I read a short story about a Jack-in-the-box that is unused. I believe that he was at the bottom of the toy box and where he came from was unknown.
In the house were a bunch of ...
4
votes
1answer
41 views
What is this children's short story about an expat English girl who wants to pick primroses on her birthday?
I remember reading as a child a fictional short story about the difficulties that an English girl had fitting in after moving to America. The children at her school make fun of her using words like "...
3
votes
1answer
54 views
Identification of an American short story about a horse that can't carry two train robbers
I apologize in advance if the details I'm about to provide are too poor or distorted by my memory.
My father told me once of a short story which (if memory serves) is made up of the following plot: ...
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0answers
17 views
How does irony contribute to the Flannery O'Connor stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People”?
In Flannery O’Connor's short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People”, how does irony affect the reader's perception of the narrative and how it is used to construct the plot?
...
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0answers
26 views
Anyone know a book about a coat with rainbow square patterns?
I have a vague memory of a book my mum read to me before she passed away when I was very young. I think it was a book for young readers but it was decently thick. I'm from Australia, but I'm not sure ...
3
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0answers
40 views
Looking for the title of a folklore which was about moon princess being jealous of her sister sun princess
I read this short story back in middle school during my literature class when we were studying about folklore. It was about a moon princess being jealous of her sister sun princess so much that she ...
8
votes
1answer
58 views
Looking for an O.Henry story where a young man from the country working in the city marries a socialite and then goes for a visit to his home
The young man in the question takes his bride to his home in the countryside to meet his family. The author describes the following scene in exquisite detail:-
It's night and the entire family is ...
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0answers
12 views
Has Nalo Hopkinson had pets which influenced her writing?
In at least two of Nalo Hopkinson's short stories that I've read, the main characters are women with an interest in ... unusual creatures. Namely, "Can't Beat 'Em" (Marisella keeps a 'glup', a sort of ...
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0answers
17 views
The structure of 'Winesburg, Ohio' by Sherwood Anderson
I am currently reading Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. It is essentially a collection of related short stories compiled into one novel. Why might Anderson have chosen to structure it like this? ...
6
votes
1answer
69 views
What's with the reference to “Alice in Wonderland” in Nalo Hopkinson's “The Reverse Cheshire Cat”?
Nalo Hopkinson's "The Reverse Cheshire Cat" is obviously making a reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, with the Cheshire Cat. The two protagonists enter a shop named "The Reverse Cheshire ...
2
votes
0answers
87 views
Short story read c. 1960: boy unhappy with his family, dreams of being picked up by his “real parents”
One of the short stories in my elementary school reading book (late 50s or early 60s) was about a young boy who was unhappy in his home and family. He constantly fantasized about his "real parents" ...
5
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0answers
33 views
What's the significance of the name Loyola?
As soon as I started reading Nalo Hopkinson's short story "The Reverse Cheshire Cat" (freely available to read online), the name "Loyola" jumped out at me. Surely this must be a reference to Ignatius ...
2
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0answers
25 views
Meaning of the /ʌ/ sounds in Nalo Hopkinson's story Can’t Beat ‘Em
In Nalo Hopkinson's short story Can’t Beat ‘Em, people try to deal with a sort of "sink throat monster" that one of the characters calls "glups".
While reading the story a second time, I gained the ...
6
votes
2answers
440 views
What does the last line of Nalo Hopkinson's “Shift” mean?
I've finished reading Nalo Hopkinson's short story "Shift", and I'm baffled by the ending.
After the protagonist's encounter with his family, and his girlfriend tells him to find out who he is, the ...
3
votes
1answer
42 views
When is “fe” used in Nalo Hopkinson's “Shift”?
The word "fe" is used three times in the Nalo Hopkinson short story "Shift":
When my mother who wasn’t my mother yet approach the man who wasn’t my father yet, when she ask him, “Man, you eat salt, ...
8
votes
1answer
101 views
What is the relevance of the title of Nalo Hopkinson's “A Raggy Dog, a Shaggy Dog”?
I've just read Nalo Hopkinson's short story "A Raggy Dog, a Shaggy Dog" (available for free online from Apex Magazine). It's an odd, quirky tale about an orchid-loving lady who's constantly setting ...
3
votes
2answers
57 views
What does “nuh” mean here in “Shift” by Nalo Hopkinson?
In reading "Shift" by Nalo Hopkinson, I came across this paragraph:
In my mother and father, salt meet with sweet. Milk meet with chocolate. No one could touch her while he was alive and ruler of ...
3
votes
1answer
48 views
Significance of 'There was a time they called porridge “gruel.”'
In Nalo Hopkinson's short story Shift, Caliban has a relationship with a "golden girl". At some point, Caliban mentions she is cooking oats. At an earlier point in the story he says
There was a ...
8
votes
2answers
266 views
Why is the colour of Caliban's girls important?
I recently read Nalo Hopkinson's short story "Shift", which is freely available online. The central character is a reimagining of Shakespeare's Caliban, a Caribbean black man who finds white women to ...
6
votes
1answer
860 views
Why are pronouns used in this way in Nalo Hopkinson's “Shift”?
I just read the short story "Shift" by Nalo Hopkinson, which is freely available online. It's a modern, Caribbean-themed story inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest.
One thing which confused me on ...
8
votes
2answers
645 views
Meaning of “How can one admire a girl…so young she doesn't know how to bite her fingers”
In a book of short stories by Maasthi Venkatesa Iyengar, translated from Kannada to English, there is a story set in colonial India in which two male characters are discussing marriage. One character ...
6
votes
1answer
87 views
Which short story describes a man climbing a tower and then discovering he’s underground?
I remember this story about a man living in a castle. I think he wanted to escape and he decided to reach the tallest tower in the castle. He climbs the wall from the inside and when he’s finally at ...
5
votes
1answer
169 views
In “On The Face of It” by Susan Hill, why did the author decide to kill Mr. Lamb at the end of the story?
"On The Face of It" by Susan Hill (a 5-10 minute read) is part of my curriculum, and I'm genuinely confused as to why the author decided to kill Mr Lamb at the end. The entire story is about optimism ...
5
votes
1answer
127 views
In “The South” by Jorge Luis Borges, what is the significance of the cat?
What is the significance of Dahlmann's contact with the "enormous cat" in this short story?
He quickly recalled that in a cafe on the Calle Brazil (a few dozen feet from Yrigoyen's house) there was ...
6
votes
1answer
189 views
Short story where people are handicapped in the name of fairness and equality
I remember part of a story, maybe a short story. In it, people are handicapped in different ways depending on what they're good at. People that are really strong have weights attached to them. ...
3
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0answers
54 views
Short story about a condemned organ
Well over 50 years ago I read a short story about an organ in a building (church or music hall?) which I believe had been slated for demolition. Rather than suffer the indignity of destruction at ...
9
votes
1answer
163 views
Short story about a scientist who (half jokingly) presented the theory that humans evolved from pigs, instead of apes
This was a short story from the 60's-70's.
The story was part of an anthology, perhaps from one of the magazines at the time (since it wasn't award winning material). A scientist (or doctor) at a ...
2
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0answers
25 views
What connects the strangeness of the people and the magic of the bathroom?
I was just reading Turkish Short Stories from the October 2017 issue of Worlds Without Borders. In particular, the story "The Little Bathroom" by Sine Ergün (published freely online, and translated ...
