I read this article tonight. Here is the article link:
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-short-stories.html
It provides a great list of the best short stories to read. The stories are listed in two categories. The first category is for children and the second is for adults. I have read almost all of the children category stories but sadly, only a handful of the adult short stories shared in the article.
Along with this article, I’ve been thinking about some recent discussions I’ve had with friends online here and also at work. One discussion was on the book The Clan of the Cave Bear. This is a very large and dense book by Jean Auel and was written during the 1980s. The story is about a Cromagnon women in ancient times who is raised in a Neanderthal tribe. She is very light-skinned with blond hair and blue eyes. She has an athletic build and learns to become a skilled hunter with a slingshot. But she is considered to be terribly ugly by the other members of the tribe who much prefer the Neanderthal appearance. This story is interesting to me because it taught me early on in life that public opinion of beauty and appearance and racial views is fluid and adaptable, given to change with influencer trends. The story, at its heart, boils down to the “Ugly Ducking” story.
Another recent discussion I had at work centered on the movie The Lion King. We discussed the parts of the story and speculation from articles I read that The Lion King is a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This really got me pondering other Shakespearean plays such as Macbeth and how you could make a modern-day version of that great play.
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner……perhaps someone’s already had these ideas. There’s a specific passage in the Bible from the Book of Job that mentions these exact words….the sound and the fury. Also, one of the characters in the book by Faulkner is also called Uncle Job which I find interesting.
This got me thinking about stories and patterns of stories and whether a lot of the stories we have are similar to each other or old stories adapted to contemporary culture of the time.
Interesting and random stream of consciousness thoughts late at night….
As a side note, I guess my favorite short story for children would probably be the book titled You Are Special by Max Lucado. I also love many of the stories of Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein.
As for adult short stories……that’s much harder to consider. I suppose you could consider The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes a bit of a story although written as a narrative poem. I like that one as well as The Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Boule de Suif by Guy de Maupassant, Moderato Cantabile by Marguerite Duras and several of the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe or Stephen King.
Do you have any short stories that you recommend? What about children’s short stories verses adult short stories? Which are your favorites in each category? Please comment below. I’d like to hear your recommendations for good short stories to read 🙂
If you’ve managed to read this far into the post, thanks so much for reading these late night ramblings!
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