Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

red dog 1

(27,648 posts)
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 04:02 PM Oct 2019

Do you have a favorite "obscure" short story?

In my opinion, Harlan Ellison was the greatest short story writer of the 20th Century.
My favorite of his is the relatively little known "Driving in the Spikes"

Another great but little known short story is Michael Shea's "Horror on the # 33"

115 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Do you have a favorite "obscure" short story? (Original Post) red dog 1 Oct 2019 OP
I love Harlan Ellison's writing. Aristus Oct 2019 #1
The Conversion of the Jews The Wizard Oct 2019 #2
more, more!! NJCher Oct 2019 #3
"Raft" by Larry Tritten red dog 1 Oct 2019 #9
"Odour of Chrysanthemums", by D. H. Lawrence. nt Atticus Oct 2019 #4
maybe not so obscure, but "Bartleby the Scrivener" diva77 Oct 2019 #5
I hated this story nt yellowdogintexas Oct 2019 #81
more a collection. john collier's fancies & goodnights. pansypoo53219 Oct 2019 #6
I have read some of these. yellowdogintexas Oct 2019 #83
the whole book is pretty good. i just bought a reprint on impulse. pretty good for 1930's. pansypoo53219 Oct 2019 #88
Young Goodman Brown, Nathael Hawthorne sarge43 Oct 2019 #7
"The Wendigo," by Algernon Blackwood Glorfindel Oct 2019 #8
De-fa-go jpak Oct 2019 #39
eeeek! Glorfindel Oct 2019 #40
Oh this flame and fiery height! jpak Oct 2019 #43
"Three Bananas" by Larry Tritten red dog 1 Oct 2019 #10
Also DH Lawrence RobinA Oct 2019 #11
Arthur C. Clarke (two stories): lastlib Oct 2019 #12
Oh those are good. miyazaki Oct 2019 #16
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuinn Glorfindel Oct 2019 #68
I was always impressed with Ms. LeGuin,,, lastlib Oct 2019 #69
Yes. "The Wind's Twelve Quarters: Short Stories by Ursula Le Guin" Glorfindel Oct 2019 #71
Yes, the quintessential American short story klook Oct 2019 #76
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Oct 2019 #13
Is that Hannes Bok doing the cover...? First Speaker Oct 2019 #15
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Oct 2019 #18
The Devil's Crapper by Lawrence Walsh yankeepants Oct 2019 #14
"It", by Theodore Sturgeon... First Speaker Oct 2019 #17
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Oct 2019 #19
"The Destructors" by Graham Greene Paladin Oct 2019 #20
Just about anything by William Tenn. n/t malthaussen Oct 2019 #21
Anything by H.H. Munro ("Saki"). The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2019 #22
Terry Bisson's "They're Made Out Of Meat" -- admittedly not obscure at all, really. eppur_se_muova Oct 2019 #23
"Bears Discover Fire" is one of my favorite stories! klook Oct 2019 #33
A one-act play, really, but frogmarch Oct 2019 #24
"The Most Dangerous Game" DeminPennswoods Oct 2019 #25
That one was brilliant. DFW Oct 2019 #36
Another was "The Storm" by McKNIGHT MALMAR ailsagirl Oct 2019 #45
"The Ransom of Red Chief" DeminPennswoods Oct 2019 #46
Me too! ailsagirl Oct 2019 #61
A book of short stories by Donald Ray Pollock. AJT Oct 2019 #26
Speaking of Southern Gothic, my favorite short story of that genre is LuvNewcastle Oct 2019 #78
Don't remember the writer, or the name pnwest Oct 2019 #27
I love this description and I want to find this story. n/t ms liberty Oct 2019 #41
IKR?! pnwest Oct 2019 #42
Glorfindel identified the story, see their reply with a link to it! ms liberty Oct 2019 #54
Thank you for the heads up! That's amazing! pnwest Oct 2019 #62
Check out "Reunion," by Arthur C. Clarke, written in 1971 Glorfindel Oct 2019 #48
Thank you so much for finding this! ms liberty Oct 2019 #53
It's my pleasure. Glorfindel Oct 2019 #59
I am gobsmacked you found it! Thank you pnwest Oct 2019 #63
I've read it! It's an Arthur C. Clarke story! lastlib Oct 2019 #70
tough one... hills like white elephants. ..maybe Kurt V. Oct 2019 #28
It's plenty weird, but... FiveGoodMen Oct 2019 #29
The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster, here is a PDF braddy Oct 2019 #30
The Body Politic Bayard Oct 2019 #31
Tin Soldier -- Joan D. Vinge hunter Oct 2019 #32
"Straw" by Gene Wolfe. klook Oct 2019 #34
"Serendipity" by Larry Tritten red dog 1 Oct 2019 #35
Lost Legacy DFW Oct 2019 #37
Sredni Vashtar by Saki DFW Oct 2019 #38
Me, too. I love that story! Glorfindel Oct 2019 #47
Sredni Vashtar the beautiful! n/t DFW Oct 2019 #49
It's in The Chronicles of Clovis, and it's free at gutenberg.org hunter Oct 2019 #58
A really creepy one was "The Distributor" by Richard Matheson ailsagirl Oct 2019 #44
One very off the wall story: The Unpleasant Profession Jonathan Hoag DFW Oct 2019 #50
"The Playground" by Ray Bradbury Peregrine Took Oct 2019 #51
"The Door" - E.B. White flor-de-jasmim Oct 2019 #52
Stephen King's "Night Shift." CrispyQ Oct 2019 #55
I loved Hearts in Atlantis except for one thing. nolabear Oct 2019 #87
A Piece of Steak Jack London cachukis Oct 2019 #56
"My House shall be called the House of Prayer" by William Hope Hodgeson and aka-chmeee Oct 2019 #57
Just about anything from M R James. RGinNJ Oct 2019 #60
Stories of Your Life and Others Polly Hennessey Oct 2019 #64
"The Kool Aid Wino" by Richard Brautigan red dog 1 Oct 2019 #65
Great story! MatthewHatesTrump2 Oct 2019 #85
"Gopher in the Gilly" by Harlan Ellison red dog 1 Oct 2019 #66
"When We Were Wolves", Jon Billman... 2naSalit Oct 2019 #67
Mother to the World by Richard Wilson TuxedoKat Oct 2019 #72
Lot by Ward Moore. n/t MicaelS Oct 2019 #73
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson wnylib Oct 2019 #74
"Looking For a Legend" by Larry Tritten red dog 1 Oct 2019 #75
I remember reading that one....It's about looking for Wyatt Earp's grave, right? MatthewHatesTrump2 Oct 2019 #86
Builds a Fire - Jack London Bradshaw3 Oct 2019 #77
Don't know about obscure, but my first thoughts are: petronius Oct 2019 #79
Sandkings was what made me start the Song of Ice and Fire series cemaphonic Oct 2019 #84
This message was self-deleted by its author petronius Oct 2019 #80
Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne nt yellowdogintexas Oct 2019 #82
One by T. C. Boyle, I don't remember the name... Ohiya Oct 2019 #89
"The Autopsy" by Michael Shea MatthewHatesTrump2 Oct 2019 #90
"obscure" in the sense of: I wanna *FIND* it!1 About the 1919 World Series UTUSN Oct 2019 #91
Was that player "Shoeless Joe Jackson? MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #95
Probably, Say-it-isn't-so wasn't the focus of the story UTUSN Nov 2019 #97
"Africa Screams" by Larry Tritten red dog 1 Oct 2019 #92
"Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor smirkymonkey Oct 2019 #93
"In a Grove" Harker Oct 2019 #94
"Gopher in the Gilly" by Harlan Ellison MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #96
"The Getaway Lunch," by Tibor Fisher PETRUS Nov 2019 #98
"Keyboard" by Harlan Ellison red dog 1 Nov 2019 #99
The Shepard by Fredrick Forsythe jrandom421 Nov 2019 #100
I agree with you about "Driving in the Spikes" MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #101
Not sure it qualifies as "obscure" but "The Three Most Important Things in Life" by Harlan Ellison MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #102
"Trout Fishing in America Shorty" MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #103
"In Video Veritas" by Larry Tritten red dog 1 Nov 2019 #104
"Eight O'Clock in the Morning"...Ray Nelson Tikki Nov 2019 #105
"A Tiny Feast" by Chris Adrian MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #106
"The Hospice" by Robert Aickman MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #107
"Walking Hills" by D.R. McBride red dog 1 Nov 2019 #108
"Delivery" by Michael Shea red dog 1 Nov 2019 #109
Another very good "obscure" short story is "Dinner Time" by Russell Edson MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #110
"The Stone Boy" by Gina Berriault (1957) MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #111
"Wemer" by Jo Ann Beard MatthewHatesTrump2 Nov 2019 #112
"Who Will Love the River God" by Emily Newland red dog 1 Nov 2019 #113
"The Great Martian Pyramid Hoax" by Jerry Oltion red dog 1 Nov 2019 #114
Just now watching Hallmark 'drama' of The Gift of the Magi, elleng Nov 2019 #115

Aristus

(66,093 posts)
1. I love Harlan Ellison's writing.
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 04:26 PM
Oct 2019

I met him back in 2006, and got to have dinner with him!

My favorite 'obscure' story of his is "Along The Scenic Route".

NJCher

(35,425 posts)
3. more, more!!
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 05:05 PM
Oct 2019

I love to read a short story at night, right before bedtime. I'm interested in the contributions of others.

red dog 1

(27,648 posts)
9. "Raft" by Larry Tritten
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 10:10 PM
Oct 2019

(Google it and you can read it for free)

Two of the best short stories Harlan Ellison wrote are:
1) "The Three Most Important Things in Life"
2) "Gopher in the Gilly"

But the best he ever wrote, imo, is the one I mention at the top of this thread:
"Driving in the Spikes"

Glorfindel

(9,706 posts)
8. "The Wendigo," by Algernon Blackwood
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 08:50 PM
Oct 2019

Utterly, completely horrifying. To this day, I can't sleep with my feet uncovered.

RobinA

(9,878 posts)
11. Also DH Lawrence
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 10:36 PM
Oct 2019

The Rocking Horse Winner. It’s not obscure, really, since it’s allegedly one of Lawrence’s most popular short stories, but I didn’t even know he wrote short stories until I ran across it.

lastlib

(22,981 posts)
12. Arthur C. Clarke (two stories):
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 10:49 PM
Oct 2019

1) "Dog Star" about an astronomer who is adopted by a dog he names Laika (Russian word for "barker" ), whose barking saves him from the second great San Francisco earthquake; and later, on a (future) moonbase, his dream about its barking saves him from a major moonquake.

2) "The Light of Darkness", a scientist seeking to save his African nation from a tyrannical emperor, cripples him by blinding him with a powerful astronomical laser. (I have thought a lot about this story during the Bush/Cheney years, and more recently under AnusMouth.)

Clarke has *so many* good stories, it's difficult to cut it to two--"The Star" and "The Sentinel" (inspiration for the book/movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" ) would certainly be on my list. He was such an incredibly good and prolific writer!

miyazaki

(2,220 posts)
16. Oh those are good.
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 11:36 PM
Oct 2019

"Superiority", another exceptional one.

Even reading about "Moonwatcher" in the opening pages of 2001 is like a gripping short story in and of itself.

Glorfindel

(9,706 posts)
68. "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuinn
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 10:23 PM
Oct 2019

One of my favorite short stories, and one everyone should read IMHO.

lastlib

(22,981 posts)
69. I was always impressed with Ms. LeGuin,,,
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 10:29 PM
Oct 2019

(even more so after seeing a recent PBS doc on her feminist views), but I never got around to reading her short stories. I probly should. Is that one in an anthology?

Response to red dog 1 (Original post)

Response to First Speaker (Reply #15)

First Speaker

(4,858 posts)
17. "It", by Theodore Sturgeon...
Wed Oct 16, 2019, 11:37 PM
Oct 2019

...anything by Sturgeon is better than anything by anybody else. (OK, hyperbole. But read some of his stories.) But "It" takes place in the South, deals with the very essence of horror--non-living substances taking on life, often deceased corpses, but in this instance forest detritus and swamp muck. This story, especially the title, obviously, influenced Stephen King. But there's more horror in this short story than there is in the whole 1,000 pages of King's *It*--and I like King's novel...

Response to red dog 1 (Original post)

Paladin

(28,202 posts)
20. "The Destructors" by Graham Greene
Thu Oct 17, 2019, 09:12 AM
Oct 2019

My favorite short story, obscure or otherwise.

Runner-up: "Roller Ball Murder" by William Harrison. Basis for the classic (James Caan version) sci-fi movie.

eppur_se_muova

(36,227 posts)
23. Terry Bisson's "They're Made Out Of Meat" -- admittedly not obscure at all, really.
Fri Oct 18, 2019, 01:20 PM
Oct 2019
https://commonlit.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/texts/student_pdfs/000/001/003/original/commonlit_they-re-made-out-of-meat_student.pdf

I'm also charmed by "Bears Discover Fire", for some odd reason.

"The Coon Suit" is either hilarious or a real groaner, depending on your disposition. A shame it's never been circulated as widely as TMOOM.

I only now realized that all three of these stories are in the same collection, "Bears Discover Fire and other stories". I read it years ago, yet all three stories immediately popped into my mind after reading the OP. And no other author did. Hmmmmm.

OTOH, couldn't disagree more strongly about HE. If he were even one-tenth as good as he thinks he is, he'd really be something -- something more than an outsized ego, anyway. I've never finished a story of his without wondering "why did I even bother?".

klook

(12,134 posts)
33. "Bears Discover Fire" is one of my favorite stories!
Sat Oct 19, 2019, 02:51 PM
Oct 2019

Its a lovely story, and one I've re-read a few times.

AJT

(5,240 posts)
26. A book of short stories by Donald Ray Pollock.
Fri Oct 18, 2019, 05:53 PM
Oct 2019

Southern gothic.....really perverse, hard to put down and hard to read.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
78. Speaking of Southern Gothic, my favorite short story of that genre is
Tue Oct 22, 2019, 08:44 PM
Oct 2019

"A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner. Gross, but hilarious, and the lengths the townspeople go to keep Miss Emily from being embarrassed say a lot about the time. Just plausible enough to be shocking.

pnwest

(3,265 posts)
27. Don't remember the writer, or the name
Fri Oct 18, 2019, 05:58 PM
Oct 2019

of the story...but I remember reading a story in grade school, around ‘74-ish. Totally paraphrasing it here, too.

BUT, the gist of the story was that it was a message from an alien race to us humans, explaining how they’d created us and apologized for the error of how we’d evolved into different colors, and the strife it had caused. And it ended with, “If any of you are still white, we can fix that.”

I was profoundly struck by that, and the assumptions I had made while reading the story. Even as a 4th or 5th grader, I was profoundly moved and made aware of my assumptions.

I’ve thought of that story often, and tried Googling, to no avail. Can’t find it.

pnwest

(3,265 posts)
62. Thank you for the heads up! That's amazing!
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 02:32 PM
Oct 2019

It is exactly as I remembered it from 4th grade! LOL! Wow!!

ms liberty

(8,478 posts)
53. Thank you so much for finding this!
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 12:47 PM
Oct 2019

I have thought about the storyline ever since I read that post, and it was as good as I imagined it could be.

Glorfindel

(9,706 posts)
59. It's my pleasure.
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 01:09 PM
Oct 2019

I'm a big fan of Mr. Clarke's. Plus, I always enjoy being of service to my fellow readers.

pnwest

(3,265 posts)
63. I am gobsmacked you found it! Thank you
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 02:34 PM
Oct 2019

so much. No wonder I loved it, it’s Arthur C. Clark. It is exactly as I remembered it, too. Thank you!!!

Man, it’s just still so profound.

lastlib

(22,981 posts)
70. I've read it! It's an Arthur C. Clarke story!
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 10:37 PM
Oct 2019

I'll have to go to my library to find the title, but it's in his anthology "The Wind From The Sun". I'll update as soon as I find the title.

On edit: Glorfindel beat me to it! "Reunion"

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
29. It's plenty weird, but...
Fri Oct 18, 2019, 06:28 PM
Oct 2019

"Zombies" from Chuck Palahniuk's Make Something Up collection is pretty interesting.

Bayard

(21,805 posts)
31. The Body Politic
Fri Oct 18, 2019, 11:34 PM
Oct 2019

By Clive Barker. Love his short stories. This one was actually made into a short film.

"You rely on them every day. To eat. To drive. To work. To live.
So, what happens when your hands grow tired of your commands and plot for freedom? "

hunter

(38,264 posts)
32. Tin Soldier -- Joan D. Vinge
Sat Oct 19, 2019, 01:12 PM
Oct 2019

It's set in a future where space travel is painfully slow. It's not a Star Trek or Heinlein universe where men are men and brilliant women wear mini skirts at warp speed.

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Joan_D._Vinge

I'm not sure what "obscure" means since sooner or later everything falls into the sea...

Even the very best short stories in science fiction and fantasy tend to be obscure outside that community, and become more so as time passes.

Harlan Ellison's "Go Toward the Light" is one of my favorite explorations of time travel and religion. It expresses some of my own frustrations with time travel and religion.

I'll bet I could dig up some obscure short stories in my forty year old college papers, excluding perhaps a course by one professor who was infatuated with Doris Lessing. They might have called the course "Doris Lessing Three Days a Week" even though the actual title implied a much greater breadth of literature. There was nothing wrong with that. One hopes Doris Lessing is not obscure, at least not yet, since she was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Believe it or not I have a minor in English but it's possible they gave it to me just to make me go away. A university dean who'd seen me kicked out of school twice, once for fighting with one of his teaching assistants, told me, "Hunter, I think you should go to graduate school... BUT NOT HERE."

No he did not say it in all-caps, but I heard it loud and clear.

Here's a dollar kid, now scram!


klook

(12,134 posts)
34. "Straw" by Gene Wolfe.
Sat Oct 19, 2019, 03:14 PM
Oct 2019

It's a very different kind of "what-if" science fiction story, set in a past where the hot air balloon has been invented hundreds of years earlier than it actually was.

Sounds strange, but it's very well done. Wolfe sucked me into the world of this story right away, and I found the characters and setting compelling. When it was over I was sorry he hadn't expanded it into a novel.

DFW

(54,051 posts)
37. Lost Legacy
Sat Oct 19, 2019, 04:08 PM
Oct 2019

By Robert Heinlein.

I always liked it because I always WANT to believe that the eternal struggle against evil will eventually be won. The story, published in 1941, vaguely predicts the coming of Fox News, the modern day Republican party, and people like Mitch McConnell, Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson. Extremely prescient. I'm sure Heinlein was influenced by Mencken when writing this story. He probably would have been dismayed to see to what extent the evil adepts had extended their hold over today's society.

DFW

(54,051 posts)
38. Sredni Vashtar by Saki
Sat Oct 19, 2019, 04:09 PM
Oct 2019

When I was about 12, I must have read that story over and over a hundred times.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
58. It's in The Chronicles of Clovis, and it's free at gutenberg.org
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 01:07 PM
Oct 2019
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3688

I sometimes go binge reading at gutenberg.org just as some might binge watch Netflix.

Thanks for posting this!



ailsagirl

(22,837 posts)
44. A really creepy one was "The Distributor" by Richard Matheson
Sat Oct 19, 2019, 09:38 PM
Oct 2019

Sick, actually
I read that it really got the crazies excited, though

Another creepy one, while not obscure, was "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

DFW

(54,051 posts)
50. One very off the wall story: The Unpleasant Profession Jonathan Hoag
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 12:32 PM
Oct 2019

Also by Heinlein.

I am positive that whoever wrote the screenplay for "The Matrix" knew this story by heart.

CrispyQ

(36,226 posts)
55. Stephen King's "Night Shift."
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 01:00 PM
Oct 2019

Wow. So many memorable stories! I still have the original creepy cover with the eyeballs embedded in a hand.



I love short stories. Looking forward to reading this thread & taking notes.

on edit: You should cross post in Fiction: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1193

nolabear

(41,915 posts)
87. I loved Hearts in Atlantis except for one thing.
Wed Oct 23, 2019, 04:15 PM
Oct 2019

My sons were in high school when it came out and when they read the story about the game of hearts that destroyed everyone’s college year, they and their friends tried to do the same thing.

Fortunately they only made it a couple of days. 😂

cachukis

(2,201 posts)
56. A Piece of Steak Jack London
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 01:03 PM
Oct 2019

Conflicts of poverty and age, all for want of a piece of steak. Boxing millieu in Australia. 7800 words.


https://www.classicshorts.com/stories/steak.html

aka-chmeee

(1,129 posts)
57. "My House shall be called the House of Prayer" by William Hope Hodgeson and
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 01:05 PM
Oct 2019

"Convergent Series" by Larry Niven

red dog 1

(27,648 posts)
65. "The Kool Aid Wino" by Richard Brautigan
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 05:25 PM
Oct 2019

It's more of a "short, short story" and a chapter in Brautigan's book, "Trout Fishing in America"

2naSalit

(86,050 posts)
67. "When We Were Wolves", Jon Billman...
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 09:06 PM
Oct 2019

A collection of unusual short stories about life in the rural Rocky Mountain west unlike those you may imagine at first. I read it when it was new, 2000, and later I found it in a used book store so I bought it. I take it out and read it once about every five or six years. Some of the tales are about modern times, others not.

TuxedoKat

(3,818 posts)
72. Mother to the World by Richard Wilson
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 09:21 AM
Oct 2019

I think it won the Nebula Award for best short story or novella in 1968.

wnylib

(21,146 posts)
74. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Mon Oct 21, 2019, 07:57 PM
Oct 2019

Maybe not so obscure since it was one of my high school English class reading assignments. Gruesome small town ritual.

Bradshaw3

(7,455 posts)
77. Builds a Fire - Jack London
Tue Oct 22, 2019, 06:45 PM
Oct 2019

London is obvioulsy not an obscure writer but many have probably only read his better known novels. Builds a Fire is as suspenseful and page-turning as anything you will ever read.

petronius

(26,580 posts)
79. Don't know about obscure, but my first thoughts are:
Wed Oct 23, 2019, 12:00 AM
Oct 2019

Last edited Wed Oct 23, 2019, 12:52 AM - Edit history (1)

Theodore Sturgeon, The Man Who Lost the Sea
Cordwainer Smith, The Ballad of Lost C'mell
Bob Shaw, The Light Of Other Days
George R. R. Martin, The Sandkings
Cyril M. Kornbluth, The Marching Morons

cemaphonic

(4,138 posts)
84. Sandkings was what made me start the Song of Ice and Fire series
Wed Oct 23, 2019, 12:53 PM
Oct 2019

I had a bunch of college friends in the 90s that were really into Game of Thrones when it was first published, but there was no way I was going to start an unfinished series, plus I wasn't really that much into fantasy fiction. But people kept talking about the series, and eventually I put it together that the author was the Sandkings guy and had to read it right away.

Response to red dog 1 (Original post)

Ohiya

(2,208 posts)
89. One by T. C. Boyle, I don't remember the name...
Wed Oct 23, 2019, 05:35 PM
Oct 2019

about a shipload of potential wives coming to Alaska.

UTUSN

(70,496 posts)
91. "obscure" in the sense of: I wanna *FIND* it!1 About the 1919 World Series
Fri Oct 25, 2019, 11:12 PM
Oct 2019

It was in an elementary school compilation/reader, about a kid baseball fanatic excited about a visiting small league team with a player from the 1919 disgraced ones. The kid was excellent. worshipped the sport. The disgraced player was on Second Base. The kid hit just enough to get to Second, and then slid and *spiked* him.

He was stunned to see the player (Shoeless Joe?) sit/sink down to the grown, with blood flowing out on the pants leg, pulling up the pants leg - and his shin was COVERED with scars. Because every damned little town he went to, some kid would *SPIKE* him.

I've never forgotten this story, don't know the title or author, have looked over the years and asked about it here.


 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
93. "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor
Thu Oct 31, 2019, 10:30 PM
Oct 2019

I read it in college and actually wrote a paper on it and got a 4.0 on it. The story had such an impact on me that I didn't need to use any Cliff Notes or anything like that. I wrote the paper over Winter Break on my own with no input from any outside sources. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, here is a link...

http://sittingbee.com/revelation-flannery-oconnor/

jrandom421

(999 posts)
100. The Shepard by Fredrick Forsythe
Sun Nov 3, 2019, 01:42 PM
Nov 2019

As an RAF pilot, Fredrick is flying back to England from his base in Germany. His plane loses electrical power, as well as navigation and radio. Lost, running low on fuel, he's guided by what seems to be a wealthy veteran flying a vintage De Havilland Mosquito. He's guided to an shut down RAF base that was active during the war, and it is there that he learns the true story of the person who guided him to safety.

elleng

(130,132 posts)
115. Just now watching Hallmark 'drama' of The Gift of the Magi,
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 03:29 AM
Nov 2019

a knock-off of this: "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are well-known, and the ending is generally considered an example of comic irony. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern[2] on Irving Place in New York City.

The story was initially published in The New York Sunday World under the title "Gifts of the Magi" on December 10, 1905. It was first published in book form in the O. Henry Anthology The Four Million in April 1906.

Latest Discussions»The DU Lounge»Do you have a favorite "o...