I could have sworn someone posted the suggestion of "The Magic Shop" recently and they included a link to that story online. But where is that post now?

It is Sal_McCoy's post; number three in this thread.

The Lottery is a great story to discuss. One of its major themes has to do with maintaining customs and rituals for no reason other than that they are traditional. This story made a huge splash when it was originally published in The New Yorker in 1948. It is no longer included in most college English anthologies any more. It's interesting to explore why it's fallen out of favor as a literary story.

I introduced The Lottery to my freshman college English students at a community college a few years back and was surprised that most of them had not read it. Even more surprising was that many of the students were profoundly shocked by it. In this age of TV and exposure to much gratuitous violence, these students were able to be shocked by a story written in 1948. I was thrilled, of course.

The key to discussing The Lottery is to make sure that everyone has to read it first. Those who have already read it know why this is so.

At the risk of misreading intended sarcasm...

It is the very first post in this thread by Chris that has "The Magic Shop" suggestion and link. :p


I'm down for reading and discussing The Lottery over the next two weeks.

hahahaha! I seriously wasn't joking when I asked who suggested The Magic Shop! OMG how embarrassing. Yes, twas me.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is actually not in the public domain so we cannot post the full story here.
But it is available all over the web for free so it goes back on the list!

I suggest we only pick short stories that we can read for free online so that we get the maximum number of participants. I'll create a thread right now for "The Magic Shop" by Wells.

The thread is now up for The Magic Shop.

The short story discussion seemed to be popular and two weeks per story is sufficient based on participation. The thread will always be there, so discussion can always continue beyond two if necessary.

I propose that we suggest and select another story for the 1st - 14th of May. It might start a bit later than the 1st but I like the idea of a discussion starting on the 1st and 15th of each month.

I think that one suggestion per person and then randomly selecting one of them would be the most efficient way for choosing the next story.


My suggestion: Symbols and Signs - Nabokov

A Descent into the Maelstrom by Edgar Allan Poe

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/De ... strom.html

The edge of the whirl was represented by a broad belt of gleaming spray; but no particle of this slipped into the mouth of the terrific funnel, whose interior, as far as the eye could fathom it, was a smooth, shining, and jet-black wall of water, inclined to the horizon at an angle of some forty-five degrees, speeding dizzily round and round with a swaying and sweltering motion, and sending forth to the winds an appalling voice, half shriek, half roar, such as not even the mighty cataract of Niagara ever lifts up in its agony to Heaven.
The mountain trembled to its very base, and the rock rocked. I threw myself upon my face, and clung to the scant herbage in an excess of nervous agitation.
"This," said I at length, to the old man - "this can be nothing else than the great whirlpool of the Maelström."

Henry James, "The Real Thing." This one is unusual in that it has chapters, but it's only about 20 pages.

http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Real-Thing.html