BookTalk.org

Please suggest some short stories you'd like us all to read and talk about next. Just make sure the story is available for free online. That's our only real rule with short stories. The rest is common sense.

I see that DB Roy had said the following in the A Descent into the Maelstrom by Edgar Allan Poe - a discussion forum...

I would like to discuss Poe's "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" at some point--another seafaring tale but certainly one of the most bizarre ever written. Would anyone care to discuss it?

So we have our first suggestion.

So is there a short story for August? I don't have one in mind...would like to read one that's new to me.

Being in the mood for something lighter, I will suggest "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry (William Sidney Porter). It can be found free on the Internet.

Cattleman, can you post a link or two to where we can read The Ransom of Red Chief for free on the web?

OK, found it! http://fiction.eserver.org/short/ransom ... chief.html

By Monday we might have some more suggestions. If not we'll go with Cattleman's suggestion. I'm leaving town for the weekend.

Red Chief would be fine with me. I've read all of O'Henry's works but it's been a while. Everyone should become acquainted with the story because it's used as the basis for so many movies. You see the premise pop up quite often. Funny stuff.

And here's a funny one I stumbled across yesterday. Sci-fi, only 3 pages long. "They're Made Out of Meat," by Terry Bisson. Not recommending this one for discussion, just wanted to point it out:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... IzOTgwZWZm

I thought I had read "They're Made Out of Meat" before, and after reading it on the link, I was right. Indeed an different type of SF. Also, the story's ednote references another story by Terry Biffon, "Bears Discover Fire." This one won both Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Short Story (and other awards as well). Check it out.

Thanks for pointing out the story mentioned in the endnote, "Bears Discover Fire." I just finished reading it:

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/ficti ... over-fire/

Excellent story. Lots of aspects to it that could be discussed. Like the significance of fixing tires. Very nice story.