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Flynn · Feb 11, 2008

Inspired by a conversation with White Man, I'm starting up a thread for reading and discussing short fiction.

I know many of us are avid readers. But when I thought about it I realized I don't read very many short stories, even though I studied them in college. With the popularity of YouTube and other bite-sized media could short stories be ready for a come back? Let's find out.

What I'll do is post a short story every Monday. Then, like Oprah's Book Club (except not lame) we can discuss the piece for the rest of the week. Suggestions for future stories are welcome. Smart, thoughtful discussion preferred.

So let's read.

THIS WEEK'S STORY:

February 18th's Story

"When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth" by Cory Doctorow

It's a sci-fi story -- a story of end of the world survivors, many of whom turn out the be computer dorks. Doctorow has a compelling argument for why this might be the case.

February 11th's Story

"Ash Monday" by [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Coraghessan_Boyle"]T.C. Boyle[/URL]

It's a story set in modern-day Southern California, it spans three perspectives and is jam packed with text book symbolism. What do you think?

Gattsu25 · Feb 11, 2008

Sounds like a good idea for a thread, I'll read this one tonight...or at least start reading it.

Fireblend · Feb 11, 2008

Great idea, I've got nothing to do so I'll participate.

Scribble · Feb 11, 2008

Nice idea, will participate.

CajoleJuice · Feb 11, 2008

If I didn't already have a bunch of stuff to read this semester, I would be in. If you want suggestions for sci-fi short stories, though, I'm going to read no less than a dozen over the next few months.

Fireblend · Feb 11, 2008

Well, just got done with it. That was a nice and interesting read, although it's definitely not my usual reading material. Reminded me of the reading classes at school, I've got at least 6 books filled with short stories just like this one I had to read for school, so reading short stories with this atmosphere kinda feels like a chore now :lol

So let's see... without giving too much away, I liked the setting, although I got confused about what age-period we were talking about at the start; a couple of references later fixed that though. I could kinda see the ending coming from miles away, but it was interesting nonetheless. I like how short stories turn this kind of "portion of life" into an interesting look into the characters' mind, the different stories and backgrounds of the characters fit really well into each other.

Anyway, great read, I'll look forward to the next story.

Edit: Actually, if you're taking suggestions, I'd like to suggest "Death and the Compass" by Jorge Luis Borges... although I'm not sure if that's available online in any form. It's much shorter than this one and it's one of my favorite short stories.

Flynn · Feb 11, 2008

Fireblend said:
Well, just got done with it. That was a nice and interesting read, although it's definitely not my usual reading material. Reminded me of the reading classes at school, I've got at least 6 books filled with short stories just like this one I had to read for school, so reading short stories with this atmosphere kinda feels like a chore now :lol

So let's see... without giving too much away, I liked the setting, although I got confused about what age-period we were talking about at the start; a couple of references later fixed that though. I could kinda see the ending coming from miles away, but it was interesting nonetheless. I like how short stories turn this kind of "portion of life" into an interesting look into the characters' mind, the different stories and backgrounds of the characters fit really well into each other.

Anyway, great read, I'll look forward to the next story.

Edit: Actually, if you're taking suggestions, I'd like to suggest "Death and the Compass" by Jorge Luis Borges... although I'm not sure if that's available online in any form. It's a little shorter than this one and it's one of my favorite short stories.

I think the confusion in time period is a little purposeful. The kid's story is fairly universal. Only later do details come up that really set the story in time -- mostly automotive related.

I'll look into Death and the Compass and see if I can find it online.

I'm going to try to mix up the stories, do some from literary magazines, some from genre sites.

Anybody pick up on the fire/ash symbolism throughout?

w1ndst0rm · Feb 11, 2008

will read while at work
'cause i can

Edit:

SPOILERS

Ok, I read it and then thought about it on the drvie home.

The symbolism makes for a better read. Without it the story would be rather dry. (pun intended)
I am not going to fall for what the author may have been triyng to do to me. The set up is to dislike the bad kid so you can hate on him when he burns the place down. Then feel sorry for all of his victims. But the forseeable twist is that the sad neighbor does the deed.
Here is what really happened at the end of the story. Some selfish broad moping around over people long since dead gets careless and burns down the single moms house. You know, the single mom that was just about to get a new and fresh start with a good man with a real job and manners.

nitewulf · Feb 14, 2008

i'm game, please keep updating the thread.

Flynn · Feb 15, 2008

w1ndst0rm said:
will read while at work
'cause i can

Edit:

SPOILERS

Ok, I read it and then thought about it on the drvie home.

The symbolism makes for a better read. Without it the story would be rather dry. (pun intended)
I am not going to fall for what the author may have been triyng to do to me. The set up is to dislike the bad kid so you can hate on him when he burns the place down. Then feel sorry for all of his victims. But the forseeable twist is that the sad neighbor does the deed.
Here is what really happened at the end of the story. Some selfish broad moping around over people long since dead gets careless and burns down the single moms house. You know, the single mom that was just about to get a new and fresh start with a good man with a real job and manners.

The story really is rife with the symbolism, from the way the Chinchilla's died, to the barbecue grill, the overarching theme of fire and ashes -- or trauma and remains -- really does a ton of work.

He able bounces between the three perspectives, making all three characters both sympathetic and, in small ways, hard to totally back. They all have reasons for their flaws, mostly forgivable.

Any suggestions for next Monday? I think I've got something lined up, but am willing to hear from the peanut gallery.

I'm going to try to use the New Yorker sparingly, though they are the pre-eminent source for fiction right now. Still, I'm gonna try to cast out and see what other publications have to offer. I'm thinking Harpers and McSweeny's will see quite a bit of action.

Flynn · Feb 18, 2008

New story up in the main post.

As an antedote to the literary vibe of the last story, here's some contemporary sci-fi by one of the Internet's patron saints. It's a disaster story with zombie undertones and makes heavy use of computer jargon. Most literary magazines wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole -- their readers would be flummoxed. But Cory has proven that nerds read to and they'll pay for your writing, even if you give it away for free? You guys buying?

w1ndst0rm · Feb 20, 2008

what a week

First the movie Jumper and now this story. Enjoyable but flawed is where I am with these tales. Some of the content is questoinable but the vehicles are great. The short story sucked me right in so much that I didn't start asking questions or picking it apart until my ride home.

More later, maybe, I want to savor my experience of reading the story a bit longer.

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