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I suppose this could be a meme, if anyone else would like to play. I would love to see everyone else's top ten. :-)
Last night when I was trying to fall asleep between coughing fits brought on by hell cold, I got to thinking about short stories that I found absolutely unforgettable and came up with a list of my top ten. I decided I couldn't use the same author twice but that was the only limit I put on it.
Here's what I came up with, in no significant order. The notes are based on my memory of the story, which may or may not be accurate, relevant or popular:
1. “The Wonderful Old Gentleman” by Dorothy Parker. Possibly the ultimate dysfunctional family story. Two sisters with very different memories of their father reminisce at his funeral.
2. “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin. Wrenching story about the intersection of race and gender oppression in the antebellum South.
3. “Snow, Glass, Apples” by Neil Gaiman. You will never be able to watch Disney’s Snow White again.
4. “The Unshadowed Land” by C.J. Cherryh. The goddess Sekhmet loses everything until she finds herself.
5. “Your Faces, Oh My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light!” by James Tiptree, Jr. I cry every time I read this one, even out here in the wild, free world.
6. “Aye, and Gomorrah” by Samuel Delany. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
7. “A Game of Vlet” by Joanna Russ. The last of the Alyx stories. The game of vlet mirrors the insurrection going on outside the palace. I can never forget the image of the little marching pieces chanting, “The pee-puhl! The pee-puhl!”
8. “Un día de estos” by Gabriel García Marquez. I know, I know. Yet you still remember it years later, don’t you?
9. “And Wild for to Hold” by Nancy Kress. What if kidnapping Anne Boleyn before her execution would change the future? And what if she wasn’t thrilled about the idea?
10. “The Banquet of the Lords of the Night” by Liz Williams. One of my favorite alien invasion/humans fight back stories of all time.
So there's mine. What's your?
Last night when I was trying to fall asleep between coughing fits brought on by hell cold, I got to thinking about short stories that I found absolutely unforgettable and came up with a list of my top ten. I decided I couldn't use the same author twice but that was the only limit I put on it.
Here's what I came up with, in no significant order. The notes are based on my memory of the story, which may or may not be accurate, relevant or popular:
1. “The Wonderful Old Gentleman” by Dorothy Parker. Possibly the ultimate dysfunctional family story. Two sisters with very different memories of their father reminisce at his funeral.
2. “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin. Wrenching story about the intersection of race and gender oppression in the antebellum South.
3. “Snow, Glass, Apples” by Neil Gaiman. You will never be able to watch Disney’s Snow White again.
4. “The Unshadowed Land” by C.J. Cherryh. The goddess Sekhmet loses everything until she finds herself.
5. “Your Faces, Oh My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light!” by James Tiptree, Jr. I cry every time I read this one, even out here in the wild, free world.
6. “Aye, and Gomorrah” by Samuel Delany. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
7. “A Game of Vlet” by Joanna Russ. The last of the Alyx stories. The game of vlet mirrors the insurrection going on outside the palace. I can never forget the image of the little marching pieces chanting, “The pee-puhl! The pee-puhl!”
8. “Un día de estos” by Gabriel García Marquez. I know, I know. Yet you still remember it years later, don’t you?
9. “And Wild for to Hold” by Nancy Kress. What if kidnapping Anne Boleyn before her execution would change the future? And what if she wasn’t thrilled about the idea?
10. “The Banquet of the Lords of the Night” by Liz Williams. One of my favorite alien invasion/humans fight back stories of all time.
So there's mine. What's your?