Suggest a short story

[Kyriakos]

I am always in search of new things to read, but i realised that at the moment i have no idea what to look for.
You can help by suggesting a story you have read and liked. It would be even better if you can link to an etext of it, however if that is not possible, the name of the author and the story will be enough.
It can be anything smaller than a full-blown novel, lets say anything up to 50 pages

 

[holy king]

franz kafka - the metamorphosis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Verwandlung

though the english translation seems to be quite bad according to english wiki...

 

[Earthling]

...and everyone I've known who's read it, including myself. Should have posted on this thread earlier, to not see such an abominable work suggested first! (it's mostly just boring and pointless but I wouldn't see anyone reading it in their free time, only if you were say seriously studying that type of literature/modernism/existentialism).

As for other ideas, it really depends on what you're looking for (I don't know too much outside of English language works, for instance). If you haven't read Edgar Allen Poe (gothic/horror) I'd recommend those stories to anyone (Telltale Heart, Cask of Amontillado, others you could probably find all in one collection). Another similarly old-timey but very good American author is Mark Twain, don't know if you're interested. There's a ton of good science fiction in short story form, again I don't know what you've read before, but if you're interested pick up an anthology of Asimov, Heinlein, Lem, Bradbury, Bester, Clarke, or many others and you'd find good stories. If you're looking for something a little more traditionally literary/dramatic, Oscar Wilde has a bunch of fun, yet short plays (not work to read, like Shakespeare might be). Good luck with whatever.

 

[Rossiya]

'The Long Journey' by Leonardo Sciascia is pretty good, although unless you speak Italian, you will have to rely on the English translation, which is good.

 

[Kyriakos]

Nice suggestions I have read the Metamorphosis, but not the other ones.
Got any more?

 

[Azale]

There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury, it's actually much shorter than 50 pages but it's a classic.

 

[PeteAtoms]

I recommend some of Stephen King's short stories. More than one of his short stories have been made into full blown hollywood movies, including "the Mist" and "1408." And I know there are others, I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

So I really recommend his short stories.

 

[Phlegmak]

Anything by Lovecraft.

http://www.geocities.com/area51/shire/7473/storypag.html
http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/

The Color out of Space and Shadow over Innsmouth are two notable ones.

 

[Rossiya]

I recommend some of Stephen King's short stories. More than one of his short stories have been made into full blown hollywood movies, including "the Mist" and "1408." And I know there are others, I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

So I really recommend his short stories.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption...

 

[warpus]

Anything by Philip K Dick

 

[lovett]

Anything by Philip K Dick

Yeah. This.

And Flowers for Algernon.

 

[Ecofarm]

Tolstoy "Master and Man"

Hemingway "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (And other short stories)

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Anything by Lovecraft.

Seconded. I also remember some great short stories from my English class, but I can't remember them and I threw all my notes out.

 

[Fifty]

varwnos! You really should read "The Overcoat" and "The Nose" by Nikolai Gogol... I am sure that you would enjoy them.

"We have all come from under The Overcoat" -Dostoevsky

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Anything by Lovecraft.

http://www.geocities.com/area51/shire/7473/storypag.html
http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/

The Color out of Space and Shadow over Innsmouth are two notable ones.

Thirded.

If you don't read any HP Lovecraft your brain will surely become a wretched
mass of writhing iridescent blaphemous eldritch tentacled horror.

 

[rhawn]

Charles Bukowski has some good short story anthologies and some poetry that reads more like short stories than poetry imo.

 

[LightFang]

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov.

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.

A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury.

 

[GoodGame]

There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury, it's actually much shorter than 50 pages but it's a classic.

Ray Bradbury has tons of short stories. Grab one of his collections.

 

[warpus]

Any of the short stories by Stanislaw Lem

 

[Martacus]

Does Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) count? I think it may be over 50 pages, but still not that long.