The Readventurer
  • Home
  • YA Reviews
  • Adult Reviews
  • Contests and Giveaways
  • Policies
  • About Us
    • Flannery's Challenges
    • Catie's Challenges
  • Contact Us

Short Story Roundup

9/20/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
I am so passionate about their badass status that I throw my love of centering text to the wolves. Who needs it?!
When I originally posted my review of Mark Twain's A Telephonic Conversation on Goodreads, I had just had a long phone conversation that absolutely lent itself to a one-sided rehash. Since that time, I've had several more. I was speaking to the same person today and we talked about how to make olive oil, going apple picking in Wisconsin, and airport security, among other things. I think I would be interested in reading an entire blog of phone conversations. Almost like Overheard in New York and its ilk, only all one-sided phone conversations.

A few weeks ago, I did a week-long read-a-thon. During that time, I found a bunch of short stories to up my count. I couldn't be happier about that decision, as it totally put me onto Connie Willis and Kurt Vonnegut. Speaking of Vonnegut, I recently found a website about correspondence. (Letters of Note) One of the most popular entries is a letter from Kurt Vonnegut to his family after he was a prisoner of war during WWII. I doubt anyone had any questions about Vonnegut's skill as a writer before that point but as someone who has (a bit embarrassingly, if I'm being honest) not read too much of his work before, I was amazed at his letter-writing skills. I'll definitely be making my way through everything he's written.

Here's what I wrote about Mark Twain's A Telephonic Conversation:

Oh Samuel Clemens, you are hilarious. Mostly because I also love hearing one-sided phone conversations. I make fun of my mother all the time because she tells everyone that her email address is "MY FIRST NAME DOT MY LAST NAME AT GMAIL DOT COM."

Here's a typical one-sided conversation that could've heard me say the other day:

Pause

What? Why?

Pause

An armadillo? Where were you?

Pause

Ha! That's so amazing. The Amish horse looked you straight in the eye?

Pause

No, I know you hate movies that came out before 1985.

Pause

I guess in October. In Chicago?

Pause

I'm glad you have my life goals in mind.

Pause

"Annnd I miiiiis youuuuu, like the deserts miiiiss the raaain."

Pause

Did you see Tots & Tiaras the other day?

Pause

OMG, I know. She totally messed up on her tot walk. And that one lady that was eating drywall afterward?!

Pause

I'm not saying you like The Arcade Fire.

Pause

Yeah, well I hate you sometimes too.



Now that I think about it, this is a pretty typical phone conversation for me. Anyway, my point is that one-sided phone conversations were ridiculous even at the turn of the century. Mark Twain was just a trendsetter like that.

Read the one-sided conversation that was inflicted on him while he was trying to write here.

And of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron:

This short story takes about 5 minutes to read and it is absolutely worth it. It is set in a society where, in an effort to make everyone equal, anyone who is above average in any respect is given mechanisms or hindrances by the government to suppress whatever it is they can do. If they are mentally gifted, the Handicapper General (It was written in 1961) gives them an earpiece which plays annoying noises when they are thinking. If a person is attractive, they are forced to wear masks.

The story focuses on a couple and their son, Harrison, who excels at nearly everything and, as such, is covered with more hindrances than any other citizen. At the risk of this review taking you longer to read than the story, I'll stop there. Go read it at http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison...

And Kurt Vonnegut's 2BRO2B:

Man, this was bleak. It is set in a future world where aging can be halted and the average age is somewhere around 130. Because people are living much longer and the planet's resources are depleted, the government keeps the US population at 40 million. The Federal Bureau of Termination provides several ways for people to die if they'd like to give up their life for a newborn. One man is at the hospital waiting for his wife to give birth to triplets, but he doesn't have enough volunteers to die so he'll have to make a choice. Like I said, totally bleak.

Read it here.
Or get it for free on Kindle here.

That's all for now, folks. I'm trying to get back into the blogging swing o' things. I know I've gotten some great recommendations on Goodreads for other short stories but if anyone stumbles upon this blog post, let me know if you have any favorites!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Follow Us On:

    Facebook Twitter Feed

    Subscribe:

    Subscribe
    Follow on Bloglovin

    Subscribe via email:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    What We're Reading:

    Blood of my Blood cover

    Flannery

    Goodreads
    Monstrous Affections cover

     Tatiana

    Goodreads
    Rules of Civility cover

      Catie

    Goodreads

    Archives 

    March 2014
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Categories

    All
    Author Spotlight
    Book Events
    Book Vs. Movie
    Catie's Adult Reviews
    Catie's Y.A. Reviews
    Contest Or Giveaway
    Flannery's Adult Reviews
    Flannery's Y.A. Reviews
    If You Like This Maybe That
    Library Quest
    Odds & Ends On The Web
    Randomness
    Readalong Recaps
    She Made Me Do It
    Tatiana's Adult Reviews
    Tatiana's Y.A. Reviews
    Three Heads Are Better Than One Or Two
    Year Of The Classics


    Blogs We Follow

    Angieville
    Anna Scott Jots
    Badass Book Reviews
    The Book Geek
    The Book Smugglers
    Book Harbinger
    Books Take You Places
    Bunbury in the Stacks
    Chachic's Book Nook
    Clear Eyes, Full Shelves
    Collections
    Cuddlebuggery
    For the Love of Words
    The Galavanting Girl Books
    Inkcrush
    Intergalactic Academy
    Ivy Book Bindings
    The Nocturnal Library
    Rainy Day Ramblings
    The Readers Den
    The Reading Date
    Realm of Fiction
    Sash and Em
    Stacked
    The Unread Reader
    Vegan YA Nerds
    Wear The Old Coat
    Wordchasing
    Wrapped Up In Books
    Young Adult Anonymous 

    Grab A Button

    The Readventurer
    <div align="center"><a href="http://www.thereadventurer.com" title="The Readventurer"><img src="http://www.weebly.com/uploads/7/8/9/9/7899923/custom_themes/149267861480723643/files/TheReadventurer.png?1321429794244" alt="The Readventurer" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

    Parajunkee Design
    SiteLock
    Since 2/4/2012

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
Photos used under Creative Commons from savillent, vue3d, vue3d, ljcybergal