Short Stories Books - Page 7

Notes from Underground, The Grand Inquisitor

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 136 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"I AM A SICK MAN...I am a wicked man." 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Brilliant...

One of my favorite Dostoevsky books!

It's a short tale that explores the neurotic mind.

From the first line...
"I AM A SICK MAN...I am a wicked man."

This work is a painfully honest fictional exploration into the human heart.


MikeG

Notes From Underground 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Notes From Underground is a difficult but immensely gratifying and important read.
Critics tend to refer to the Underground Man as a 'Mad Genius'; I beg to differ. He is the epitome of the average thinking human albeit with a shocking amount of self awareness. The Underground Man seems to be aware of the delusions he brings upon himself and the the facade he puts on in front of society. In the end, it is that self awareness that makes him better than the rest of us; but only marginally.
Compulsory reading for anyone who appreciates existentialist literature and despite what you think, the book is ultimately quite uplifting.

Editorial Review:

The apology and confession of a minor mid-19th century Russian official, "Notes From Underground", is a half-desperate, half-mocking political critique and a powerful, at times absurdly comical, account of man's breakaway from society and descent 'underground'.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Jon Scieszka

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 154 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Surgeon's General's Warning... 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

SURGEON'S GENERAL'S WARNING: It has been determined that these tales are fairly stupid and probably dangerous to your health. But by all means, keep reading "The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales" by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith (Scholastic, 1992). While these retellings of familiar fairy tales may make Mother Goose lose all her feathers in shock, the tales are a fun dose of mockery and sarcasm. The Ugly Duckling grows up to be nothing more than ugly, the princess gets a slimy smooch instead of a handsome prince, and the sky opens on Chicken Licken to reveal nothing but the falling Table of Contents. Text and image play and weave creatively together in this Caldecott Honor book, thanks to Jack the Narrator who puts pages upside down, mixes large and small fonts, and slips characters in and out of stories. While some readers may ask like the Hen does on the back cover "Who will buy this book anyway? Over fifty pages of nonsense... blah, blah, blah," those with a sense of humor will forgo the lack of classic literature quality and instead embrace it as it is: an entertaining piece of fairly stupid tales.

Editorial Review:

"Parodic humor here runs riot...irrepressibly zany fun!" --Kirkus

* Caldecott Honor Book
* An ABBY Honor Book
* Publishers Weekly Top Selling Kids Books of All Time List
* ALA Notable Children's Book
* New York Times Notable Book of the Year
* New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year
* School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
* Booklist Children's Editors' Choice, "Top of the List"
* The Horn Book Fanfare
* Texas Bluebonnet Award
* Parenting's Reading-Magic Award

The Cellist of Sarajevo

Steven Galloway

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A spare and haunting, wise and beautiful novel about the endurance of the human spirit and the subtle ways individuals reclaim their humanity in a city ravaged by war.

In a city under siege, four people whose lives have been upended are ultimately reminded of what it is to be human. From his window, a musician sees twenty-two of his friends and neighbors waiting in a breadline. Then, in a flash, they are killed by a mortar attack. In an act of defiance, the man picks up his cello and decides to play at the site of the shelling for twenty-two days, honoring their memory. Elsewhere, a young man leaves home to collect drinking water for his family and, in the face of danger, must weigh the value of generosity against selfish survivalism. A third man, older, sets off in search of bread and distraction and instead runs into a long-ago friend who reminds him of the city he thought he had lost, and the man he once was. As both men are drawn into the orbit of cello music, a fourth character—a young woman, a sniper—holds the fate of the cellist in her hands. As she protects him with her life, her own army prepares to challenge the kind of person she has become.

A novel of great intensity and power, and inspired by a true story, The Cellist of Sarajevo poignantly explores how war can change one’s definition of humanity, the effect of music on our emotional endurance, and how a romance with the rituals of daily life can itself be a form of resistance.

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Werewolves, vampires, witches, voodoo, Elvis---and weddings
 
An “ordinary” wedding can get crazy enough, so can you imagine what happens when otherworldly creatures are involved? Nine of the hottest authors of paranormal fiction answer that question in this delightful collection of supernatural wedding stories. What’s the seating plan when rival clans of werewolves and vampires meet under the same roof? How can a couple in the throes of love overcome traps set by feuding relatives---who are experts at voodoo? Will you have a good marriage if your high-seas wedding is held on a cursed ship? How do you deal with a wedding singer who’s just a little too good at impersonating Elvis? ·        L. A. Banks
·        Jim Butcher
·        Rachel Caine
·        P. N. Elrod
·        Esther M. Friesner
·        Lori Handeland
·        Charlaine Harris
·        Sherrilyn Kenyon
·        Susan Krinard
 
Shape-shifters, wizards, and magic, oh my!

Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 495 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This is a character study, not a romance or mystery really 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

For all of Rebecca's hype as the "modern masterpiece" of Gothic fiction, romantic suspense, etc., I think readers need to understand exactly what they will be getting with this story. I can understand people's frustration with the Second Mrs. De Winter (I wanted to slap her repeatedly too) and what they perceive as a "boring narrative pace" where nothing "happens until the last hundred pages or so," and while these are all valid points to a degree, I think they should approach the novel from a different perspective.

Rebecca is first and foremost a probe into human psychology. Du Maurier herself saw this as a "study of jealousy." There is romance, but the story is not romantic, nor was it intended to be. The narrator and Maxim have a love of co-dependency on her part and selfishness on his part. A forty-two year old man and twenty-one year old girl meet in Monte Carlo and marry within several weeks. The man takes his inexperienced bride back to his great estate and thrusts her into a life she's not prepared for. The Second Mrs. De Winter becomes insecure and obsessive over her husband's dead first wife, the seemingly beautiful, intelligent, and perfect Rebecca.

People claim that the Second Mrs. De Winter is spineless, weak, over-imaginative, and spends her time making the situation worse than it is, imagining that she is more deficient that she is, and they are right! But the narrator is not supposed to be anything other than that. The Second Mrs. De Winter is pathetic, and she could have solved a lot of her problems by simply firing Mrs. Danvers and/or taking initiative, but she allows her own internal fears to stop her from doing anything. She keeps trying to convince herself that she and Maxim "are happy," even though the shadow of the past looms over them. When Maxim goes away to London for a few days, the narrator actually feels more free and happier than she's been in a while then tells herself she's being "wicked," "unloyal," that Maxim is her "world." The relationship has a dark undertone to it from the beginning. Even when Maxim proposes to her, she tells herself that she didn't really want a "church wedding" and all that, except she does.

Mrs. Danvers, the creepy housekeeper, obsesses over Rebecca too and resents the Second Mrs. De Winter for both replacing her mistress AND for being a coward (if our narrator had been bold the first time they met it might have made for an entirely different dynamic between the two, maybe Danvers might even have respected her a little). Mrs. Danvers loved Rebecca for being strong, and the psychological warfare she wages upon the narrator, as well as the shrine she keeps for Rebecca makes for interesting material.

Maxim is our third character study. His and Rebecca's relationship and the drama that followed could have been prevented if Maxim hadn't allowed his pride and excessive love of "Manderly" to...well, I leave that for the reader to discover. About halfway through the book, he asks if his wife is he was "selfish" for marrying her, showing that he's aware of what he's done yet there's not much he can do about it now. Maxim broods, is aloof and on the cold-blooded side, and how much he loves the narrator for herself versus her being the anti-Rebecca (and thus helping him to "blot out the past") is a subject of discussion.

I've seen a few people who called the ending "happily ever after." They need to re-read the end and the beginning of the novel (which I grant--the first two chapters are a chore to get through). The narrator and Maxim survive through their ordeal, escape, and are "free" from the past with no "secrets between us now," but they live in exile, scarred forever by what has happened. They do not go off into the sunset. In fact, one must go back to narrator's obnoxious employer, Mrs. Van Hopper, who upon hearing of her engagement to Maxim, says "you are making a big mistake--one you will bitterly regret." One can't help but wonder if the Mrs. Van Hopper wasn't right, not that the narrator would ever allow herself to *think* so.

The character of Rebecca herself is fascinating. Dead before the story begins, we only know her through what other people say. And as the Second Mrs. De Winter's demonstrates through her own narrative, perception can be quite different from reality.

If you're looking for an epic, love conquers all romance or an exciting, thrilling plot in the modern sense, Rebecca might not be for you. But if you allow yourlself to understand the subtlties of the Second Mrs. De Winter's highly subjective narrative--what she believes or imagines versus what is true--and if you are willing to journey into the complexity of human nature and relationships, Rebecca is well worth your time and energy. And once you past the first few chapters, it's quite an easy read.

This is a novel of character.

Editorial Review:

A girl is haunted by her own imagination and by the ghost of Rebecca De Winter in this reading of Daphne Du Maurier's novel.

The Lions of Lucerne

Brad Thor

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 76 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In a daring and chilling debut, Brad Thor draws us into a sinister labyrinth of political intrigue and international terrorism, serving up an explosive cocktail of unrelenting action -- and a shattering climax -- as one man is pushed to the edge.

On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the unthinkable has just become a nightmarish reality: thirty Secret Service agents have been viciously executed and the vacationing president of the United States is kidnapped by one of the most lethal terrorist organizations in the Middle East -- the dreaded Fatah.

But one man, surviving agent and ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath, doesn't believe the Fatah is responsible for the attack. Driven by his professional code of duty and honor -- and a solemn vow to avenge his fallen comrades -- Scot creates his own rules to get some answers. But his search for the truth raises the blood pressure of his superiors...and casts his own life in mortal jeopardy. The deadly machinations have been set in motion by a shadowy coalition, comprising some of the highest-ranking officials in government and business -- men who operate above the law, men who realize the threat Scot poses to their hidden agenda...men who will do anything to stop him.

Now framed for murder and on the run, Scot goes for broke and takes his own brand of justice to the unlikeliest place of all -- the towering mountains of Switzerland. It is there that he finds an improbable ally in the beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus -- and enter the den of the most notorious team of professional killers the world has ever known.

The Best American Comics 2008 (The Best American Series)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Third Time's a Charm 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This was definitely the best in the series so far. Lynda Barry turns out to have been a really inspired choice for guest editor, because she picks a set of entries that are virtually all outstanding. She even illustrates her introduction, which is both a nice touch and a clever way of pulling together a lot of the ideas about anxieties and self-reflection that pervade the pieces she's cosen to include. All in all, this volume is a tour-de-force. I only hope BAC 2009 is half as good.

My favorite pieces:

"Burden" by Graham Annable. A young man trying nobly to tie up his brother's loose ends turns into something completely different at the end. The reveal reverberates through the entire story and really does pose a difficult - and interesting - moral question.

"Seven Sacks" by Eleanor Davis. This story about a boatman ferrying some unsavory characters also poses a good, tough moral question and forces some self-reflection. But, more importantly, it's absolutely gorgeous. Davis calls up an increasingly wicked-looking set of creatures that just absolutely pour atmosphere into her little fable. And, is it just me, or does she pay homage to both Jeff Smith and Neil Gaiman in the process?

"Mammalogy" by Eric Haven has terrific art and makes for a hilarious romp through time, space, imagination, television, the superhero genre, and gastronomy. The best part may be the blurb in the back of the book detailing Haven's inspiration for the story.

"Turtle, Keep it Steady!" by Joseph Lambert. A very clever retelling of the Tortoise and the Hare with absolutely outstanding art. The grooving animals send the music right off the page, and the hilarious metaphor about the speed at which the Hare lives his life is very well-chosen. As is the whale in the last panel. I have no idea why that whale cracks me up so much, but it really does.

"Cupid's Day Off" by Evan Larson is really pretty trifling, but his art and his imagination had me laughing uproariously throughout the whole thing. Who knew that an alien fornicating with a football could be so funny? I guess probably everyone, but still...

"George Sprott" by Seth. A really fascinating and postmodern journey through the life of a washed-up Arctic explorer cum TV man. The art is lovely, the layouts are very well done, and the emotional impact hits all the right notes.

Now, there are lots more things I liked too. Alison Bechdel is here, and so is Chris Ware. And Gene Luen Yang's "American Born Chinese". And lots more. They're all good (although I don't understand Jaime Hernandez and probably never will) and they're well worth your money. This is just a great anthology.

Editorial Review:

This newest addition to the Best American Series returns with a set of both
established and up-and-coming contributors. Editor Lynda Barry and
brand-new series editors Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, acclaimed cartoonists in their own right, culled the best stories from graphic novels,
pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, and the web to
create this cutting-edge collection, "perfect for newbies as well as fans"
(San Diego Union-Tribune). This volume features such luminaries as
Chris Ware, Seth, and Alison Bechdel alongside beloved daily cartoonists
like Matt Groening.

When Crickets Cry

Charles Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

NEW FAN I AM 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I love laying on beach reading christian fiction. This book made me get a sun burn! Be careful, you forget your surroundings and the next thing you know you have forgotten to reapply sunscreen. It's that good, you truly have trouble putting it down. I won't discuss the contents, if I start, I might ruin it for you. NO JOKE, A MUST READ!!!

Editorial Review:

A man with a painful past. A child with a doubtful future. And a shared journey toward healing for both their hearts.

It begins on the shaded town square in a sleepy Southern town. A spirited seven-year-old has a brisk business at her lemonade stand. Her latest customer, a bearded stranger, drains his cup and heads to his car, his mind on a boat he's restoring at a nearby lake. But the little girl's pretty yellow dress can't quite hide the ugly scar on her chest. The stranger understands more about it than he wants to admit. And the beat-up bread truck careening around the corner with its radio blaring is about to change the trajectory of both their lives.

Before it's over, they'll both know there are painful reasons why crickets cry...and that miracles lurk around unexpected corners.

Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

the convergence of mystery and suspense inside a fantasy realm 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

These superb twelve new tales focus on the convergence of mystery and suspense inside a fantasy realm. The stories are all well written, holding up nicely to its predecessor collection (see POWERS OF DETECTION). Charlaine Harris provides a Sookie entry while Simon R. Green returns to the Nightside and the editor Ms. Stabenow takes her fans back to Mnemosynea for what she describes as a "Seer and Sword" thriller. The other entries are strong with deep characters such as Laura Anne Gilman's loan shark dragon star of "Illumination". Carole Nelson Douglas' "Bogieman" answers one of the deepest fundamental questions of the universe: who wants Sam Spade dead (than again who does not might be easier to answer)? Likewise John Straley responds to another question of the ages: what does Santa do during his off season? Whether it is Donna Andrews's Gwynn the apprentice returning to cast a "spellbound" on her fans to read her story or Mike Doogan a "Glamour" satirizing the sub-genre, readers will enjoy this compilation. The remaining four are excellent contributions by top tier authors (Michael A. Stackpole, Sharon Sinn, Michael Armstrong and Laurie R. King).

Harriet Klausner

Editorial Review:

All-new from the top names in mystery and fantasy— including a never-beforepublished Sookie Stackhouse story from Charlaine Harris!

This follow-up to Powers of Detection showcases bestselling and award-winning names from Simon Green to Laurie King to Sharon Shinn—with original stories featuring otherworldly investigators trailing uncanny criminals across fantastical realms. From video game characters seeking civil rights and a cave dragon loan shark pondering an investment, to Santa Claus’s Australian vacation and an enemy of Sam Spade’s out for revenge—plus visits to the Nightside and Sookie Stackhouse’s hometown— these stories will take readers around the world on a magical mystery tour.