Not everyone likes to go shopping on their lunch hour or spend the time working out at the local gym. For some the time is best spent in the park under a shady tree with their favorite lunchtime short stories. It can be easier to stuff these into a purse or tote than a full length novel. You can only read a chapter or two of a novel anyway. People who love to read often scour bookstores for old classics written by favorite authors.
Margaret Atwood is best known for her novels, but she wrote a great quick read called "Stone Mattress". The protagonist is Verna, a serial husband killer, who recognizes an old boyfriend at a pre-cruise function. It turns out he is the same boy who got her pregnant and then humiliated her. Verna decides to eliminate him once and for all using a billion year old fossil as the murder weapon.
Readers either love Hemingway or hate him. There doesn't seem to be any in between. A good story for those unfamiliar with it is "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Harry, a writer, and his socialite wife, Helen, are in Africa. It turns out Harry is dying of gangrene because he neglected to take care of a thorn prick. During Harry's last hours, he muses about his wasted life and loves.
"Three Questions" is a parable Leo Tolstoy wrote between all those lengthy novels he is so well known for. This story is about a king who sets out to find the answer to the three most important questions in life. He is seeking a wise hermit and ends up tending a seriously wounded man. In the end the king finds out he already has the answers to his questions.
Mark Twain is one of America's most beloved storytellers. "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is the work that brought him to the public's attention. His story of a big talking gambler is a cautionary tale. Jim Smiley will bet on anything including the height his frog can jump. He makes his claims to the wrong stranger, who tricks him and takes off with the ante. Ironically the story resulted from a bet Twain made himself.
The Jazz Age was the background for much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work. Tragic stories of easy money and tortured souls made him famous. "The Diamond As Big As the Ritz" is in this vein. John Unger meets Percy on a prep school campus and is quickly made to understand that Percy's family is the wealthiest on the planet. It seems they are sitting on a diamond as big as the Ritz Carlton.
James Joyce was an Irishman who wrote about Ireland and the dynamics of Irish family life. "Eveline" is a fine example of that. Eveline finds herself having to choose between a brutish father and the life she knows and a lover who wants her to run away with him to another country. Her final decision is sad, but realistic.
People who love to read easily get lost in good stories. They don't have to be long and complicated to engross a book lover. Well written stories come in all shapes and sizes.
Margaret Atwood is best known for her novels, but she wrote a great quick read called "Stone Mattress". The protagonist is Verna, a serial husband killer, who recognizes an old boyfriend at a pre-cruise function. It turns out he is the same boy who got her pregnant and then humiliated her. Verna decides to eliminate him once and for all using a billion year old fossil as the murder weapon.
Readers either love Hemingway or hate him. There doesn't seem to be any in between. A good story for those unfamiliar with it is "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Harry, a writer, and his socialite wife, Helen, are in Africa. It turns out Harry is dying of gangrene because he neglected to take care of a thorn prick. During Harry's last hours, he muses about his wasted life and loves.
"Three Questions" is a parable Leo Tolstoy wrote between all those lengthy novels he is so well known for. This story is about a king who sets out to find the answer to the three most important questions in life. He is seeking a wise hermit and ends up tending a seriously wounded man. In the end the king finds out he already has the answers to his questions.
Mark Twain is one of America's most beloved storytellers. "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is the work that brought him to the public's attention. His story of a big talking gambler is a cautionary tale. Jim Smiley will bet on anything including the height his frog can jump. He makes his claims to the wrong stranger, who tricks him and takes off with the ante. Ironically the story resulted from a bet Twain made himself.
The Jazz Age was the background for much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work. Tragic stories of easy money and tortured souls made him famous. "The Diamond As Big As the Ritz" is in this vein. John Unger meets Percy on a prep school campus and is quickly made to understand that Percy's family is the wealthiest on the planet. It seems they are sitting on a diamond as big as the Ritz Carlton.
James Joyce was an Irishman who wrote about Ireland and the dynamics of Irish family life. "Eveline" is a fine example of that. Eveline finds herself having to choose between a brutish father and the life she knows and a lover who wants her to run away with him to another country. Her final decision is sad, but realistic.
People who love to read easily get lost in good stories. They don't have to be long and complicated to engross a book lover. Well written stories come in all shapes and sizes.
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