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tristansreadingmania's review against another edition
3.0
WHAT MAKES A GREAT SHORT STORY?
The sudden unforgettable revelation of character; the vision of a world through another's eyes; the glimpse of truth; the capture of a moment in time.
All this the short story, at its best, is uniquely capable of conveying, for in its very shortness lies its greatest strength.
It can discover depths of meaning in the casual word or action; it can suggest in a page what could not be stated in a volume.
-- Milton Crane
In my fledgling first few years as a more dedicated reader of prose, the short story anthology was my go-to format. Primarily it was a wonderful way to keep my at that time multi-tasking, by visual culture addled, jumpy brain engaged long enough to absorb one contained narrative, but I also steadfastly relied on it to transport me to a great wealth of worlds and settings, to plant me smack-dab in the heads of fictitious strangers, who naturally didn't remain strangers for long. The "grand novel" to a young, somewhat neurotic, compulsively anal me, was off bounds for a while until I had proven my mettle by consuming shorter works. Self-denial, thy name is Tristan, or so it seemed.
In hindsight though, I see now I was in fact unconsciously adopting the mindset of the journeyman (though initially not in the sense that I actually wanted to apply what I learned to writing myself): Start small, first dissect the mechanics of fiction in its most compressed format, and only then proceed on to bigger - yet not necessarily greater - things.
This approach - even though its execution was far too strictly observed by me - in the end served me well. During that process, acquaintances were made with many a writer, some entirely unsuspected. At the very least, I discovered more of them than if I would have delved into the real meat of their oeuvre first. Short stories have always been somewhat neglected or found to be inconsequential, regarded as something most writers grudgingly have to dabble in to beef up their income between larger projects. A stance I -and masters of the form - have always heavily disagreed with, but I won't further expound on that here.
In short, it helped me in making my taste reveal itself to me. Soon, if a bit rabidly, I started acquiring the collected works of those individuals who managed to speak to me. Which turned out to be a not insignificant number, pity my wallet!
For lovers of the format with a classical bent, Milton Crane's - whose name without fail manages to remind me of lovable dweeb Niles Crane from Frasier, but that's neither here or there - 1952 anthology has been a mainstay for more than half a century.
Running the gammit from technically sound, yet slighty tedious to masterfully invigorating, an anthology like this is bound to be a bit of a muddled affair. Its inherent constraints reveal themselves pretty quickly: the cut-off point at 1952 (thus missing a large chunk of 20th century writing), and the primary focus on Anglo-Saxon writers, with the odd French and Russian one thrown in for good measure being the most apparent ones. Tough choices have to be made of course, and the editor must be applauded for not lazily picking just the best-known, predictable examples. How it plays to a modern audience, I haven't the foggiest idea. A supplement to Crane's orginal selection might be in order here. Surely this can be done.
Still, if you're looking for a comprehensive anthology featuring almost all of the classic masters of the form, you could do far worse. Within, the entire spectrum of human emotion is contained. Dip away, I say!
The sudden unforgettable revelation of character; the vision of a world through another's eyes; the glimpse of truth; the capture of a moment in time.
All this the short story, at its best, is uniquely capable of conveying, for in its very shortness lies its greatest strength.
It can discover depths of meaning in the casual word or action; it can suggest in a page what could not be stated in a volume.
-- Milton Crane
In my fledgling first few years as a more dedicated reader of prose, the short story anthology was my go-to format. Primarily it was a wonderful way to keep my at that time multi-tasking, by visual culture addled, jumpy brain engaged long enough to absorb one contained narrative, but I also steadfastly relied on it to transport me to a great wealth of worlds and settings, to plant me smack-dab in the heads of fictitious strangers, who naturally didn't remain strangers for long. The "grand novel" to a young, somewhat neurotic, compulsively anal me, was off bounds for a while until I had proven my mettle by consuming shorter works. Self-denial, thy name is Tristan, or so it seemed.
In hindsight though, I see now I was in fact unconsciously adopting the mindset of the journeyman (though initially not in the sense that I actually wanted to apply what I learned to writing myself): Start small, first dissect the mechanics of fiction in its most compressed format, and only then proceed on to bigger - yet not necessarily greater - things.
This approach - even though its execution was far too strictly observed by me - in the end served me well. During that process, acquaintances were made with many a writer, some entirely unsuspected. At the very least, I discovered more of them than if I would have delved into the real meat of their oeuvre first. Short stories have always been somewhat neglected or found to be inconsequential, regarded as something most writers grudgingly have to dabble in to beef up their income between larger projects. A stance I -and masters of the form - have always heavily disagreed with, but I won't further expound on that here.
In short, it helped me in making my taste reveal itself to me. Soon, if a bit rabidly, I started acquiring the collected works of those individuals who managed to speak to me. Which turned out to be a not insignificant number, pity my wallet!
For lovers of the format with a classical bent, Milton Crane's - whose name without fail manages to remind me of lovable dweeb Niles Crane from Frasier, but that's neither here or there - 1952 anthology has been a mainstay for more than half a century.
Running the gammit from technically sound, yet slighty tedious to masterfully invigorating, an anthology like this is bound to be a bit of a muddled affair. Its inherent constraints reveal themselves pretty quickly: the cut-off point at 1952 (thus missing a large chunk of 20th century writing), and the primary focus on Anglo-Saxon writers, with the odd French and Russian one thrown in for good measure being the most apparent ones. Tough choices have to be made of course, and the editor must be applauded for not lazily picking just the best-known, predictable examples. How it plays to a modern audience, I haven't the foggiest idea. A supplement to Crane's orginal selection might be in order here. Surely this can be done.
Still, if you're looking for a comprehensive anthology featuring almost all of the classic masters of the form, you could do far worse. Within, the entire spectrum of human emotion is contained. Dip away, I say!
hjalmar's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
adrinthesky's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
lelandbuck's review against another edition
3.0
A few good stories in this collection, but overall this collection seems dated.
jimmacsyr's review against another edition
2.0
Finally....finished....this....book!
Short review
As others stated, some good stories, but many are really uninteresting. Even stories, from authors I knew, were nowhere near their better work. Not sure what criteria was used to make this selection, but almost all lack that end of story twist that I look forward to in short stories.
Long review
I picked up this book in a thrift sale. Clearly a used book, it started coming apart as I read it. I should have stopped reading this book a long time ago, but kept going. Part of my persistence was driven by the fact that each new story, by a different author, could begin the gems that made up the bulk of this book. Part was the knowledge that I will be the last person to read this book. Kept together by rubber bands, groups of pages breaking away as i turned past them, I brought it to appointments, whereupon the book drew comments, and I explained it’s short history with me. Abibliophobes seemed to get it, others gave me a “but he looked normal” glance. For that interaction, I will remember this book.
Short review
As others stated, some good stories, but many are really uninteresting. Even stories, from authors I knew, were nowhere near their better work. Not sure what criteria was used to make this selection, but almost all lack that end of story twist that I look forward to in short stories.
Long review
I picked up this book in a thrift sale. Clearly a used book, it started coming apart as I read it. I should have stopped reading this book a long time ago, but kept going. Part of my persistence was driven by the fact that each new story, by a different author, could begin the gems that made up the bulk of this book. Part was the knowledge that I will be the last person to read this book. Kept together by rubber bands, groups of pages breaking away as i turned past them, I brought it to appointments, whereupon the book drew comments, and I explained it’s short history with me. Abibliophobes seemed to get it, others gave me a “but he looked normal” glance. For that interaction, I will remember this book.
ryanneliza's review against another edition
2.0
This was so boring I skipped some stories and didn’t finish others. It took me several months to even do that!
tawallah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shieldbearer's review against another edition
Gave it to someone on the bus. Will attempt another reread if I find another copy
svenja1603's review against another edition
1.0
One star is probably a bit too harsh but I have this book on my bookshelf since I bought it in 2017 and when I first started reading it then I was shocked because it didn’t meet my expectations at all. I expected short stories filled with suspense and drama that I would fly through. That’s not what this book is for me at all. I stopped reading after about three stories in and always felt bad about not finishing it. That’s why a few months back I decided since I’m in a pretty good reading rhythm right now, to finally finish this book.
My goal (to at least motivate me a bit) was to finish 2-3 stories after a finished other book. And that’s how I got through this one.
I’m outing myself as an uncultured individual here but I didn’t enjoy most of the short stories. I in fact noted down when I enjoyed a story and there were exactly 7 stories I found entertaining. From 50…which means I enjoyed about 14% of the book which makes my 1/5 rating actually kinda generous…;-)
It’s okay if that makes me ‚too dumb to GET the other stories‘, I’m just being honest here…and I’m just super glad I passed this challenge for myself.
My goal (to at least motivate me a bit) was to finish 2-3 stories after a finished other book. And that’s how I got through this one.
I’m outing myself as an uncultured individual here but I didn’t enjoy most of the short stories. I in fact noted down when I enjoyed a story and there were exactly 7 stories I found entertaining. From 50…which means I enjoyed about 14% of the book which makes my 1/5 rating actually kinda generous…;-)
It’s okay if that makes me ‚too dumb to GET the other stories‘, I’m just being honest here…and I’m just super glad I passed this challenge for myself.