I really like Close Range:Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx. I grew up in rural WY and really connected with many of the stories. Brokeback Mountain is part of that collection.
I want to read more short stories this year, and these are on my list. Not exactly what you asked for, but it's what I can give.
The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan Astray by Emma Donoghue Gunshot by Amelia Gray The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Shulz After the Plague by T.C. Boyle Honeydew by Edith Pearlman The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea Mothers, Tell Your Daughters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
(I haven't read that one in at least 15 years and most of it is still so graphic in my brain.)
I know I read this because I remember the other stories in the collection, but I didn't remember this one at all. I just looked it up. I must have pushed it out of my brain because it is so fucking disturbing.
And so many classics, but I'll just leave it at that for now.
Good Man is also a favorite. Temporary Matter was beautiful. She is an under-rated writer. I'd never heard of Specle,Trout and read it just now-- thanks for the link! It was great. Wow.
Post by barcelonagirl on Apr 29, 2016 8:26:44 GMT -5
And see I was going to suggest Austen's Love and Friendship lol
For those of you Bradbury "the veldt" fans...
The musician Deadmou5 read the story and made a song about it. Years later one of his fans read the story and wrote lyrics to the song to match exactly.
The Veldt feat Chris James by Deadmou5 is one of my kids favorite songs...
I'm here and always down for book nerd discussions! Glad you liked all those stories.
So was Ossie pregnant?
What do you think was going on in the end of it?
the friend's cowardice in the other story was tragic and moving. The last paragraph, as you said. Beautiful. Great style and voice in that story.
I didn't get that Ossie was pregnant but I could have missed it. Was there a particular section that suggested that? I could see that being possible though and it would add another disturbing layer to the story.
I read the story as being about how dangerous the world is to these girls who have no mother figure to guide or protect them. They are left to navigate the perils of puberty/sexuality completely alone--I think Russell really illustrates that through Ossie's relationship with her ghost boyfriend, drawing a direct line connecting sex and death. At the end I think Ossie is trying to drown herself in the swamp so she can be with the ghost forever. She mentions talking to their dead mother too. Ava "wrestles the alligator" by literally wrestling her sister from death in attempt to save Ossie from what has happened to Ava (where she was molested or raped by the Bird Man, and raises the question of whether Ossie has been meeting with him too) and I'm sure to save herself as well. She said she is not strong enough to wrestle the alligators in their theme park, but here she finds the strength and agency inside her to go after Ossie, although the ending line has an ominous suggestion that it still might not be enough. That's my interpretation anyway.
Amy Hempel has said that she wrote "Cemetery" in a workshop where the prompt was to write about your worst secret. Hers was that she abandoned her best friend when she was dying. It was actually her first short story, which is amazing.
the friend's cowardice in the other story was tragic and moving. The last paragraph, as you said. Beautiful. Great style and voice in that story.
I didn't get that Ossie was pregnant but I could have missed it. Was there a particular section that suggested that? I could see that being possible though and it would add another disturbing layer to the story.
I read the story as being about how dangerous the world is to these girls who have no mother figure to guide or protect them. They are left to navigate the perils of puberty/sexuality completely alone--I think Russell really illustrates that through Ossie's relationship with her ghost boyfriend, drawing a direct line connecting sex and death. At the end I think Ossie is trying to drown herself in the swamp so she can be with the ghost forever. She mentions talking to their dead mother too. Ava "wrestles the alligator" by literally wrestling her sister from death in attempt to save Ossie from what has happened to Ava (where she was molested or raped by the Bird Man, and raises the question of whether Ossie has been meeting with him too) and I'm sure to save herself as well. She said she is not strong enough to wrestle the alligators in their theme park, but here she finds the strength and agency inside her to go after Ossie, although the ending line has an ominous suggestion that it still might not be enough. That's my interpretation anyway.
Amy Hempel has said that she wrote "Cemetery" in a workshop where the prompt was to write about your worst secret. Hers was that she abandoned her best friend when she was dying. It was actually her first short story, which is amazing.
This line is what made me think Ossie was pregnant: Ossie’s unclothed bulk, her breasts. My own chest is pancake-flat, and covered in tiny brown moles. All this time, my odd waddling sister has been living in a mother’s body.
Of course, it could just be that the narrator didn't realize that Ossie was growing into a woman because the narrator didn't really know what that meant. Or it could be very Freudian in that she desired a mother figure...?
I didn't get that Ossie was pregnant but I could have missed it. Was there a particular section that suggested that? I could see that being possible though and it would add another disturbing layer to the story.
I read the story as being about how dangerous the world is to these girls who have no mother figure to guide or protect them. They are left to navigate the perils of puberty/sexuality completely alone--I think Russell really illustrates that through Ossie's relationship with her ghost boyfriend, drawing a direct line connecting sex and death. At the end I think Ossie is trying to drown herself in the swamp so she can be with the ghost forever. She mentions talking to their dead mother too. Ava "wrestles the alligator" by literally wrestling her sister from death in attempt to save Ossie from what has happened to Ava (where she was molested or raped by the Bird Man, and raises the question of whether Ossie has been meeting with him too) and I'm sure to save herself as well. She said she is not strong enough to wrestle the alligators in their theme park, but here she finds the strength and agency inside her to go after Ossie, although the ending line has an ominous suggestion that it still might not be enough. That's my interpretation anyway.
Amy Hempel has said that she wrote "Cemetery" in a workshop where the prompt was to write about your worst secret. Hers was that she abandoned her best friend when she was dying. It was actually her first short story, which is amazing.
This line is what made me think Ossie was pregnant: Ossie’s unclothed bulk, her breasts. My own chest is pancake-flat, and covered in tiny brown moles. All this time, my odd waddling sister has been living in a mother’s body.
Of course, it could just be that the narrator didn't realize that Ossie was growing into a woman because the narrator didn't really know what that meant. Or it could be very Freudian in that she desired a mother figure...?
Ohh I see that. I took it as Osceola growing into a woman, but I think you could interpret it any of those ways. If she's pregnant, is that why she decides to elope with the ghost? Maybe she equates motherhood with death because she lost her own mother? Who got her pregnant--the only living men mentioned in the story are her father and the bird man, which are both horrible. Interesting. I like when fiction leaves multiple possibilities open.
I've been reading s collection of short stories by Joy Castro lately that is excellent. I think it's fairly new?
ETA: too tired now to go into naming specific stories, but I love the short stories of Alice Munro, Hemingway, Guillermo Rosales, Joy Williams, Sandra Cisneros and so many other people I am blanking out on.
I was thinking about this question again tonight at the gym and felt motivated to find online translations of my favorite Julio Cortazar stories, because he is AMAZING.
Here they are, although I was sad not to find "Lejana" in translation: