I recently read Neil Gaiman's two short story collections (called Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things) and I was utterly amazed at how amazing it is to read without having to worry about the time, or it's too exciting to put down..

And not just that, I think short stories are brilliant as a concept. I find that they are often more elusive than novels. Their point and meaning sits deeper, and you seldom get to know everything that happens. In a way it is much more intriguing to read, since you get a different and much smaller view of the situation...

I could go on talking about this forever, but I think it would be better to let someone else have a go ^^

So discuss:

- What's your relationship/experience with Short Stories?
- Do you know of any good Short Story Collections, which you could recommend?
- What makes a Short Story different from a Novel? (apart from length)
- Anything else you can come up with ^^

I think that good short stories are more difficult to write than good novels, because you have to insert the same elements in a shorter text. You need genius. And there is generally more rhythm in a short story, I like it.

I think the more famous collection of short stories is Edgar Allan Poe's "Selected Tales"? There are also Philip K. Dick's SF short stories, but I can't give you any title since I don't read them in English.

Yeah..

I think it takes more of a mind to write a good short story (definitely a collection of them) then to write a novel...

I you like to read short stories, you should try Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things Especially if you like fantasy. he has a way of turning the most ordinary thing into something we could never have imagined, and he writes it brilliantly ^^

And mum keeps telling me to read Poe, but I still haven't gotten around to it.... hmm...

*makes mental note to stop by the library tomorrow and get Poe*

Neil Gaiman also has M is for Magic. It's aimed at kids/young adults, and some of the stories are repeats, but there's actually some good stuff in there. His Sandman Graphic Novels have a couple collections that are just shorts, you might find those interesting as well.

As for other short story collections to suggest, if you like dark fantasy (and your like for Gaiman indicates that you might) try the Snow White, Blood Red series. They've got a number of books that are collected retellings of old fairy tales. Some of them are very good, though the individual stories can be hit or miss.

• Speaking of short stories in general, I really enjoy them. Sometimes it's refreshing to read something simple, rather than a very complex 900 novel. Short stories to me have their own pleasure, which gives the reader a very different expirence than reading a long book, with indepth descriptions on everything and everyone who is in it.
  
  Reading short stories to me, is like.. a more realistic take on fiction. You don't really get told why the people in short stories do the things they do. Which like real life, you don't really know why people are the way they are. They are just simply... people.

- What's your relationship/experience with Short Stories?

I adore them. Seriously. I'm hooked. Last year I picked up Joanne Harris's (who I love anyway) Jigs and Reels and it was like cracking an oyster and finding a pearl. I'd been under the impression her novels were all pretty similar (the general plot of Chocolat is similar to Coastliners, and from what I'd heard Holy Fools wasn't much different) but she flummoxed me with this. Her voice changed so much from story to story, a couple of paragraphs would leave me in stitches, or quaking. She indulges in Science Fiction, I was in ecstacy! c:

Went on the read Gentlemen and Players, and found that she does a very similar thing to me by building many little examples and anecdoes (like Fule's Gold) towards one theme, running for years, in this case a boys' grammar school.

- Do you know of any good Short Story Collections, which you could recommend?

Other than the above? Plenty! Charles Dickens and all his ghost stories, naturally. You can find ghost stories by M.R. James here: http://www.fadl12200.pwp.blueyonder....mrjframes.html. I haven't read them, but I've read they're good.

Susan Hill's short stories collections (available to buy off Amazon, for example The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read and Farthing House. She's fantastic with atmosphere and her characters are very authentic; it's easy to believe in them.

H.G. Wells does some brilliant ones I've just begun to get into. The collection I have is called The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories. The first one I picked at random, The Crystal Egg, built on his Martians... in their own environment. I was chuffed to learn more about The War of the Worlds through supplement!

A novel by Kate Atkinson appears to be short stories at first. You can certainly take the chapters individually. Then, if you read them in sequence, you notice that they all interlock (through characters knowing each other, or certain scenarios repeating, chance interactions, clever stuff...) It's called Not the End of the World.

Here are some of Joanne Harris's online, too: http://www.joanne-harris.co.uk/pages/onlinestories.html. If you like Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, you'll like The Eternal Life Assurance Company. It made me laugh. : D

- What makes a Short Story different from a Novel? (apart from length)

Anything I have to say on the matter is mostly repeated from Joanne Harris's introduction. Principally, it can take ages to write a short story as opposed to a book chapter, of about equal length. You have to be concise, throw your readers into it and convince them utterly from the outset. Short stories can leave a greater impression than many novels, because they're thus crystallised. They're far better, perhaps, for communicating a single idea or message. Hmm.

- Anything else you can come up with ^^

Was Fragile Things SUPER? I saw it in a shop and wanted desperately to buy it... Unfortunately, I get guilting having so many books waiting to be read I sometimes manage to apply will power, and this was one of those occasions. I may set it as a book for the club me and my friends are creating... Oh, and Gaiman does the introduction for the Wells book. ^ ^

That is all. ; D

A girl can't live solely on short stories, but quite of my reading diet is made up of them. Namely because some of my favorite authors are best known for their collections. I find that they are much more carefully crafted, and really involve the reader emotionally. They strike out at you and pull you in. Only a true writer can use such a short span to get their point across, and keep you engaged the entire time. If you can sit down to read it from beginning to end and never once feel the desire to put it down, you've got yourself a winner.

A couple of marvelous collections that spring to mind:

Ray Bradbury:
Golden Apples of the Sun
R is for Rocket
The Illustrated Man
(And many, many other pieces. I could recommend you dozens if you're interested)

Jorge Luis Borges:
Dr Brodies Report
Labyrinths

Jean Shepherd:
A Fistful of Fig Netons
In God We Trust

Emma Donoghue:
Kissing the Witch

People replied to my post ^^ *does dance of joy*

THANK YOU everyone for great tips, i now know what to look for... I also have enough to read for quite a while ^^

@Lithle - I do like Neil Gaiman.. And that "Snow White, Blood Red" thing sounds a lot like my kind of thing... I read Neil Gaiman's version of Snow White, and it scared me half to death while being extremely good... I'll definitely check that out ^^

@Secret - good thing that about "a realistic take on fiction", excellent way to put it, and I would have said it myself had I only been that articulate ^^ kudos to you for that! I love the simplicity of short stories...

@Chaitealatte - My revelation when it comes to short stories was VERY similar to yours... I must say I am hooked as well... I read "Good Omens" already, and I really liked it ^^ I might actually read it again one day, but right now I have tons of Short Story Collections to get to thanks to you and the others here ^^ And "Fragile Things" was great, but rather different from "Smoke and Mirrors". The latter had darker humour and more of a gloomy style to it, while "Fragile Things" was more overall happy, although it did have those dark elements as well. I like the darkness of them, it's very Neil Gaiman ^^ If I had to chose one of them tho, I would chose "Fragile Things". it's more suitable for everyone, not too dark, and very good ^^

@Knerd - I think it's very interesting to see the difference between novels and short story collections written by the same author... I often see that short stories are more built than written, like it has more work put into it. I think one can say a whole lot more about an author judging by his/her short stories than novels...

I love short stories, you get more for your seven or eight dollars.
I like that the fact you get so many authors veiw point on a subject.

A short story book I loved was "a century of stories" It was by a collection of authors. as is "Legends" which is all fantasy and I must re-read.

The best ones I've read is "the mammoth book of Paranormal romance" and "stroke of midnight".

@ purplewaterbottle: I'm thankful for your pants... the similarties between our avatars was beginning to get to me

- What's your relationship/experience with Short Stories?

For the most part, I only read short stories in English & Literature classes, but the last three books I've purchased have been anthologies. It's rather strange, really. Usually, when I buy a book, I intend to be in it for the long haul, but I'm actually quite enjoying having bite-sized stories to work through.

- Do you know of any good Short Story Collections, which you could recommend?

Well, seeing as how these last three books have really kept my attention...
Inferno, edited by Ellen Datlow, is a collection of horror stories of the paranormal variety. They're more chilling and subtly creepy than in-your-face terrifying, but they're excellent, nonetheless.
The Living Dead, edited by John Joseph Adams, is a collection of zombie fiction. Does any more need be said?
Ghosts in Irish Houses, by James Reynolds, contains twenty-two stories about hauntings of Irish houses & families, and the stories behind them. It's more folklore than scary stories, though.

- What makes a Short Story different from a Novel? (apart from length)

Short stories seem to be more intense, probably due to the lack of time available. They also tend to leave you wondering what happened to lead up to the circumstances of the story itself, and what will happen once the story concludes. It's a slice of life, not the big picture.