It's not that I am too busy or that I'm not interested or that I'm too tired. It's that I'm bored. It's like all of the novels I read are the same. They're long and filled with hardship but then everyone is okay in the end. There almost isn't enough for reflection when you're in the middle of a 400 plus page book. But then there are short stories.
I love a good short story. They're always provocative. It always amazes me that so few words can hold so much power. So in times when I simply don't want to dive into an ocean of paragraphs and punctuation marks, I wade into a short story. And I think you should too. Because even if you are busy or tired or any other emotion that serves as an excuse not to think a little more, we can all spend 15 or 20 minutes simply reading. I guarantee that you'll want to think after.
Here are my five favorite short stories:
1. "The Looking Glass" by Anton Chekov- Read this when you need a reality check. A really short story about a marriage-obsessed girl who sees a less than perfect vision of her future when looking at herself in the mirror reminds readers that sometimes you may not want what you thought you've always wanted.
2. "Where are You Going? Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carole Oates: Read this if you love Bob Dylan or you want a subtle scare. This short story about the stalking of a young girl is based on Dylan's song "It's All Over Now Baby Blue."
3. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Read this chilling tale of a woman who becomes insane if you're into Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar or if you want to read something majorly disturbing.
4. "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde: Everyone should read this. It is one of the only short stories to ever make me cry because it is so sad and beautiful and real.
5. "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut: Read this if you like sci-fi or dystopian literature. This short story is about a society that attempts to 'equalize' everybody by forcing the beautiful to wear masks, the strong to carry weights and the smart to be distracted by in-ear sound waves.
Hope you find a story you enjoy!
xoxo