BY: ROB HOFFMAN
A Good Man is Hard to Find
By: Flannery O’Connor
This piece of classic southern gothic literature offers a commentary on the fickle definition of morality. A family trip turns sour as the grandmother tries to persuade her grandchildren to change their destination from Florida to east Tennessee to indulge her own selfish desires. News of a killer loose and on route to Florida only strengthens her argument. Eventually, the grandmother tells them a tall tale of “hidden silver” in an old plantation she had once known as a girl so to push them to demand a detour from their father. The grandmother’s selfish agenda is soon rewarded with a succession of bad karma.
Read here: virginia.edu
The Most Beautiful Woman in Town
By: Charles Bukowski
A classic Bukowski story, The Most Beautiful Woman in Town dissects the unexpected consequences of beauty and the social constructs that feed unhealthy societal perspectives on physical attraction. Cass is the most beautiful woman in town—something of which she is constantly reminded. Some would also be quick to label Cass crazy, but in Bukowski’s eyes, her critics are dull and would never understand the truth behind her erratic behavior and unique mind.
Read here: mmryan.net
The School
By: Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme gives the reader an eerie recount of a school that seems to be cursed with recurring deaths. The School is an unsettling story told through the unique lens of Barthelme’s renowned surrealistic and postmodern style. The School gives the reader an important perspective on the relationship between life and death.
Read here: tumblr.com
Hills Like White Elephants
By: Ernest Hemingway
Hills Like White Elephants is perhaps one of the greatest examples of Hemingway’s mastery of dialogue. Save for a few short paragraphs, the story is told entirely through a conversation over dinner between a man and a woman. Slowly, their unfortunate situation is revealed to the reader. The candid dialogue allows one to easily slip into the predicament of the two characters and sparks a larger debate about the nature of their situation and what should be done about it.
Read here: massey.ac.nz
The Lottery
By: Shirley Jackson
A small town of 300 people holds an annual lottery for which everyone is to participate. The children would search the town and fill their pockets with stones while the adults write their names on small slips of paper to mix into a small black box with all the others. According to the man running the event, Mr. Summers, the lottery is absolutely essential to the progress of the village. However, the winners of the lottery maintain that it’s a rigged match.
Read here: middlebury.edu
The Man Who Loved Flowers
By: Stephen King
Though King has referred to himself as “the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries,” The Man Who Loved Flowers offers a peak into the literary prowess that has earned him such wide success. The protagonist is a daydreaming young man with a distant look on his face that passersby instantly recognize as new love. The story takes a turn when he shows up with a bouquet of flowers for his sweetheart.
Read here: neostrada.pl
The Rocking-Horse Winner
By: D.H. Lawrence
The Rocking-Horse Winner is a slightly perverted and disturbing story divided between a mother and her son. The mother, primarily concerned with their financial affairs, feels a shameful resentment for her money-leeching son. The son suffers from his mother’s lack of affection. One day, the son is bestowed with a strange power that he believes will help him win over his mother’s love.
Read here: classicshorts.com
Sources: siws.fr, theodysseyonline.com, electricliterature.com, blogspot.ca, moviemail.com
