Apr 13, 2017 I've started a thread like this in the past. People seemed interested, but I wasn't very consistent. I've been reading a lot of short stories recently so I figured this was as good a time as ever to try it again. Would appreciate a ShortSXN tag or something comparable @BigCountry The two main series of texts that I'm going to be selecting from are the four volumes of the The Science Fiction Hall of Fame as well as the annual The O. Henry Prize Stories. At least, that's what I'm reading now so that's probably where I'll find ones to post. This first post will just be to gauge interest.
Apr 13, 2017 Every week or couple of days or something I'll post a story for everyone to read and react to. It's like a book club for people who can't be assed to read entire books for the sake of a group discussion.
Apr 13, 2017 that baby shoes one is so lame my photography teacher recited it to us for some reason one day
Apr 17, 2017 Selection #1: Diary of an Interesting Year by Helen Simpson This is a post-apocalyptic story in the format of a journal. It's a pretty short read. Here are some topics to spark a conversation: - How Helen Simpson lends her feminine perspective to the protagonist - The foreboding environmental backdrop the story plays out in - How you characterize G's outlook on the world - The fragility of civilization and its potential for retrograde - How little current lifestyles translate to survival situations Spoiler @Jordan @Owl 2034 @Ordinary Joel @Alchemist @Final @Goldy @YDB
Apr 17, 2017 "plus we’re supposed to wear our face masks in bed, too, but I was running with sweat, so I ripped mine off just now" f--- it mask off
Apr 17, 2017 Pretty crazy... what I gathered at the end is that she ended up getting pregnant from the Murderer, got him to beat her up to k--- the baby inside her, and then pushed him off the ledge to his death? I found the part where they finally found a pig amusing... they didn't know wtf to do and it got away. Missed opportunity but pretty realistic if you've never hunted. I guess it's a hard choice to make... you either stay in the little camp as new people show up and live unsure of if they will k--- you... or leave and risk running into people that will k--- you. G seemed like a p---- and that sucks for the author. I like how the last entry about him is how he wanted a gun... and then a half month later the next entry he's dead. Depressing story but I felt that there was no emotion in it... I know it's suppose to be diary entries but it just felt so straightforward like she had given up and was just recording the events. I guess it makes sense that way. I feel that the Murderder would have taken the diary and burned it or something since he was that type of person but for the sake of the story I'll let it pass.
Apr 17, 2017 She tried throwing herself down a hill and drinking random plants/herbs to abort the baby. It never says how she finally got rid of it. Maybe when she's sick after she kills him she's having a miscarriage? I actually love that he's a p----. There are so many people like him who s--- on stuff like capitalism and industrialization who wouldn't have a clue what to do without it. So in the end he's just left to say "I'm right" and have his consolation prize being plagued with various illnesses and eventually murdered. He finally realizes how helpless he is by the point he asks for a gun to k--- himself. Yeah, the journal format makes it all very abrupt and to the point, but I dig it. No beating around the bush. Straight to the point even about brutal things. The brevity is also explained when she says she'll have to write small to fit it all in.
Apr 17, 2017 November 10th. It’s over. I got stuck into his bottle of vodka—it was the demon drink that saved me. He was out mugging—left me up the tree as usual—I drank just enough to raise my courage. Nothing else had worked, so I thought I’d get him to beat me up. When he came back and saw me waving the bottle he was beside himself. I pretended to be drunker than I was and I lay down on the wooden platform with my arms round my head while he got the boot in. It worked. Not right away but that night. I know she tried herbs and stuff but I took this entry to mean that she made him mad enough by drinking/wasting his alcohol, that when he got back he beat her (notice she kept her hands up, exposing stomach area for maximum beatdown) as he r---d her and she noticed that later that night, the baby had died (aka it worked). I didn't even make the connection about his personality and his lines about the system and how now he's rekt without it lol That's ironic and funny now