A classic well worth another read.
To Build a Fire by Jack London (1908) — 7,042 words (about 29 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Century magazine, August 1908.
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." – George R. R. Martin
A classic well worth another read.
To Build a Fire by Jack London (1908) — 7,042 words (about 29 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Century magazine, August 1908.
A deeply emotionally evocative classic Russian tragedy.
A Gentle Spirit by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1876) — 16,000 words (about 64 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in 1876,
It seems that no matter how far back you go, there have always been problem children.
The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry (1907) — 4,150 words (about 17 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in The Saturday Evening Post, 6 July 1907.
A classical tale of a difficult decision.
A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry (1903) — 2,800 words (about 11 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published The Cosmopolitan Magazine, April 1903.
Simply one of the best short stories I have ever read. There is so much feeling in it.
The Comebacker by David Eggers (2023) — 6,400 words (about 26 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in The Atlantic, September 2023.
To celebrate the season, I bring you this delightful story of young lovers in New York City.
Springtime à la Carte by O. Henry (1906) — 2,137 words (about 9 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in the book The Four Million in 1906. You can download all of O. Henry’s short fiction for free in one ebook at standardebooks.com.
Today I have a classic you may have read in school at some point, a feminist tale of isolation and depression.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman — 5,815 words (about 23 minutes for the average reader)
First published in 1892 in New England Magazine
A classic short story from a modern master of the art.
A Small, Good Thing by Raymond Carver (1983) — 5,000 words (about 20 minutes for the average reader)
For “Throwback Thursday” I have a less well known story by the short story master that they named the award after. This one is from his collection The Four Million, so called because it takes place in New York City, which had four million residents at that time. A young man is led by destiny to the door of a damsel in distress. It has his trademark twist at the end. Enjoy!
The Green Door by O. Henry (1906) – 2,679 words (about 11 minutes for the average reader)
I learned about this book through Locus Magazine. In February, they had their reviewers list their best books of the year. Archita Mittra included Orbital in her list. On one of my regular road trips to referee a soccer tournament, I listened to this winner of the 2024 Booker Prize.
The book covers a day in the life of four astronauts and two cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. Each chapter is titled according to each of the sixteen orbits taken in a single day. Not a lot happens in this short novel. Much of the book is given to evocative and vivid descriptions of the views from the ISS. We also learn a bit of the back story of those on board and how they are dealing with life on the station as well as how they are relating to their family left down on Earth.
Unfortunately, this book goes nowhere. Nothing interesting or exciting happens on the station. There is no inciting incident. I kept waiting for something to go wrong and for those on board to work together to overcome it. Nada. Don’t misunderstand, the writing is incredibly powerful and descriptive. You feel like you are experiencing what it must be like to be in orbit. And those on board have rich pasts and incredibly supportive relationships with each other despite the politics of their countries. But there is no plot whatsoever. This book is everything that English teachers love and their students love to hate.
My rating: 2/5