Reading Short Stories

I was once part of a reading group that was so special, one of the participants flew from Texas to New York to participate in it. My commute across the river from Brooklyn to Manhattan was less epic, but the monthly events were also very dear to me. I had already been part of a Russian novel reading group – I’ll tell you about that another time, perhaps – and one of the participants told us about the new group he was starting called simply “Reading Short Stories.” Each month, he chose three short stories by different authors, and we met in an Italian restaurant just off the Bowery to discuss them. In my memory, it is always raining or snowing as I trek from the subway stop to the restaurant, which made the pizza oven, the brick walls, the candle light, and the group crowded around a table all the more welcoming.

What made it so special? It felt like being in a secret club.

It is a privilege to be in contact with people who are unlike you. We were all different ages: there were senior citizens, a recent college graduate who sold elevators for a living, and I was somewhere in the middle. Other restaurant customers looked over at us enviously. We were a group of almost strangers closely listening to each other.

One regular participant - a scientist originally from Iran, who often finished reading the stories in a cab on the way to the restaurant - pointed at each of us and explained the different way we read. So-and-so, you relate to each character. Another-so-and-so, you think ethically about every action. Corina, you are analytical and always think about how the story is constructed.

I liked to order a salad, mushroom crostini, and several glasses of red wine. The food was pretty good, but that wasn’t the point. I didn’t always like the stories. I remember when we read “A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver. Having gone through a creative writing program at an American college, this story in particular, and this kind of understated emotional intensity in general, was bashed over my head. I told our leader, “I feel like you invited my ex-boyfriend to dinner and sat us next to each other.” I didn’t enjoy re-reading that story, but I loved discussing it with the group. I loved hearing why basically everyone except for me thought it was brilliant, and I loved politely explaining that, though I could see the mastery in its composition, I found it uninspiring and emotionally draining.

We also read a lot of Russians, and I was thrilled to be introduced to Katherine Mansfield for the first time. At the end of every session, our leader had us guess what theme he had in mind, or what connected the stories. We never ever got it right, but he enjoyed our guesses and we always ended by laughing.

In this spirit of this group, I am starting a new reading group at the West Windsor branch. I can’t promise you’ll want to get on a plane just to attend, but I hope that we will create our own magic together. I’m calling it Rule of Three, after the “rule of three” principle in writing and joke-telling, and we will read and discuss in the spirit of curiosity and wonder. Each month, I will choose a short story, an essay or article, and a poem, connected by some theme. The first session is Thursday May 19 [link to event]. I very much look forward to reading with you!

Until then, I will leave with you with some recommended short story collections – some of my own favorites, and some that we read for “Reading Short Stories.”

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges 

This is one of my absolute favorite collections, with stories pretending to be essays about imaginary books, an encyclopedia of a world whose inhabitants do not believe in nouns, and deliberate anachronisms, all told by a fictionalized version of Borges himself.

Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino 

Calvino is another of my favorite authors, and this collection is a good place to start. He writes with delicacy and tenderness about human failings.

The Short Stories of Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield was a modernist writer, originally from New Zealand, who moved to England and was associated with the Bloomsbury Group. Her writing was so good, Virginia Woolf was envious.

Collected Stories by Raymond Carver 

I do not like Raymond Carver, but I am in the minority, I realize. Many are devoted to his masterful minimalism.

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender 

Aimee Bender’s stories are often inspired by fairy tales, but they have their own narrative depth.

The Visiting Privilege by Joy Williams 

Often dark and devilishly funny, Joy Williams’ sentences themselves are like surprising little stories.

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: 40 New Fairy Tales edited by Kate Bernheimer 

If you like fairy tales (I love them), I recommend this collection edited by the founder of The Fairy Tale Review. You’ll recognize some of the authors (including Aimee Bender and Joy Williams), and discover others you’ll want to read more. Each of the 40 stories in the collection is a contemporary story based on a traditional tale from around the world.

The Overcoat and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol 

Tremendously important to Russian literature and beyond (Gogol was a Ukrainian who wrote in Russian), Gogol’s stories of societal foibles exploded into absurdity are profound and hysterically funny. “The Nose” is my favorite. 

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give A Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders 

Springing as it did from a Russian novel reading group, the Reading Short Stories group read a lot of Russians. This collection includes some of the greats: Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gogol, and Turgenev. Along with these classic stories, beloved short story writer and teacher George Saunders writes essays about writing and life.

End of the Game and Other Stories by Julio Cortázar 

The first meeting of Rule of Three will include a discussion of Cortázar’s “Axolotl” from this collection, along with animal essays by Aimee Nezhukumatathil and a prose poem by Francis Ponge called “The Wasp.” Register to get the readings and join us!

To see additional discussion programs happening at Mercer County Library System, take a look at both the Book Clubs and Poetry Circle pages on our website.

- by Corina B., West Windsor Branch