On a Winter’s Night, by Kate DiCamillo Read it here in less than 10 minutes. Thinking about why I love it… I love metafiction, so the opening sentence – ‘My father told me this story.’ – immediately entices me; it makes me think, ‘Yes! Tell me the story! I want to hear it!’. This first sentenceContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
Tag Archives: first-person
A short story I recently read
‘Heat’, by Joyce Carol Oates Read it here in about 20 minutes. Thinking about why I love it… The story builds up in layers, right from the very first paragraph, adding detail as it moves forward. So, you’re given information about the time of year, the place, the twins, the fact they’re dead… Then, moreContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story for Halloween
‘Afternoon at the Bakery’ by Yoko Ogawa Read it here (click on ‘Read Excerpt’, underneath the picture of the book’s cover, to read the entire story), in about 20 minutes. Thinking about why it’s unsettling… The first two paragraphs describe a beautiful day in a peaceful place, where people go about their business, doing ordinaryContinue reading “A short story for Halloween”
A short story for Halloween
‘A Collapse of Horses’ by Brian Evenson Read it here in under 30 minutes. Thinking about why it’s unsettling… The story opens with a shocking statement made by the first-person narrator: his family have died, in an horrific manner, while he’s been injured. His tone when revealing this is utterly detached. And he’s using directContinue reading “A short story for Halloween”