The Funeral, by Mahreen Sohail Read it here in 10 minutes. Thinking about why I love it… This story is set in Pakistan (the author’s home country) – a country I’ve never been to, and a culture I’ve don’t know much about – this means there are elements that I don’t recognise, such as theContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
Tag Archives: narrator
A short story I recently read
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”
A short story I recently read
The Great Silence, by Ted Chiang Read it here in less than 10 minutes. Thinking about why I love it… There aren’t nearly enough stories featuring sentient animals, let alone narrated by them; this story is narrated by an unnamed parrot, who speaks eloquently on behalf of the entire parrot collective (‘We’re a nonhuman speciesContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently read
The Quiet Boy, by Nick Antosca Read it here, in about 30 minutes. Thinking about why I love it… I love the use of metafiction: it’s a story with stories in it, and one of those stories sets off the action. The story in question, the grammatically inaccurate The Three Wolfs, written by student Lucas,Continue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently read
She Sheds Her Skin, by Raven Jakubowski Read it here in about 15 minutes. Thinking about why I love it… This is an unusual love-horror story, about an incompatible couple who’ve been desperately trying to make it work, now finally facing up to the fact that their love is, and always has been, doomed. IContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently read
‘Girls Have Sharp Teeth’ by Genevieve Mills Read it here in about 20 minutes. Thinking about narrative voice… It’s swiftly evident that our narrator is a teenage girl, and she has a great narrative voice. The vocabulary and semantic fields support the fact this is a teenage voice: the first line mentions a female collectiveContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently read
‘Guts’ by Kimberly King Parsons Read it here in about 50 minutes. Thinking about juxtaposed characters… Our narrator, Sheila, is an imperfect woman, a flawed character. She struggles with her body, self-esteem, and life choices. She’s embarrassed, but can’t stop eating junk food, secretly drinks alcohol and smokes pot, and is insecure about her relationshipContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently read
‘The Sea Shell’ by Osama Alomar Read it here in about 1 minute (there are two flash stories on the page – scroll down for ‘The Sea Shell’). Thinking about use of narrative point of view… This magical little flash story features an unnamed man walking down a beach in an unnamed land, and finding aContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently read
The Case of Death and Honey, by Neil Gaiman Read it here in less than an hour. Thinking about narrative point of view… This story is a lot of fun. It’s divided into two narrative strands, each using a different narrative perspective. The voices created in the two strands sound completely different to each other,Continue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently read
Clementine, Carmelita, Dog by David Means Read it here in about 20 minutes (if you aren’t subscribed to Granta, you can still read about half of the story). Thinking about narrative perspective… I absolutely love this short story, partly because it’s told from the third-person limited point of view of a sausage dog, and partlyContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
Mina Ma 