I started #FridayFavorites back when I started up the blog again and wanted to make sure I kept at least one regular post a week. This was, of course, before I knew there were others out there. But I decided to keep it, especially since I have the whole year planned out. If anyone wants to join me, the list for future topics can be found here.
Today’s topic is on some of my favorite short stories.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
This one messed me up when I first read it; I think it was around late middle school. I love Shirley Jackson but in this one, the way she conveys the fear and horror of the story in only a few short pages is magnificent.
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
Such a classic tale, and also one I read in middle school. The way guilt eats at us and how it causes us to react is so fascinating.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Okay, finally one that I didn’t read until….high school…maybe college. I’m totally blanking now on when I first read it. Either way, one of the first blatant feminist texts I read. Ah, the patriarchy!
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
Flannery O’Connor’s titles do not mean what you think they’re going to mean. I did not know this when I first read O’Connor, so I was not expecting the ending to this one either.
Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor
As O’Connor did with “A Good Man is Hard to Find” she does with “Good Country People” by using irony and finely controlled comic sense to reveal the world as it is – with no vision or knowledge. She uses both her stories to show how misconceptions, prejudices, and stereotypes ultimately harm those around us.
By complete accident, all of these do fall into a Halloween theme.
Happy Reading Darlings!
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