Literary Short Nominations • June 2013

[Bookpossum]

Okay, I will fourth After the Quake and third I served the King of England.

(Now I'll see if I can get hold of copies!)

[HomeInMyShoes]

I will third After the Quake by Murakami.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I will third After the Quake by Murakami.

It already has a third - and a fourth! - so it's already fully nominated and you get your nomination back.

Originally Posted by paola

one of those rare books I could not finish - I disliked it a lot. It was ages ago (ten - fifteen years?), so I will go along if it is eventually selected, but don't be angry if I do not support this nomination. I will fourth A good man is hard to find. and third after the quake.

I actually appreciate the comments on this book. Until a night a couple of weeks ago when a person at a local tavern mentioned Bohumil Hrabal and I Served the King of England I had never heard of either. So depending on how this selection process goes I might be looking for input into prioritizing it on my much too extensive TBR list. I am not making near quick enough progress on my quest to read at least one book by every author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature anyway.

[paola]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I am not making near quick enough progress on my quest to read at least one book by every author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature anyway.

then let me help you
With my final nomination I'll go for Luigi Pirandello's The Oil jar and other stories (available for next too nothing on Kobo and even couponable, here).
Luigi Pirandello's collected short stories, Novelle per un anno, are sadly not available in translation, and I could only find a couple of short collections, of which the one above is the cheapest.

I was also tempted by The late Mattia Pascal, but the short stories I think give a better idea of this great writer's abilities, plus I've read it too many times already.

If you download the sample from amazon don't be put off by it - you will be able to see only the first very short story, which I think was written when Pirandello was 17, and though the weakest is still impressive if you think of his age. More on Pirandello here.

[issybird]

I'll second The Oil Jar.

Well then. I will just have to third Luigi Pirandello's The Oil jar and other stories with my final ballot.

[sun surfer]

And I'll fourth it.

[Bookpossum]

I've been sleeping through all the activity again! However, I would like to nominate:

E M Forster The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories

which is available for very little from Kobo (sorry, I don't know how to do a link) and I think PD in some countries. Here's the summary from Kobo:

“Please, is that an omnibus?”
“Omnibus est.”

Hello, here’s a question for you: how shall we read the classics—or literature in general?
Let’s search the answer in today’s book, a curious little gem that all the true readers will quickly identify as such.

Best remembered for his famous novels, “A Passage to India,” “A Room with a View” and “Howards End,” E.M. Forster, a classical author sometimes unjustly seen as the spinster of the English literature, also wrote beautiful short stories, published in “Collected Short Stories” in 1947. “The Celestial Omnibus” contains six stories (“The Story of a Panic,” “The Other Side of the Hedge,” “The Celestial Omnibus,” “Other Kingdom,” “The Curate's Friend,” “The Road from Colonus”), all of them reinterpreting classical stories or themes and including elements of mythology and folklore. The cover story is a parable about reading and feeling. “The Celestial Omnibus” takes a boy and a well-read but sceptical man “to heaven.” On their journey, they meet characters from mythology and literature and if the man interacts with them mostly rationally, through his mind, the boy’s approach is more emotional and sensitive, ruled by the heart.

"The humanist has four leading characteristics: curiosity, a free mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race,” Forster said. Therefore, by applying these four assets—that all humans should possess—to the reading experience of Forster’s elegant prose, you’ll be one step closer to finding the answer in this classic book that you will no doubt read with enthusiasm.

[issybird]

Here's the link for Kobo:

Celestial Omnibus. Only US$1.31.

It sounds charming, but I'm tapped out.

[sun surfer]

Second The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories.

[Billi]

I third the Forster Omnibus.

[caleb72]

I'll fourth Forster.

[sun surfer]

Nominations are now closed. Poll will be up shortly.