Four Must-Read Short-Stories
Ambitious readers have a fire in their belly for finishing more and more books every year. Reading resolutions are great, but we're often snowed under with work and this prevents us from achieving the goals we've set. With that said, there's more than one way to skin a cat; the solution can be switching to short-stories for a while, eschewing bulky tomes. If you're looking for a light read you can finish over a lazy afternoon, the upcoming weekend, or your next hour-long commute, here are 4 easy-breezy, super popular, under 150-page short-stories that you should check out.
1. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (128 pages)
Ernest Hemingway had a greater influence on the style of English prose than any other author of his time. Novels such as The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms put him on the literary map as one of the greatest literary geniuses of the 20th century. The Old Man and the Sea, his last major work of fiction published during his lifetime, tells the story of a physical and spiritual battle between an ageing Cuban fisherman on an unlucky streak and a giant marlin. A story of unwavering will, wonder, and respect, this captivating fable whisks you away on a journey that deals with themes of perseverance, friendship, and the resilience of human spirit. The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and was instrumental in Hemingway's 1954 Nobel Prize win.
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (112 pages)
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A story of two drifters, George and Lennie, striving to find work and their place in the world during the Great Depression in the United States. The intelligent but uneducated George and the bulky but slow-witted Lennie are two friends who have nothing except each other and a shared dream, a dream that one day they will eventually own and settle on their private piece of land. Eventually, they find work on a ranch in California and come close to realizing their dream, however, their hopes are crushed as Lennie, battling extreme prejudice, becomes a casualty of his own strength. Tackling universal themes of hope, friendship, and loyalty, this is Steinbeck’s most popular work, earning acclaim and iconic status and adaptations into a Broadway play and three acclaimed films.
3. The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol (52 pages)
Written in 1842, the Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol is a compelling and unforgettable short-story. Set against the frigid winter of Saint Petersburg, Russia, this is a story of a nondescript government clerk, Akaky Akakievich, and his struggle to retrieve his prized new overcoat which has been stolen, a quest he pursues even beyond the grave. Written with great wit and humorous social commentary, The Overcoat is a classic of Russian literature that has had a great influence on Russian authors and literature ever since and has been adapted into a variety of stage and film interpretations.
4. The Stranger by Albert Camus (123 pages)
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The Stranger is a 1942 novel by French author Albert Camus that revolves around absurdism, i.e., the belief that human beings exist without purpose in a chaotic universe. The central character Meursault is portrayed as an emotionally detached man, unmoved even by his mother's death. Meursault's alienation from society leads him down a path on which he makes several terrible choices that result in the murder of an Arab man at his hands. He is amoral and disaffected, however, he is a truthful person, speaking his mind without regard for others. This dark story is divided into two parts, with Meursault speaking to the reader in the first-person narrative, describing his views before and after the murder, explaining his lack of empathy and remorse and his inability to find meaning in anything or anyone. Although not a runaway success when published, the novella has been translated four times into English, and also into numerous other languages, and is now considered a classic of 20th-century literature. It has also been adapted into two films: the Italian film Lo Straniero (1967) and the Turkish film Yazgi (2001).
