The Best American Short Stories 2010---Opinion Question
After reading The Best American Short Stories 2010, what in your opinion is the best of the "best" stories? Why? Were you able to find any deeper meaning or patterns in your favorite story or did you enjoy for another reason?
ok first of all my honest opinion is that i didn't really enjoy this book about sex and drugs. its not my cup of tea and im sure there are deeper meanings to these stories. some of which i got others i felt no need to have read them. I look at these and cannot believe these are the "best" american short stories. Well anyway my favorite one is the one titled Delicate Edible Birds. It is very intersting in my opinion and more exciting do to the fact that it takes place during the Holocost. As you may have learned, war stories really strike my interst and this one had me on my toes throughout most of it. The deep meaning i get from it is to respect life and take chances. But i donot appreciate the chick who takes her body for granted. The funny thing about this story though is that it doesnt even take place in America and half of the jouralist speak fluent french.
Though I did not really enjoy this book very much, my favorite story might actually be the first one about poker, "Donkey Greedy, Donkey Gets Punched." The story is about people's inability to appreciate the seemingly impossible and the unknown. The main character is ruined in the end by completely ridiculous odds, and of course, this reminded me of Foster's book (Foster talks about how the impossible or most unlikely outcome happens in stories). The main character is a psychiatrist who represents conceded people, who think they are always correct, intelligent and all-knowing, ignoring the vast amount of things we do not know. At the stories conclusion he is basically set up by one of his patients that plays poker and loses a lot of money. This patient represents what we don’t know in the world, and what we should learn to respect. -Bill
Like Nichole and Bill, I didn't like this book very much. By very much I mean at all. However, I did enjoy the story "The Laugh". I love how it starts. Funerals, while very sad, are an interesting topic to read about to me. I love that the story starts out with them talking about the funeral, and the lights going out. That all of a sudden grabbed my attention. I wanted to know why the lights went out. I wanted to read more to figure out if it had anything to do with the funeral at all. I had questions that could only be answered by reading more.
On page 261, second paragraph "That was when the light came back on. He heard, almost felt, the distant hum of it pulling through all the wires and cables in the house, and when it blazed on, illuminating the chandelier above the parlor table and the yellow sconces in the kitchen, he stopped and covered his eyes with his hand, the weight of the flour bag resting against his leg. When he finally looked up, he noticed the face in the window." I love this! I love the visual it gave me for the light. I love that it made me question a bigger picture than just this book: how does electricity really work? I love that it made me think.
My favorite story is The Cousins. I liked because it felt like I was reading the Odd Couple. Also it's situational irony added more to the humor that makes it stand out in certain lines, such as "You can't go on vacation because you don't have a job." The dysfunctional family routine has always been a personal favorite form of comedy of mine, which is why I enjoyed the story.
My favorite story was also "Donkey Greedy, Donkey gets Punched," because I found the irony in the story to be quite creative. I found it ironic that Dr. Oss, a psychoanalyst, a doctor specialized in treating mental issues has a gambling addiction, a mental issue. I also enjoyed how Mr. Sharpe's name describes his personality. He's quite blunt and to the point, (!) like a sharp(e) needlepoint.
In my opinion the best story in the book the best american short stories 2010 was "into silence". I loved the style in which it was written. It really didn't have any speaking dialogue. It only had the dialogue that the narrator described from janey either reading lips of using sign language. On the other hand, I did not like the story "Donkey Greedy, Donkey gets punched. I found the story to be pretty pointless and just vulgar.
ok first of all my honest opinion is that i didn't really enjoy this book about sex and drugs. its not my cup of tea and im sure there are deeper meanings to these stories. some of which i got others i felt no need to have read them. I look at these and cannot believe these are the "best" american short stories. Well anyway my favorite one is the one titled Delicate Edible Birds. It is very intersting in my opinion and more exciting do to the fact that it takes place during the Holocost. As you may have learned, war stories really strike my interst and this one had me on my toes throughout most of it. The deep meaning i get from it is to respect life and take chances. But i donot appreciate the chick who takes her body for granted. The funny thing about this story though is that it doesnt even take place in America and half of the jouralist speak fluent french.
ReplyDeleteThough I did not really enjoy this book very much, my favorite story might actually be the first one about poker, "Donkey Greedy, Donkey Gets Punched." The story is about people's inability to appreciate the seemingly impossible and the unknown. The main character is ruined in the end by completely ridiculous odds, and of course, this reminded me of Foster's book (Foster talks about how the impossible or most unlikely outcome happens in stories). The main character is a psychiatrist who represents conceded people, who think they are always correct, intelligent and all-knowing, ignoring the vast amount of things we do not know. At the stories conclusion he is basically set up by one of his patients that plays poker and loses a lot of money. This patient represents what we don’t know in the world, and what we should learn to respect.
ReplyDelete-Bill
Like Nichole and Bill, I didn't like this book very much. By very much I mean at all.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I did enjoy the story "The Laugh". I love how it starts. Funerals, while very sad, are an interesting topic to read about to me. I love that the story starts out with them talking about the funeral, and the lights going out. That all of a sudden grabbed my attention. I wanted to know why the lights went out. I wanted to read more to figure out if it had anything to do with the funeral at all. I had questions that could only be answered by reading more.
On page 261, second paragraph "That was when the light came back on. He heard, almost felt, the distant hum of it pulling through all the wires and cables in the house, and when it blazed on, illuminating the chandelier above the parlor table and the yellow sconces in the kitchen, he stopped and covered his eyes with his hand, the weight of the flour bag resting against his leg. When he finally looked up, he noticed the face in the window."
I love this! I love the visual it gave me for the light. I love that it made me question a bigger picture than just this book: how does electricity really work? I love that it made me think.
My favorite story is The Cousins. I liked because it felt like I was reading the Odd Couple. Also it's situational irony added more to the humor that makes it stand out in certain lines, such as "You can't go on vacation because you don't have a job." The dysfunctional family routine has always been a personal favorite form of comedy of mine, which is why I enjoyed the story.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite story was also "Donkey Greedy, Donkey gets Punched," because I found the irony in the story to be quite creative. I found it ironic that Dr. Oss, a psychoanalyst, a doctor specialized in treating mental issues has a gambling addiction, a mental issue. I also enjoyed how Mr. Sharpe's name describes his personality. He's quite blunt and to the point, (!) like a sharp(e) needlepoint.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the best story in the book the best american short stories 2010 was "into silence". I loved the style in which it was written. It really didn't have any speaking dialogue. It only had the dialogue that the narrator described from janey either reading lips of using sign language. On the other hand, I did not like the story "Donkey Greedy, Donkey gets punched. I found the story to be pretty pointless and just vulgar.
ReplyDelete