My 2019 Reads, The Short Stories, Part 1

You can read the main post on my 2019 reads here. 

Finally it’s time for my annual crown the best short story I read for the year.  This year I’m creating this separate post to review the various short stories I read.  In this way, I can expand on the stories.  Seventeen stories were read.  Here is the list of the stories, organized by a rating: excellent, good, ordinary, or duds.

Exceptional:

“The Background,” a short story by Saki (H. H. Munro).

“Mother,” a short story by Sherwood Anderson.

“Wilde in Omaha,” a short story by Ron Hansen.

“A Child's Christmas in Wales,” a short story and prose poem by Dylan Thomas.

Good:

“A Sin Confessed,” a short story by Giovanni Guareschi, translated by Adam Elgar.

"Why Bugsy Siegel Was a Friend of Mine," a short story by James Lee Burke.

"Thunder and Roses" a short story by Theodore Sturgeon.

“The Worst You Ever Feel,” a short story by Rebecca Makkai.

“The Light of the World,” a short story by Ernest Hemingway.

“Blood, Sea,” a short story by Italo Calvino and translated by William Weaver.

“Where Love is, There God is Also,” a short story by Leo Tolstoy.

Ordinary:

“Poldi,” a short story by Carson McCullers.

“Gibberish,” a short story by Thomas Berger.

"A House on the Plains" a short story by E.L. Doctorow.

“The Sin of Jesus,” a short story Isaac Babel.

Duds:

“In the Snow,” a short story by Stefan Zweig, translated by Anathea Bell.

“Social Error,” a short story Damon Runyan.

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Let’s start from the bottom and work up.  Only two were duds: “In the Snow” by Stefan Zweig and “Social Error” by Damon Runyon.  Stefan Zweig was an Austrian, Jewish writer who was very popular across the world in the 1920s and 30s. “In the Snow” is a short story about a Jewish community that is undergoing a persecution.  The community decides it is best to leave the current locale for a better place but they have to cross a snowy country and as they travel they all starve and freeze to death.  It started out interesting, but it just fell flat with despair.  “Social Error” was a kooky cartoonish story, intentionally two-dimensional for comedic effect, set in a Broadway and gangster drama environment.  It wasn’t too funny.  The story may have been intended as a radio drama in 1949.  You can hear it dramatized on YouTube, here. 

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Four of the stories were ordinary: “Poldi” by Carson McCullers is a story of a girl just prior to adolescence who is taking violin lessons with another boy (Poldi) who is younger, both under the tutelage of an immigrant, Jewish master.  “Gibberish” by Thomas Berger is a story about a man who suddenly can’t comprehend what people are saying.  He can hear them, but his brain only registers gibberish.  "A House on the Plains" by E.L. Doctorow is story from the perspective of a son whose mother lives by her wits and sex appeal and decides to murder the men who are attracted to her for their money.  The telling of the story is engaging but the story line and characters are rather trite, and the whole story is of questionable morality.  You can read a discussion of this story in the New Yorker magazine here.  Finally “The Sin of Jesus” by Isaac Babel is a tale of a sinful woman who makes a deal with Jesus to marry a decent man but corrupts the man and blames the sin on Jesus.  You can read the story here but it’s rather blasphemous and probably not worth it.

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Seven stories I considered good.  Let’s expand on each story.

"Why Bugsy Siegel Was a Friend of Mine" by James Lee Burke as a really interesting story. James Lee Burke is a popular writer of crime novels, so I was surprised to find a collection of short stories by him.  This story caught my eye because Bugsy Siegal was a true life gangster.  An adolescent catches the eye of Bugsy Siegal because of his skill doing yoyo tricks.  Bugsy wants the kid to teach him some of the top tricks and the kid wants Bugsy to intimidate a neighborhood bully.  The adolescent gets disappointed and Bugsy never could do the tricks.  Interesting story but the ending fell a little flat or could have been a top story.  It was a lot of fun though.

"Thunder and Roses" by Theodore Sturgeon is an apocalyptic story of people who will die within a year because of radiation exposure from a nuclear blast, and one woman who tries to leave a message of peace and love in a song.  This is a story of love and sacrifice.  You can read a summary of the story here.  Theodore Sturgeon is one of the great science fiction writers of all time.    

 “The Worst You Ever Feel” by Rebecca Makkai tells the story of a young (twelve-ish?) son of a musical family who is learning to play the violin.  The parents, musicians themselves, give a dinner party where their old violin teacher from Rumania is to play for the guests.  The story is weaved with the history of Romania under the Nazis and Communists and the sufferings of that violinist who had been jailed for a quarter century.  Well written but missing the mark of transcendence.  Makkaiis a young up and coming novelist and short story writer.

“The Light of the World” by Ernest Hemingway is one of Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories.   Nick and Tom pass through an unfriendly town and at the train station get into a conversation with some prostitutes, two of which argue over which one of them had truly been in love with a murdered boxer.  Well written in typical Hemingway fashion but the reference to Christ (the light of the world) is rather baffling.  The symbolism of light seems undefinable.  But it’s still a good story.  You can read an analysis of the story here.   

“Blood, Sea” by Italo Calvino is one of Calvino’s Qfwfq (no that’s not a typo) stories where in a surreal blend of modern day people and primordial sea beings, describe the love attraction between Qfwfq and Zylphia and the animosity with Signore Cècere, ultimately leading to an automobile accident.  A well written story but ultimately leaving the reader that all of life is based on impulse and instinct.  Italo Calvino is one of the great Italian modernist novelist and short story writers.  You can read this story online here. 

“A Sin Confessed” by Giovanni Guareschi is one Guareschi’s Don Camillo stories.  The brash priest Don Camillo gets into a fight with the Communist mayor, Peppone, and Jesus asks Don Comillo to forgive Peppone.  I wrote a post on this story, here.  You can watch a movie version of an amalgamation of the Don Camillo/Peppone stories on YouTube here.  

 “Where Love is, There God is Also” by Leo Tolstoy is a simple but charming story in the mode of a folk tale about a shoemaker who pulls himself out of despair by finding Christ, has a discernment he will meet Christ, and finally an epiphany that he has met Christ.  The shoemaker falls into despair from the death of his family, finds faith and joy in reading about Christ, and then puts that faith into action by treating the needs of an old man, a woman with a child, and an old woman and street urchin with hospitality and love.  I provided an analysis of this story here.  You can read the story online here.  

We’re up to the exceptional stories.  But I’m going to leave you in suspense.  They will get their own post, which should follow shortly.  So stay tuned.