Short stories by contemporary authors. Inna Yakovlevna Klenitskaya. Stories by Lyudmila Ulitskaya

Of all the small Astafiev stories, I settled on this one, because it touches on a topic close to teenagers - the attitude of the generation of “grandfathers” towards them. In the view of some guys, grandfather is an eternal grumbler, who is annoyed by everything in the world in young people: music, hairstyles, “bells and whistles” on clothes, slang words, independent behavior ... But Astafyev has such bright image an old man, a former soldier. I start the conversation with the question: “What in the personality of Sergei Mitrofanovich causes respect?” The question touches the guys to the quick, they vying to speak out: “He treats young people well!”, “He doesn’t grumble at the guys that they make noise there, drink wine and all that!”, “He doesn’t reproach, like some, that he he fought for them, but they are ungrateful, they don’t appreciate anything!”, “He, on the contrary, thinks that the front-line soldier who spoke on the radio and said that the youth did not know dashing and therefore does not appreciate anything is wrong. And Sergei Mitrofanovich argues with him: do you want the young to starve and feed the lice in the trenches! As if they are not ours, but some stepchildren”, “And he is not greedy either - he treats the guys with wine”. Last year, one of the girls said: “He doesn’t have any children of his own, and these guys are like sons to him.” The guys are also talking about the ability of an old man to console, to say good word, and about his modesty - with his talent he did not break into the singers, he believed that he was unworthy. I draw the attention of the guys to the kindness of Sergei Mitrofanovich, his tolerance, the ability to enter into the situation of another person, to understand him. So, resenting bureaucratic orders, he understands the doctor who is forced to follow them. To my surprise, my students do not notice the ability of the hero of the story to truly love, his touching relationship with his wife. (Apparently, the teenagers were so fascinated by the burning topic for them - the relationship of the old front-line soldier to the youth, that everything else receded into the background.) However, when I remind this, the guys are actively working: they find and read the relevant fragments, retell the most memorable.

Best known for his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald re-enters the world of the rich and glamorous in this short story. Criticism of Fitzgerald's wealth continues to splinter, this time exploring how far one family is willing to go to hide the secret of their wealth.

For more reading suggestions, check out "14 Brilliant Pieces of Literature You Can Read While He's Taking Lunch." Fishing on the Zhuli river. It's about the relationship of brothers. At this point, White betrayed the secret of all great fishing stories: These stories are not about fishing.

If we still have a little time left, we dedicate the next lesson to Astafiev. Homework: minimum (mandatory for everyone) and maximum (for those who wish). At a minimum, expressively read or retell the episode from "Is it a Clear Day" that made the greatest impression, and explain your choice. The maximum is to find materials about the life of the writer (this may be some kind of preface to the works, and textbooks, and information from the Internet) and retell the most interesting and significant. From the story, the guys choose a variety of episodes. Girls often talk about how selflessly nursed a shell-shocked husband by his wife; many liked the episode where Sergei Mitrofanovich sings a lyrical song about the impression that this made on the young. Someone always remembers the bureaucratic procedures, when even legless disabled people were forced to come for a second examination (“if the leg has grown,” the old front-line soldier ironically), about the difficulties that our hero must overcome because of this.

This story may have fondness for bamboo canes, yellow stone flies and grasshopper boots for bait, but fishing is just a means to base point. "On the River of Rain" by Tim O'Brien, from The Things They Wore. In one of the most celebrated novels of the last 50 years, this fishing story stands out from the pages of a book set almost entirely during the Vietnam War.

The story is told by a 21-year-old college graduate who was called to fight in Vietnam. The decision of whether to go to war or flee to Canada gnaws at the narrator throughout the story. "Things They Wore" by Tim O'Brien. The climax of the story occurs when Elroy takes the narrator, who is fishing on the Rainy River - the border that separates Minnesota from Canada - and forces him to decide.

If there is at least one person who has completed the “maximum”, we listen to him. If there is none, I myself briefly talk about the life of the writer (sometimes, however, I do this before working on the story). Be sure to read or retell an episode from Astafiev's autobiographical story "The Merry Soldier", where the narrator (actually the author himself), a front-line soldier who went through the entire war, shares boiled potatoes with a starving German prisoner.

He was a witness, like God, or like gods who watch in absolute silence as we live, how we make our choices or fail to make them. River Why by David James Duncan. This is a story about a fisherman named Gus who grows up in a crazy family. His father is an elite fisherman, while his mother is a proponent of loose fishing, using a double-barreled shotgun to frighten anyone who crosses it.

Gus eventually moves to the Oregon Coast to pursue all the things that fish until he meets Eddie, a beautiful girl who loves to ride from the treetops. The book is funny, witty and philosophical. More than anything, it's just a good read.

Stories by Lyudmila Ulitskaya

Ludmila Ulitskaya

Before working on them, I only notice that, as in the works of Astafiev, they are about the most ordinary people. And I also draw the attention of the guys to the fact that the heroes of Ulitskaya are the people of the most of different nationalities inhabiting Russia. “Our country is multinational, and this is reflected in the work of the writer. So do not be surprised when you meet in her stories, in addition to the names of Russians, Armenian, Jewish, Tatar and many others.

Trust me, there's nothing to brag about. "Headwaters" by John Gierach, from Trout Boom. Coming up with a favorite essay from the Girach collection, one of the greatest writers outdoors of our time, difficult. Simple prose shows the best wit of this side of Mark Twain, but always manages to bring universal themes to the story, usually about fly fishing.

A story about a lonely fisherman who makes a trip along the river to the mountains. It has a quiet, ironic humor mixed with masterful fly fishing descriptions. The power of the story comes from the emotional balance between the joy of fishing in the wilderness and the sadness of being alone.

We start with a story "Poor relatives". It is small in size, and I read it right in the classroom to dwell on important details along the way. After reading the conversation between Anna Markovna and Asya about the upcoming marriage of Anna Markovna's daughter, about the student fiancé, I draw the guys' attention to the vitality and typicality of this conversation. My words: “Such a conversation often occurs in many families” teenagers, especially girls, are greeted with joyful nods and smiles - they appreciated the realism of the situation! The girls are very amused by the words of Anna Markovna: “They still pull and pull!” More than once, I suppose, they heard ... After reading the story, I immediately ask about the main thing: “What is the story about?” As usual, at first, schoolchildren, although they are eleventh graders, strive to replace the conversation about the meaning with a retelling of the content: “About how a poor relative came ...” “No,” I interrupt, “let's talk about the meaning of the story.” After thinking, the guys say: “About kindness.” And in a special class, one boy gave a completely philosophical answer: “The fact that everything is relative: in comparison with someone, a person is poor, and in comparison with another, he is rich.” Yes, I agree, this idea is emphasized even by the title of the story. Not “poor relative”, but “poor relatives”. Indeed, in comparison with Asya's half-paralyzed, beggarly living friend, she herself is a rich woman. But this does not exhaust the meaning of the story. I ask which of the characters causes the greatest sympathy. The answer is unequivocal: Asya. With your kindness. She, herself in need, gives all the money and things that she got from her second cousin to an even poorer friend. Even the camel gloves, though she wanted so badly to keep them...

Quote: You used to go alone because you were sad or happy, or neither, neither - for some reason, like some people drink. The lake is now black and for a long time you cannot remember why you are here this time. Ernest Hemingway's Big Two-Hearted River, from In Our Time.

One of the most influential works in American literature follows Nick Adams as he makes a trek from the burnt-out country of Northern Michigan to the river's edge, where he makes camp and fish for trout. The story is seemingly simple—it's about hiking, camping, and fishing—and so well written that the reader feels like they're there, as "Nick looked into the clear brown water stained from the pebble bottom and watched the trout floats in the current with swaying fins."

My next question is: “Which one do you think Anna Markovna is depicted in?” The first thing that teenagers notice is: “She treats Asa down.” Please find details to support this. The guys easily cope with this, noting that the wealthy sister asks her relative questions “politely and disinterestedly”, and that she meets her “friendly and majestic”, and how she catches herself, sharing her family affairs Who is she telling this to? One of the girls, however, remarked: “But you can understand Anna Markovna too: it’s boring to talk with an imbecile!” “What, Anna Markovna is a bad person?” - I ask. “No,” they answer, “she treats her housekeepers well, takes care of them, arranges their lives. Even after marriage, they come to her with their husbands and children.” “She helps Asya every month, gives money.” I draw the attention of the guys that she sees off her second cousin “with undulating cordiality”. And one more thing - Anna Markovna loves children, they are all “beautiful” with her. “You see,” I summarize, “it is impossible to judge a person unambiguously. Ulitskaya portrays ordinary people, with all their weaknesses and shortcomings. But she loves them all. She even has one of the collections of short stories called “The Poor, the Evil, the Beloved…””.

"The Complete Tales of Ernest Hemingway". The brilliance of the story comes from the iceberg effect. The reader knows what's bothering Nick is somewhere below the surface of the story, but he never figured out what the problem is. Thus history becomes timeless. A hopeless problem can be anyone or anyone. Fishing in the forest is a way to deal with this problem.

Quote: He felt a reaction against the deep swamp with water deepening under his armpits to hook big trout in places that couldn't be landed. In the swamp, the banks were bare, the great cedars had come together overhead, the sun had not broken through except for spots; in fast deep water, half the world, fishing would be tragic.

“But,” I notice to the guys, “we didn’t say about one very important aspect story. He touches Asya.” It is interesting that, saying “she is feeble-minded”, the guys are embarrassed. Yes, I add, she does not understand reality (for example, she seriously offers the son of a wealthy sister who has a beautiful apartment to live with her future wife in a small room), dresses funny, does not see the absurdity of her manners and behavior (every time she assures that came by chance, on the way; giggles absurdly). But it is she who is outlined unambiguously, with undisguised authorial sympathy. I ask the guys to find a phrase (if not everyone has texts, remember) where the writer expresses this sympathy directly. Someone will definitely guess - at the very end, the last phrase of the story: "And Asya Shafran, our half-witted relative, shone." "Our crazy relative." The writer, as it were, accepts Asya into her family, feels her as her own, loved one. So, now let's think about what the writer tells us with this little story. “That kindness is the main thing,” the guys say. "That the weak-minded is the same person." "That any man can do good." “Yes,” I conclude, “it turns out that way. Even if a person is not very smart, but if he brings good to life, then he is worthy of respect and sympathy. Now I invite the guys to think about which of our classics the story resembles in terms of attention to the most ordinary people and the most common everyday situations. Of course, Chekhov. No wonder he is Ulitskaya's favorite writer (she has a play "Russian Jam" - a frank imitation of " cherry orchard”, the same problem and similar characters in a modern way). However, Ulitskaya's stories, unlike Chekhov's, are optimistic.

"The River Runs Through It" by Norman McLean, from "The River Runs Through It and Other Stories". The most amazing thing about this lyrical and heartbreaking tale of family, drug addiction and a flycatcher in Montana is that it was initially rejected by a host of major book publishers.

It's hard to know if these publishers were drunk at the time or too dumb to understand a concept like boat fishing, but the way they dropped the sublime literary literature in Western America, remains one of history's funniest footnotes.

While most of them are familiar with the story because of Robert Redford's excellent film, the semi-autobiographical story of Norman McLean and his brother Paul is much better in the original novella. "The River Runs Through It and Other Stories". The richness of the characters is hidden in the book, as well as the wicked sense of humor. There is more stories about fishing. And the writing is so beautiful that trying to choose a favorite quote is a futile exercise.

Assignment for - read the story "Alien Children". We dedicate the next lesson to him. I begin by asking how this story is similar to The Poor Relatives. The question does not bother anyone: “Everything is also very vital here”, “about the most ordinary people”, “people also have flaws, but still we love them”, “ happy end”, “this story is also about kindness.” “Yes,” I clarify, “about how kindness, compassion turned out to be stronger than distrust and resentment.” I draw the attention of the guys to how strongly and figuratively the moment is described when the crying of the girls turned Sergo's soul upside down, melting anger and resentment: "... the cast-iron heavens that he carried on his petrified shoulders trembled." And further: “These alien children were crying. Their weeping touched the fresh fractures in his heart and responded to them.”

What's more, the book's details help the reader understand at the gut level the frustration that Norman feels he can't help his troubled brother. Quote: Each of us today in our lives today will look to a loved one who needs it and ask the same question: we are ready to help, Lord, but what if anything is needed? For it is true that we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we do not know what part of ourselves to give, or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not sought.

And that's why we live and need to know who eludes us, but we can still love them - we can love completely without fully understanding. Are they the "Best Short Stories of All Time"? If you want each story to come with an explanation or introduction, or wonder about the story's publishing history or provided translation, you won't find that in this particular collection.

Yes, Ulitskaya's characters are not ideal, but, warmed by the author's love, they evoke in us a kind, bright feeling. Sergo, who decided that the children are not his, but his wife is a “bi-lyad”, but selflessly, painfully sincerely fell in love with these, as he thought, other people's girls. Emma Ashotovna, who has always been unfair to her son-in-law. But her discontent, stubbornness go away when she sees Sergo's suffering for Gayane. I ask the children to find places where the writer shows how a common misfortune brought mother-in-law and son-in-law closer. “For the first time in his life, Sergo took his mother-in-law by the arm and led her.” “And on way back from the hospital, when he was completely weak from excitement and tears, an elderly woman took her son-in-law by the arm and led ... "And further:" Oh, fool, fool, - she thought sympathetically and fleetingly about Sergo. - Yes, and I myself am a fool ... ”And for the first time in her life, Emma Ashotovna turned to her son-in-law with a question ... This episode was fanned with warmth and the author's sympathy. We also talk about Bekerich, outwardly disgusting, dirty, degraded, despised by everyone, about how our attitude towards her changes when we learn about what she experienced.

It includes a very brief generic biography for each author at the end of the book. Most importantly, however, the stories themselves have been very well chosen and are a short collection of some very high quality works of a very famous authors. Dead, James Joyce. Last story from Joyce's The Dubliners, one of his most famous stories and a great selection worth reading. Three Questions, Leo Tolstoy - From the collection of Tolstoy What "People Live and Other Stories", describes the king and his attempts to find answers to what he considers the three most important issues in life. "Through the Looking Glass", "Anton Chekhov to Build a Fire", Jack London.

This lesson is followed by a lesson on Plays by Vampilov(if time permits, then two), then - the final one. Talk about what unites the best works literature of the second half of the 20th century and modern. This is attention to the most ordinary people, to everyday reality, faith in man, optimism. The guys share their impressions about the works they read (who liked which one more, made the greatest impression and why), read especially favorite places. If there is some time left, I will write an essay. One of the topics is "The Good Hero in the Literature of the Second Half of the 20th Century and Modern". Sometimes this topic raises the question: “What is positive hero?” I answer simply: “Don’t be philosophizing, you guys. It's simple good man, brightly and strongly outlined”. Sometimes someone asks, "what is a good person." “Well, from your point of view,” I say. I explain that the topic does not have to be understood as generalizing, you can write about just one person. They write about the heroes of Dudintsev, and about Ivan Denisovich, and about Matryona, and about Sergei Mitrofanovich of Astafiev, and about Asa and Sergo from the stories of Ulitskaya, and about Shamanov and Valentina from Last Summer in Chulimsk.

Perhaps the most famous story Jack London is the story of a man and his dog traveling the Yukon Trail on a very cold day. The Nightingale and the Rose, Oscar Wilde. Diamond necklace, Guy de Maupassant. Alibi Ike, Ring Lardner - very famous history Lardner about a baseball player who always made excuses. Brown and Olivia de Havilland. Birth-Mark, Nathaniel Hawthorne. This is classic story Hawthorne, she also appears in the collection The Most Dangerous Game of Richard Connell's The Mosquitoes of the Old Mance. - This story is longer than some of the others in this collection, including hunting for a big hunt in a remote mysterious island. "Holy Letter", Edgar Allan Poe's famous detective story - Poe, his third after "Murder in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie Roget".

These works are of genuine interest to teenagers. It happens that even after graduation, having already become students, they ask for a list of other works by these writers.

Inna Yakovlevna Klenitskaya,

Literature teacher at Moscow School No. 179

How to download a free essay? . And a link to this essay; Three stories contemporary writers already in your bookmarks.

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extracurricular reading

Especially for you, we have selected 8 new collections of short stories from bright modern prose writers. Sad and funny, serious and ironic, but all equally beautiful, they will not leave you indifferent.

Painful case, James Joyce. Also taken from Joyce's book "Dublins", this is another very a good choice, which is highly regarded by Joyce fans. As mentioned earlier, there is a section at the end of the book that gives short biographies authors - a few paragraphs on each of them, no more, the shortest of essays about when and where they were born, and very short descriptions of their lives and main works.

Recognize that all these stories are available in various places at no cost with little effort. Purchasing them in this collection saves that effort and is a convenience, and my conclusion is that this is a very high quality selection of stories, most of which are among the best among the chosen authors.

Alexander Snegirev

The winner of last year's Russian Booker Alexander Snegirev knows how to notice in surrounding life something important that escapes the eye of the layman. That is why we ourselves, our friends or colleagues, or just random neighbors at the bar counter are so well recognizable in the heroes of his stories. So different and so similar citizens. As the hero of the story that gave the name to the entire collection. He dreamed of happiness. And everything promised him: and buckets of daffodils on the bar, and the pungent smell of charm, arrogance, vulnerability, spilled in the club, and a couple of Long Islands, and a feeling of confidence that he loves and is loved by the one who is now far away . He dreamed... But only April was not in his heart. As there was no feeling that he was still young. As there was no faith that love is real. To drown out the acute pain of the unfulfilled and lost, he decided that he just wanted to have a good time this evening...

For a penny less than a dollar, this is a reasonable value. The stories themselves are five stars. Do you want to write but just need a great idea? Or maybe you have too many ideas and can't choose the best one? Below are hundreds short stories for all your favorite genres. You can use them to write invitations, publish articles in literary magazines, or just for fun!

Our Top 100 Short Stories

Start writing with one of these short stories today. But before we get into 100 story ideas, let's take a look. There are many places, but check out our list of 46 literary magazines we've bought. Write the first draft of your story for a short time, and if so, try writing it in one sitting. People hate being interrupted when they're telling a story, and the same is true when you're writing one. Read the draft. Read your story through once, without changing anything, in order to understand in what work it should go forward. Write a premise. After reading your first draft, dive into the main idea of your story using a scripting trick called a logline. Here's the formula for the big logarithm: your character is a descriptor, followed by an event, followed by a conflict or villain. Here's an example of a premise from William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily: A lonely, Southern woman is found dead and decomposing in her home after being abandoned by her lover. Write, edit, write and edit. Use your second draft to fill in the plot holes and cut out the extraneous scenes and characters you found when you read the first draft in step # Then polish your final draft in the next round of editing. Real writers don't keep their notes to themselves. Submit your story to a literary magazine, enter it, or share it with a small group of friends. And if he is rejected, don't feel bad.

If you have never read short story, it will be difficult for you to write it.
Where do you find great stories?
Record your story in one session.

Here are our top 100 short stories to get you started.

Dilyara Tasbulatova

Strictly speaking, "Who has more in Russia?" - not a collection of stories, but a collection of tales. But what! According to the author, a well-known film critic and brilliant storyteller Dilyara Tasbulatova, it is her third book that seems to her stronger than the first two. At the same time, it has everything for which the writers managed to fall in love with the author - comical life stories, topicality, witty dialogues that make you laugh out loud. As critic Denis Dragunsky noted: “The whole crazy batch that is now gurgling and bubbling in the heads of 99% of Russians is shown in this book with deadly accuracy, but without the slightest admixture of cold analysis, intellectual arrogance, and even more condemnation. The heroes of the book are simple people, not particularly educated, not very smart - but certainly alive and real. Not shy in thoughts and expressions. The author lives among them and argues with them in their language.

Igor Saveliev

The new collection of Igor Savelyev includes two stories, united by the motives of the road and hitchhiking. The author's road is a movement that has no end and edge, it is a meeting place, a crossroads different destinies. At one point of the endless road - the trucker Vova, who set off on his first flight. A simple driver, he knows little about the complexities of the track. At another point - an experienced hitchhiker Vadim. For him, hitchhiking is loyalty to the spirit of freedom, readiness for trials, interest in the world. Both guys are adventurous. But when the road that united them confronts a crossroads, when danger requires a choice, each of them behaves unexpectedly.

Roman Senchin

Laureate " big book"and a frequenter of short and long lists prestigious literary prizes Roman Senchin in the collection of short stories "Straight" nostalgic for youth, for himself. Longing for lost ideals, the inability to resist circumstances are the leitmotifs of this collection that unites stories different people with a common Soviet past. Main question of each story - “Why did it happen?”: why are cheap knick-knacks from the past so expensive, why did an honest path lead to a trap, why did love deceive, why, in order to stay afloat, you need to betray yourself every day?

Alexander Melikhov

The new book by Alexander Melikhov "The Resurrection of Lilith", which includes new works and previously written ones, is a deep reflection of the writer about a woman, her archetypes, about divine nature love and human nature vulgarity. "So I want love!" - constantly repeats the heroine of one of the stories of A. Melikhov - Lorelei of Moscow bottling. "So I want love!" - other characters echo her. It doesn't matter if they are Lucretia or Medea. After all, both terrible crimes and simpler sins are committed by them solely because of love - for its sake or for its lack. “And it’s so pitiful for everyone,” Dina Rubina writes about the heroes of the stories, “that the heart is simply torn with pity!”

Irina Muravieva

"Infant Experiences of a Woman" - a new composition by a recognized master modern prose Irina Muravieva. This small, but jewelry thing can be safely put on a par with V. Nabokov's "Other Shores", because it contains the fragrant shores of childhood, starting from which, the writer swims into Great Literature. The world of first feelings: love, jealousy, fear, pity, shame - is given in a full-sounding, weighty, impressionistically accurate way. And it turns out that a moment of ultimate happiness can be taken in hand, like a baby bird with a tender, furiously pounding heart. “Infant Experiences of a Woman” is a book about the development of femininity, poetry, and destiny.