A Question For Readers and English Teachers

[iLander]

DD has an assignment to read a short story from a foreign land. Can't be British or American, but for some reason, Irish is okay (what? okay . . . ). She has to interview someone about this story, and videotape the interview. Which means I will probably be the one she drafts into reading it and interviewing about it.

Here's the problem. I'm a big reader, and could help her with 99% of any reading questions. Except this one. I hate fictional short stories. I don't have any in my personal library, I'm not even sure where to go get them. The librarians looked a bit vague when I asked and pointed to the anthology shelf. I don't want to wade into a pile of short stories to pick one out. I don't like them enough to wander amongst them.

I've got plenty of non-fiction from foreign countries, just gobs. But it turns out my fiction is almost exclusively English or American, and none of it is short.

So, anybody have any ideas? A "foreign" short story that a graduating high schooler and her mom could tolerate together?

 

[Dee*Jay]

iLander, google "short stories Isabel Allende" and there are a some options. Here are a couple of choices; take a look though and see if anything appeals to you:

Short Stories by Latin American Women: The Magic and the Real (by Zapata and Allende)

A Necklace of Words: Short Fiction by Mexican Women (Secret Weavers Seriess - by Hall and Allende)

 

[rubyshoes]

I'm Indian and I adore Jhumpa Lahiri. Her very first publication was a collection of short stories - 'The Interpreter Of Maladies'. I think you and your daughter would find it very interesting. The stories are mostly about Indians living in India or America. It's won many awards, including the Pulitzer. Give it a shot

(And if you like it, do read her novel 'The Namesake.' They made a movie based on it and it is also awesome.)

 

[rubyshoes]

Hmmm. I have a doubt though. What is their definition of 'foreign'? Because 'Interpreter Of Maladies' showcases Indians but the book itself was published in America... and the author is a naturalized American citizen.

Also try R.K. Narayan's 'Malgudi Days'. Just adorable. Most of us grew up reading these tales set long ago in rural South India and they have a special, special place in any Indian's heart. If you look for him in your library, you should find several short story collections - about 6. (This is apart from all his novels.)

 

[JulieN]

Maybe something by Lisa See... http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Flower-Secret-Fan-Novel/dp/0812980352/ref=pd_sim_b_2

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

She could read "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. I'm sorry if I missed where you said what grade she is in, but I used it in my short story unit for 9th graders, and some of them read it in 8th grade as well. Very clear character development (not the most sophisticated but it's great for teaching younger readers how characters change) and a morality story element to it (about being satisfied with what you have).

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" is a great magical realism story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She might find that one interesting too - lots of rich symbolism in that story.

ETA: Just saw that she's graduating - sorry! In that case, I would steer her towards the Garcia Marquez - it'll be more sophisticated and complex.

 

[princesss]

So, "Men in the Sun" by Ghassan Kanafani is a novella, but there are short stories in the book as well - he's a great Palestinian author. I read him in college and that story will stay with me for years, but I do remember him being very readable. Oh! And there's an Israeli author I like with some really cool short stories but it'll take me a while to figure out his name. I hear his work read on this American Life pretty often, it's great (definitely an Israeli flavour, though, so don't be fooled by the name of the program!).

ETA: Found him! Etgar Keret.

 

[AGBF]

I have been thinking of buying Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino. It has many, many short stories in it. You might want to read the reviews of it.

Deb/AGBF

 

[Jennifer W]

Did you find one yet?

If not, as a fellow hater of short stories, can I recommend an author whose short stories I absolutely love? Ha Jin. Against all expectation, I enjoyed his stories so much I bought another volume (the first one was a gift, and I read it to be polite to the person who gave it to me, because I love her). I LOVE this man's writing. He is Chinese, but now lives in America - his earlier stories are set in China, later ones I think are set in America, so probably not so useful. My favourite is The Bridegroom, a short collection of stories set in China.

I don't like short stories, I would never bother to read them, but I love Ha Jin's work. http://www.amazon.com/Ha-Jin/e/B001IGT0FQ

 

[iLander]

Thank you guys!

I will write these down, and take them to the library, and make the shushing ladies help me (actually, they are wonderful ladies). Whatever they don't have, they can get through an interlibrary loan, which is actually better, since those aren't due for a whole month.

DeeJay- Isabel Allende! (Face palm) Of course! I love her, I have a couple of her books!

Rubyshoes- I wonder what they consider "foreign" too. I am asking DD to get clarification on that.

JulieN- That looks good!

BEG- she said she read "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" and "The Necklace" as a freshman. Her freshman Advanced English teacher made them read something like 10,000 things. She whined incessantly that year, and I spent about $100 just on books for the one class, but she learned a lot. Come to think of it, I think she got some anthologies, I will wade into her room and check around. . .

Princesss- I will check that out, Pulitzer is usually a good indicator.

AGBF- I'll give that a look-see, if I find it, I'll let you know how it was.

Jennifer W- He looks interesting, I notice he has some novels as well, I might get one of those for myself.