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What short stories do you remember well from high school?


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I can't remember the name, but I remember the story. Maybe someone can help me out? (I read the thread but don't remember seeing this story listed).

 

It was a story about a soldier that was being hung, the rope broke and he fell into the river and escaped. The story followed his escape and then at the end it was really just a series of events in his mind as he died at the end of the rope.

 

Ring a bell?

 

YES!

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Occurrence_at_Owl_Creek_Bridge?wasRedirected=true

 

Sixth Sense anyone.;)

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Ok, so a main reason for reading these is because they are so well done, and I just missed that as a child. I wasn't exposed to much bad writing and I was exposed to lots and lots of excellent or invisible writing, so I didn't appreciate it, at least in the short stories. I remember appreciating that in Cry the Beloved Country, and I remember appreciating the understated bits of LotR, but I guess I just didn't understand horror, understated or not. I'm sure I would appreciate it now, but I have enough real things to be horrified over to want to add any unreal ones, no matter how well written.

 

I was surprised at how much my children and I learned from Carpe Demon, an audio book that I got to listen to on a long car ride. I was trying to find a compromise between the tastes of 16 and 20 yo boys and a cowardly housewife LOL. Mother kills demon who comes to haunt her town. It was funny in spots, but was badly written. It emphasized how lovely and understated most of the things we read are, and how unpredictable. The boy took delight in how badly written it was. I had trouble getting past the blood and overstated creepiness. The book was a flop as far as books go, but it was a great success as a literary lesson, and because of it, I know just what you are talking about.

 

Thank you for explaining. : )

-Nan

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Romeo and Julie, and short stories were what we did in English in 8th grade. We were told that Romeo and Juliet were the same age as we were, we read the play, memorized bits, and watched the Zeph. version of the movie. I think that was the year that she pointed out the difference between infatuation and real love, laid down a set of criteria for good husband material, and was very firm about it not being a good idea to marry somebody just because you were in love with them. I doubt it was coincidence LOL, especially since I remember giving my boys the same lecture myself when we read Romeo and Juliet.

-Nan

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We read "The Most Dangerous Game" in 6th grade and "The Lottery" and a bunch of Poe and also "The Pearl" in 8th & 9th. Honestly, I loved this stuff then and still do for the most part. Maybe I just liked darker stuff even as a teen.

One I read on my own was Stephen King's "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" which was my all time favorite as a high schooler.

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I can't remember the name, but I remember the story. Maybe someone can help me out? (I read the thread but don't remember seeing this story listed).

 

It was a story about a soldier that was being hung, the rope broke and he fell into the river and escaped. The story followed his escape and then at the end it was really just a series of events in his mind as he died at the end of the rope.

 

Ring a bell?

 

Yes!!! We read that one too! That one was horrific enough to have been blotted from my memory ... until now. :001_huh: I remember being so thrilled that he had escaped death - he even described running through green grass and all I think - only to be shocked by the reality at the end. Ugh.

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I know many hate it - and I LOVE it. One of my favorite American books.

I find the language of the "slow" chapters which are in between the narrative wonderfully poetic.

Had a lot of discussions with people. Some see it as depressing,. I see it as an uplifting document about the resiliance of the human race... and it has an uplifting ending, despite all the misery.

 

Maybe it's because I was never *required* to read it?

 

Regarding the Grapes of Wrath... I was required to read it when I was 15 just prior to 10th grade (summer reading assignment for class) and I loved the book too. I don't know that I saw it as depressing or uplifting - the word that comes to mind for me is simply realism AND it made an impression on me to consider what others were going through in life. It was one of the very few summer reading books I enjoyed.

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I remembered another short story that I read in high school -- The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. It was depressing, but in a shake one's head kind of way. The importance of communication could be construed as a major message to take from it.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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