By Sariya Camp
For many readers, summertime brings to mind childhood memories of curling up on windowsills or laying in the grass on a drowsy day savoring a good book, one word at a time. As we grow older, however, we are no longer so freely able to escape to the worlds in our books. Reading becomes another task to cross off our to-do lists as we grasp at time, stealing moments on lunch breaks and public transport to crack open a novel that – in the hustle of our lives – might take months to finish.
Fortunately, short fiction is not so demanding of the reader’s attention. The short story is a special medium that calls for a different skillset on the part of the writer: to pack a powerful narrative punch within a short time frame. Its characters live a full life in only a handful of pages.
With this in mind, here are eight literary gems for light reading – moving, imaginative, and provocative stories that even the busiest reader can fit into her schedule.
- “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison
The only short story Morrison ever published, “Recitatif” explores the relationship between memory and perception, how racial identity shapes the way we remember and understand trauma. The narrative follows two women, one black and one white, who meet at a shelter as children and cross paths at various points throughout their lives.
- “The Garden of Time” by J. G. Ballard
With its fairytale-esque atmosphere and poignant commentary on mortality, aristocracy, and the passage of time, it is no wonder that “The Garden of Time” has endured as a classic of short fiction, even going on to inspire the dress code of the most recent Met Gala. In Ballard’s tale, Count Axel and his wife utilize magical “time flowers” to extend their lives and evade their inevitable destruction in the form of a proletariat mob that lurks just beyond the gates of their paradisal villa.
- “Death by Landscape” by Margaret Atwood
In “Death by Landscape,” an aging woman relives a tragedy from her childhood while meditating on a landscape painting that hangs on her wall. Atwood’s narrative is a haunting illustration of how the absence of closure can deeply disturb the psyche and tickle the human imagination.
- “Amusements” by Sherman Alexie
When two indigenous children, Sadie and Victor, encounter a drunken man from the reservation at a local carnival, their decision to play a prank at his expense leads to some potent self-reflection. Originating from Alexie’s short story collection, The Long Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, “Amusements” artfully tackles the subjects of shame and social sacrifice.
- “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros
“Woman Hollering Creek” is a re-envisioning of the La Llorona legend with a feminist bend. Here, Cisneros centers on a young Mexican woman who seeks freedom from her abusive marriage — and the larger confines of the patriarchal world she lives in.
- “Kino” by Haruki Murakami
From Murakami’s 2014 anthology, Men Without Women comes “Kino,” a magical realist tale in which Kino, a bar owner, forms a spiritual connection with a strange man who frequents the bar and who encourages him to confront the regrets of his past.
- “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The classic short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an allegorical tale about a decrepit angel who becomes the spectacle of the town after being found in a chicken coop. In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Marquez comments on the human response to that which is different or beyond comprehension.
- “NippleJesus” by Nick Hornby
NippleJesus follows Dave, a former club bouncer, who takes a job as a museum guard tasked with guarding a particularly controversial piece of art. Hornby’s narrative is equal parts funny and tragic, a thought-provoking examination of life and art that begs the reader to consider who and what defines beauty and meaning in a demoralized world.
The Expressionist Literary Magazine 