Influential Short Stories, for five hundred

[rolanni]

All righty, then! A challenge! Which shorter works still influence you/are you trying to answer/come to peace with after having read them?

This is my list, unranked:

"All Summer in a Day," Ray Bradbury

"Those Who Walk Away from Omelas," Ursula Le Guin

"The Lady or the Tiger," Frank Stockton

"Day Million," Frederik Pohl

"The Game of Rat and Dragon," Cordwainer Smith

"To Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street," Dr. Seuss

"Automatic Tiger," Kit Reed

"Casey Agonistes," Richard McKenna


...what's yours?

Comments

[grassrose.livejournal.com]

All Summer in a Day is on my list as well, but The Cold Equations ( http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/105/ ) is the one that most messes with my mind.

Zenna Henderson's "People" stories were a significant part of my childhood. I like to think that they still influence me in a positive way, but they don't provoke an emotional reaction when I think of them, the way that "Equations" does.

I don't have a long list, because I'm not a huge reader of short stories.

ETA: Oh, and O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." :o)

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

Ursula K LeGuin "The Manuscript of the Acacia Seeds"

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

Grassrose, how did you edit your comment? Is that something you can do with a paid account? I was tying to figure it out because LeGuin's story is The *Author* of the Acacia Seeds, not manuscript. I believe it's in the Compass Rose collection.

[magda-vogelsang.livejournal.com]

That story would be on my list as well.

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

Yay, Magda, I've never talked with anyone else that had even heard of it!

Abigail

[grassrose.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I had an edit link. I think it only lasts for a few minutes.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's paid account only (at least, it's not on the basic account, I don't know about the plus one). I can't do it...