'SSTCML,' or 'short stories that changed my life,' is my attempt to get myself to read more short stories by recording the ones that impacted me the most. they're separated down below into completely random and arbitrary categories. if i feel like it ill come back later and write about them.

i won't separate them into categories like "does this have any relevance to today???" mostly because i think EVERYTHING has relevance to the present. things are constantly repeating and referencing themselves.

in terms of short stories, i believe short stories are one of the most complex and misunderstood pieces of literature; cutting down to an exact word count or page count is an art form in and of itself. more beautiful than flowery language is seeing it shapen into a succinct but telling piece of prose. im a big fan of postmodern literature and strangely enough not a fan of hemingway. i think a lot of postmodern short stories play around a lot with absurdity and i've never actually been a fan of realism. i also enjoy how a lot of them balance minimalist language with absurd, fantastical details. i'm always open to short story recommendations: please email me your story titles or pdfs at ry3h1k0v@gmail.com anyway, without further ado:

SHORT STORIES THAT CHANGED MY LIFE.

left a hole in my chest:

• the sticks, george saunders
• summary: a child describes their father's ritual of dressing up a series of poles for each holiday and occasion.
• a temporary matter, jhumpa lahiri
• summary: during a blackout caused by construction, a couple that has strayed apart begins having dinner together.
• walker brothers cowboy, alice munro
• summary: a daughter accompanies her father on a trip one day to go see an old friend.
• the swimmer, john cheever
• summary: a man living in a suburban neighborhood makes an adventure out of swimming in every pool in a river he names after his wife.

left an impression on me:

• st. lucy's home for girls raised by wolves, karen russell
• summary: the narrator looks back on her process of being accultured to human culture after being sent away by her wolf parents.
• girl, jamaica kincaid
• summary: an authoritative figure details girlhood and its demands to a younger girl.
• a good man is hard to find, flannery o'connor
• summary: a grandmother and her family go on a road trip to tennessee from florida.

AMAZED ME!!

• the aleph, jorge luis borges
• summary: a man goes and visits his lover's family after her death. her cousin has something interesting in his basement.
• sonny's blues, james baldwin
• summary: a math teacher reflects on his relationship with his brother, sonny, a jazz pianist.
• people like that are the only people here: canonical babblings in peed onk, lorrie moore
• summary: a mother's notes from her experience having a baby with cancer.