"Sonny's Blues"

"Sonny's Blues," written by James Baldwin, is another story from an author I heard about in a high school English class. James Baldwin is a famous author who writes his stories drawing from his experiences growing up in Harlem in the early 1900's. "Sonny's Blues" is about two brothers, the younger is a heroin addict, who grew up poor in the jazz era of Harlem. It tells the story of their lives from the older brother's perspective, focusing on his struggle to understand the life Sonny has chosen. If I went into more detail about the plot, I believe I would be giving too much away. There is a subtle beauty in this story that comes from accepting the younger brother's life choices along with the narrator.
While it is longer than most stories, I hope you will take the time to read a few pages. I guarantee you will not be able to stop until the end. The story is sad, hopeful, powerful, enthralling, and beautiful. The descriptions of the music that Sonny plays is especially worth the time it takes to read the story. Anybody who has ever listened to a song and had tears brought to their eyes by it will take to heart every word Baldwin pens. I have read this story over ten times now, and I continue to be moved after every reading.
I recommend this story to everyone. Like the previous story I posted, I hope you will fall in love with "Sonny's Blues," and then proceed to share it with those close to you in life.





http://moscardienglish125-2.wikispaces.com/file/view/Sonny%27s+Blues-text.pdf/154872307/Sonny%27s%20Blues-text.pdf

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

by Harlan Ellison

Limp, the body of Gorrister hung from the pink palette; unsupported—hanging high above us in the computer chamber; and it did not shiver in the chill, oily breeze that blew eternally through the main cavern. The body hung head down, attached to the underside of the palette by the sole of its right foot. It had been drained of blood through a precise incision made from ear to ear under the lantern jaw. There was no blood on the reflective surface of the metal floor.

When Gorrister joined our group and looked up at himself, it was already too late for us to realize that, once again, AM had duped us, had had its fun; it had been a diversion on the part of the machine. Three of us had vomited, turning away from one another in a reflex as ancient as the nausea that had produced it.

Gorrister went white. It was almost as though he had seen a voodoo icon, and was afraid of the future. "Oh, God," he mumbled, and walked away. The three of us followed him after a time, and found him sitting with his back to one of the smaller chittering banks, his head in his hands. Ellen knelt down beside him and stroked his hair. He didn't move, but his voice came out of his covered face quite clearly.

"Why doesn't it just do us in and get it over with? Christ, I don't know how much longer I can go on like this."

It was our one hundred and ninth year in the computer.

             He was speaking for all of us. 

To read the full story go to: http://www.surfturk.com/endoftheworld/ihavenomouth.html

             In high school I took an awesome science fiction class. It really is amazing that in the small, much too normal town of Helena I had this opportunity. My former teacher had some titles to recommend and I ended up reading "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," by Harlan Ellison. Ellison is a published author and winner of multiple awards such as Hugos, Nebulas, and Edgars (according to Wikipedia). This story is a work of science-fiction, but I think it could also be categorized as horror. This piece is very unique and more explicit than many of the stories we read in class. The story is about five people locked inside a computer for eternity. The computer, called AM,  hates humanity because they created him to think, yet he is not able to do anything with his thinking. In anger, the machine destroyed the human race. The last five people on earth AM saved and put them inside of himself so he could torture them forever.

           I really enjoyed reading this story. It keeps the reader's attention throughout the whole piece, because you are constantly wondering what will happen to the characters. I thought it was such a creative idea to have people trapped in a machine that can do anything to them. As horrible as it may sound, I liked the vivid descriptions of how the five people were struggling to survive, mentally and physically. The action at the end of the story is perfect and I can't think of the story ending with a better line. 

         There were only a few things that I think could have made it better. I wanted to see a little more character development. I thought how they interacted with one another after being stuck together for 109 years was very interesting, and I wanted to hear more. Furthermore, if there was more character interaction I think there would be more agency. Up until the end, most of the events that happened were not because of the actions and choices of the characters. A little more activity on their part may have been interesting.

        For the most part I loved this story and as wrong as it may sound, I'd recommend it to someone who wants to read something a little disturbing. If your looking to read a really strange, creepy story this would be it. Let me know what you think!

Appearances by Kate Peterson

I began my search for my story by simply looking for short stories online. I came across a site that would allow me to read the stories on it for free. The one I chose was Appearance by Kate Peterson. I didn't have a specific reason to pick this story out of the sites impressive compilation, but the description caught my eye. It read as follows: "I watched as the man I saw so clearly dissapeared into the endless white."

The story itself was about a girl who was living in a small appartment, and kept seeing a 'homeless' man peering in at her from outside her kitchen window. She doesn't know who the man is until a young woman comes up to her appartment crying at her front door. It's then realized the man is this woman's dead fiance. The story is warm hearted and sweet. I would recomend it to anyone who is looking for a story to help them in the midst of a hard time or a struggle.

The link to this pice is: http://www.short-stories.co.uk/

The Yellow Wallpaper

After weeks and weeks of being told to read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman I finally gave in. Fortunately, my breakdown corresponded with this assignment. Gilman wrote the story in 1899 not  “to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy.” Over the past century, different groups have interpreted the story in various ways. Early feminists latched onto the numerous elements of domestic imprisonment and used the story to convincingly argue against it. My interpretations are similar, though I found the story to have other compelling aspects as well.

            The Yellow Wallpaper tells the story of a woman who has just given birth and is essentially shut away in a strange room of a mysterious house. The room is covered in hideous yellow wallpaper. Her husband, who is also her physician, makes her stay in the room endlessly. After two months, her disgust in the wallpaper turns to fascination as she begins to see a figure moving behind it at night. She sees a woman, who I interpret to be herself, trapped in the yellow wallpaper. Days before she is set to move out of the room and back into her house she begins a plot to tear down the paper. Seemingly insane, she tears all the paper down while her husband pounds on the locked door and pleads with her to open it. When he finally gets in, he faints at the sight of her creeping across the old wood floor, like she had seen the woman behind the yellow wallpaper do. She feels liberated by embracing her desires instead of repressing them and allowing him to run her life.

            To me, it reads like an Edgar Allen Poe story. It starts slow but creepy and gains momentum as it gets stranger. I would recommend this story to people who enjoy in older literature, Poe, and anyone interested in early feminist literature.

Here’s a link if you’re interested:

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/yellowwallpaper.pdf

Dracula's Guest

I've always been a big fan of Bram Stoker's story Dracula, I read it at a very young age and it has been one of my favorites. So I decided to do a little research on Bram Stoker and found that he had written several short stories I was intrigued and decided to give it one of them a shot since I felt that I could really get into Stoker's story. I liked this short story because it felt as if I was reading a deleted chapter from Stoker's book, Dracula. The story revolves a young Englishman who starts his journey in Munich before traveling to Transylvania. He then head to a village which is deemed 'unholy.' He then is stuck out out in unfortunate weather and just continues to be faced with scary, mysterious and unfortunate events. He also comes face to face with elements of the supernatural. I would recommend this short story for people who enjoy stories with supernatural elements, the original Dracula story and people who enjoy rather suspenseful stories.

Link to the story: http://www.online-literature.com/stoker/821/

The Petting Zoo

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/PettZoo903.shtml

Peter de Niverville-The Petting Zoo

ELSWORTH'S FAMOUS
SPIDER PETTING ZOO

I have to say that this story was definitly the creepiest one I have read all year.  Although I felt it was obvious from the beginning that the protagonist, Johnson, was going to be eaten by spiders, the author does a great job of keeping up the apprehension.  The story is creepy throughout the entire thing although we the reader can figure out how it’s going to end.  I also loved how easy it was to read.  There were not any parts I had to reread to understand the story and it was just a very easygoing flowing story.

I feel the main point of the story is a sort of revenge tale.  Johnson talks about how he used to drop bugs into spiders webs to see what would happen and described watching the spiders eat the bugs.  Then he dies by getting eaten by a spider.  However, he talks about how he always wondered what the bugs felt like when they were trapped in the web.  He doesn’t get stuck in a web, so we never really get to see or hear the reaction he has for what was happening to him. I would have liked to see the whole thing go full circle. 

I would recommend this story to anyone who wants to really read a creepy story that isn’t hard to understand and really keeps you entertained throughout the entire thing.  It definitely falls under the horror genre.   

"I Stand Here Ironing"

When I was in high school, I had an English class in which we read many short stories that I loved. I started with my memories of that class in the search to find a story I loved. We had read a few quotes from the author Tillie Olsen, and I remember how powerful they were. I searched for her stories, and fell in love with this one, "I Stand Here Ironing."

Told from the perspective of a mother, it explores her struggle in raising her first child. It is narrated in a series of memories as the mother stands at her ironing board. I would urge you to read it a few times over, as the memories switch back and forth, and there are lines that jolt you briefly back to present. The memories detail the life of her first child, which was seemingly one bad situation after another. The writing style is so beautiful, and every description is so unique. Although most of us are unable to relate to the perspective this story is told from, I think we can all relate to the idea behind the story. We all look back on our lives and examine how we got to where we are, whether that is a bad thing, or a good thing. Honestly, the story brought tears to my eyes.

I would recommend this story to the whole class, and I think you all should share it with people around you who are not in this class. Reading it may help you understand your own ways of examining the past, and potentially then letting go of whatever it may be that holds you back from the future.

Here is the link: http://alexanderbecquer.com/IStandHereIroning.aspx

"The Black Cat"

Hey folks,
I've always been a fan of the older authors like Dickinson, Emerson, Poe.  Therefore, in respect to this blog and the research need, I made a Timely visit to our local Barns and Noble books store.  Who doesn't like spending hours in that place huh? 
Anyhow, I picked up a complete works by Edger Allen Poe.  What a great addition to your library if you are looking to add.  If you are unfamiliar with Poe, he is dark, menacing, and melancholic.  If you are depressed and need something to read, this is not it. 
Poe's "The Black Cat" is written in the form of a personal narrative.  Telling it in first person, he describes a well off protagonist degrading not only himself but, through himself, his wife and pets also.  As he swims in his own drunkenness, the protagonist snaps and commits a serious deed. 
I'll not go into too much detain as I do not want to spoil a great story.  But of you are looking for a dark, mind-bending piece of work, then Poe is a wise decision.
Hope you enjoy,
Michael

Here is an online text of Poe's "The Black Cat"
 http://www.online-literature.com/poe/24/

To Build a Fire

I decided upon getting this assignment that I would do my own research for short stories instead of going by any of the authors we had discussed in class. I was curious to see if I could find any short stories online that appealed to me. To my surprise I found a short story on one of the websites I discovered by Jack London. London was, and still is one of my all time favorite authors with his book White Fang being in my list of top ten books. I love the way he writes and the way he tells stories. The way he describes scenery is just spectacular. So when I read this short story of his I was not disappointed at all.
The story is about a man traveling the Yukon Trail with a single companion, his dog in very harsh conditions with the intention of meeting some of his friends. He comes across some unfortunate circumstances that he must face and deal with.
I would recommend this story to anyone who loves a story where the character has to fight for their survival out in the circumstances nature has provided for them. Also if anyone else is a fan of Jack London, I would definitely recommend this short story.

http://www.americanliterature.com/London/SS/ToBuildaFire.html

There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

I really liked Ray Bradbury The Martian Chronicles while reading it in high school, although this wasn't my first   short story I picked, it is one that I enjoyed reading and one that I could find online. The story takes place in the future, 2026, in what was a city called Allendale, in California. The story starts by an alarm going off to wake the former residents of this futuristic house, then the house announcing the time in a rhythmical way, starts to do its daily chores. The narrator describes to us the house's actions, the horrors of nuclear war, and how nature goes on, like the house, without humans. This is a powerful and shocking short story which tries, sometimes too hard, to drive a point home. This story is a great reminder of how scared people were in the 1950's to nuclear war. I would recommend this story to someone who likes science fiction.




http://www.jerrywbrown.com/datafile/datafile/110/ThereWillComeSoftRains_Bradbury.pdf