Greatness in Short

6. O. Henry - "The Role of the Artist"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:49:48 +0000

Tim and Nicholas read a final grouping of three O.Henry stories - "Confessions of a Humorist," "The Duplicity of Hargraves," and "The Last Leaf." These stories all concern the role of the artist in relation to other people, in very different settings and ways.

We discuss the works, using these as a springboard to consider O. Henry's notion of the artist, which is arguably central to the personality of the author.

5. O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 2)"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:43:30 +0000

Nicholas reads one of O. Henry's longest (and most unusual) stories, which happened to be a favorite of the author himself. "Roads of Destiny" is a kind of romantic-modernist triptych with three alternative story-lines following (roughly) the same cast of characters in Renaissance or early modern France.

We then discuss, considering this work as a kind of "road-not-taken" (i.e., O. Henry as an author of "serious" fiction), and also as an interesting experimental work in its own right.

4. O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 1)"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:38:52 +0000

Tim and Nicholas read two longish O. Henry stories - "A Municipal Report" and "Proof of the Pudding" - which both concern struggling authors, and which we have therefore categorized as (self-consciously) "literary."

We then discuss these works.

3. O. Henry - "The Varieties of Domestic Experience"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:34:20 +0000

Nicholas and Tim again take turns reading four more of the very short stories of which O. Henry published so many - "The Cop and the Anthem," "The Furnished Room," " An Unfinished Story," and "The Pendulum." These are all centered on "domestic" themes.

We then discuss, using these New York works as a springboard to cover the last eight years of O.Henry's life, in his adopted city.

2. O. Henry - "Stories of the Wild West"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:30:27 +0000

Tim and Nicholas read two longer Western stories, "The Cabellero's Way" (about a bandit, the lawman who pursues him, and the woman in both their lives), and "Friends in San Rosario" (about a Western bank being "examined" by an uptight government regulator).

Nicholas and Tim then discuss, using these works as a springboard to give a thumbnail-sketch of the earlier part of the life of the author.

1. O. Henry - "The O. Henry Twist"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:24:03 +0000

Nicholas and Tim take turns reading four of O. Henry's signature very short stories with a "twist" ending: "The Social Triangle," "The Love Philtre of Ikey Schoenstein," "The Gift of the Magi," and "While the Auto Waits." All concern life and class relations (conceived broadly) in turn-of-the-century New York City.

Nicholas and Tim then discuss these works, after first grappling with O. Henry's overall place in literature.

4b. Chekhov - "Lights" (last part of story, and discussion)

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:22:26 +0000

Nicholas finishes reading the last part of the story "Lights", and then discusses the work with Tim

4a. Chekhov - "Lights" (first part)

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:16:16 +0000

Nicholas reads most of one of Chekhov's longer stories - "Lights" - about the conflicted recollections of a railway engineer, and his relations in a potential love affair, and possibly more generally about youthful consciousness. (Reading continues in a second file, since the story takes more than an hour to read.)

3. Chekhov - "Betrothed" (or, "The Bride")

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:12:15 +0000

Nicholas reads Chekhov's last finished story - "Betrothed" - about a woman who radically upends her life by changing her marriage plans at a late date.

Nicholas and Tim discuss.

2. Chekhov - "The Princess" / "The Darling"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 22:08:20 +0000

Nicholas reads two medium-length Chekhov stories, both centering on female protagonists, "The Princess" (about a self-deluded aristocrat who imagines herself a philanthropist) and "The Darling" (about a woman who lives exclusively through her important relationships).

Nicholas and Tim discuss the works.

1. Chekhov - "The Bet" / "Oh! The Public"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 21:51:11 +0000

Nicholas reads two of Chekhov's early short stories from the 1880's, "The Bet" (a darkly humorous tale) and "Oh! The Public" (a raucous satire).

Nicholas and Tim discuss these pieces, with an overview of Chekhov's place in the history of the short story more generally.

4. Dickens - "The Great WInglebury Duel"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 21:49:26 +0000

Tim reads a final selection from "Sketches by Boz" - a long, humorous account of a threatened duel.

Tim and Nicholas discuss.

3. Dickens - "Mr Minns and his Cousin" / "The Black Veil"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 21:46:43 +0000

Tim reads two more from the "Boz" collection, a humorous satire of a fastidious bachelor with fortune-hunting relatives, and a proto-horror story.

Tim and Nicholas discuss.

2. DIckens - "A Visit to Newgate"

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 21:42:45 +0000

Tim reads one of the best known (and longest) of the "Boz" collection, an account of a visit to London's notorious Newgate Prison.

Tim and Nicholas discuss.

1. Dickens - "The Streets" / "Gin Shops" / "Seven Dials" from _Sketches by Boz_

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 21:31:00 +0000

Tim reads three of DIckens by shorter "Scenes" - one of the categories of his early work _Sketches by Boz_ (serialized 1833-1836) - a collection of works that form a kind of precursor to the modern short story.

Tim and NIcholas then discuss these short works.