Great American Short Stories.

by H. Bodden (Editor), Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne

Featuring 19 of the finest works in the American short-story tradition, this compilation includes: "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, "Bartleby" by Herman Melville, "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway, plus stories by Hawthorne, Twain, Cather, and others.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics

65 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[SabiAnnika]

This book contains 6 short stories by famous american authors. I did enjoy some, some others were not really my style.

Hawthorne: Dr. Heideggers experiment
Dr Heidegger asks his 4 eldery guests to try a sip of the Fountain of youth. Addicted to the feeling of youth, they want more and more and when turning back old become devastated by their age.
I did enjoy this one very much, especially Hawthornes writing style. He used a lot of descriptions and the story felt very livid.
5/5 stars

Melville: the lightningrod man
The lightning-rod man arrives during a thunderstorm to sell his lightning rods. When turned down he tries to commit a crime.
I just didn't enjoy the writing style as it felt very confusing and unorganized and all over the place.
2/5 stars

Poe: the tell-tale heart
A man tells his story as to why he killed a man because of his piercing blue eye. During a confrontation with the police, he seems to turn mad, imagining the dead mans beating heart.
I heard a lot about Poe and I might just start reading more of his stories. This one was intriguing and thrilling as well as funny to read.
5/5 stars

Bierce: An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge
This story follows a mans execution by hanging during which he fantasizes about his escape.
It was a touching story especially because the reader gains such a deep insight in the main characters thoughts.
4/5 stars

Hemingway: A days wait
A boy gets sick and expects to die simply because americans use a different temperature system than he was used to.
It was kind of boring to read? Like nothing happened.
2/5 stars

Capote: a diamond guitar
A story about an inmate who finds a true friend in a newcomer to the prison resulting in them trying to escape together.
A slow story with some sort of calmness to it. I enjoyed the connection between the two men however different they were.
5/5 stars

[Sarah]

Too many typos in this Indian published edition.

[Jackie]

This is a nice collection of some classic short stories...well worth reading.

[Conny Godefroy]

I absolutely enjoyed this small collection of American short stories.
Rating of the short stories:

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
5/5. Classic Poe, what‘s not to love?

"Dr Heidegger’s Experiment“ by Nataniel Hawthorne
5/5. I haven‘t looked into this but I presume that the characters each represent one of the seven deadly sins (pride, greed etc.)

"The Lightning-Rod Man" by Herman Melville
3/5. This one was just alright for me.

"An occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Briece
4/5. I liked this one due to its use of stream-of-consciousness narration but the ending was predictable.

"A Diamond Guitar" by Truman Capote
5/5. Loved this one. Capote‘s prose is stunningly beautiful.

"A Day‘s Wait" by Ernest Hemingway
1/5. I don‘t like Hemingway and this short story was once again a disappointment for me.

[Emily E.]

I absolutely loved these short stories. A really wonderful collection of short stories; also this edition is intended to help language learners (specifically German speakers on a B2 level of English.) Personally I didn’t need this but it might be helpful to some.

[Sskous]

this is not the collection I am reading. but i can't seem to get it off my shelves, so I'm dumping it to to read and hope it will disappear.