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HannaPonomarenko
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Post by HannaPonomarenko »

Availle wrote: March 1st, 2021, 1:41 am

Shorts

I'd like to see the best short story collections, short essays, maybe biographies of short story writers? As long as it's not too mentally taxing. (Sorry you lovers of Russian epics, War and Peace has to wait. :wink:)

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry, as always.

As always: All languages welcome!
Hi! Could you please clarify what time rang is considered as short?
Thank you
Availle
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Post by Availle »

short story under an hour. Novellas maybe up to 4-5 hours.
i'm looking mostly for collections in a single language and/or by a single author. But let's see what people come up with here.

PS: There's no need to quote me. I check the thread regularly and I don't have that notification function on anywhere anyway.
Cheers, Ava.
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schrm
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Post by schrm »

heyho,

wie überprüft man eigentlich sinnvoll, ob ein titel schon im blog erwähnt wurde?
google suchergebnisse bringen wenig, die wiki seite besteht aus mehreren unterseiten?

sorry for posting in german: what way is recommended to look up, which titles weren't mentioned in the blog, already?


german short plays: https://librivox.org/stille-existenzen-by-jeanne-marni/
Stille Existenzen
Jeanne Marni (1854 - 1910)
Translated by Franziska Gräfin zu Reventlow (1871 - 1918)
something called like... social wisdom? in these plays. strong characters, with depths and highs, in a very "menschlichen"/human feelings and personalities exposing situations. something to listen to one piece at a time and get into thinking...

german short stories + play: https://librivox.org/kunterbuntergang-des-abendlandes-by-klabund/
Kunterbuntergang des Abendlandes. Grotesken
Klabund (1890 - 1928)
satires, funny things, or not so funny. grotesque is very suitable! klabund is also playing on the human nature instrument - the first short story tells the story of the lover?, who thinks, that his girlfriend comitted suiced because of the silver spoons. that's all. feeling consternated even after telling it.

poems, german, maybe: https://librivox.org/die-fruehen-kraenze-by-stefan-zweig/
Die frühen Kränze
Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942)
one of the most famous austrian authors, zweig's books were burnt under the nazi regime. here he is represented with a collection of rather "lightweight" poems, written in the early years of his carreer, with topics like love and desire. a really poetic language, which is something like... causing dreams.

really more the funny, clownesque - but also expressionistic and totally "crying", german, very short poems would be: https://librivox.org/katerpoesie-by-paul-scheerbart/
Katerpoesie
Paul Scheerbart (1863 - 1915)
in case, someone looks for something like good night sweets, these are...
well for grown ups and not that funny or thoght provoking, but also very expressionistic and absurd, sometimes.
i am not able to describe this book other than: some people will hate it.

very short fables, rhymed: https://librivox.org/fabeln-by-magnus-gottfried-lichtwer/
Fabeln
Magnus Gottfried Lichtwer (1719 - 1783)
over 200 very short fables, which bear the wisdom of a grown up man, who collected and wrote wisdoms of his times. his story is like a fable in itself, i think. he studied law, got a good job, then he had an accident and got blind. when i remmeber it correctly, he wrote the fables because of the great success, and initially for his son? his
either way, he is the author of the german saying blinde reifer schadet nur. his works got published as a whole by his grandson.
what really fascinated me with these fables, was: they are not depressing and not the advertising the hard way, always. there are only 2 or 3 fables, where the stronger wins at the cost of the weaker.
read by martin, this book is wonderful and also sort of suiting for the short bon mot at late hours.

for sure in the blog mentioned, already: 1001 nacht all 4 books!
well, in german read by gavenport, this epic work has it all: dreams, magics, djins, religion, fables, wisdom, poetry, crime, thrill, monarchy, torture, short stories at its best. is there a better, well known work of short stories existing?

in english, we have a sort of confusing state:
https://librivox.org/search?q=arabian%20nights&search_form=advanced
they are work in progress, what i saw. excluding the variant The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Volume 01-04

cheers,
wolfi
Last edited by schrm on March 1st, 2021, 8:50 am, edited 3 times in total.
cheers
wolfi
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Availle
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Post by Availle »

I have my own spreadsheet where I check what's been chosen before. Just keep 'em coming.

Also I do run a search in the catalog and/or on archive on the day I choose; what I really want is why you'd recommend book x (a sentence or two are fine, it's not graded homework. :lol: )
Cheers, Ava.
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schrm
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Post by schrm »

ok i will update the post above in a minute or two!
thank you availle!
cheers
wolfi
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Leni
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Post by Leni »

Hi Ava,

I'd like to suggest a recently cataloged collection of short poetry by Quevedo, read by the wonderful Epachuko: https://librivox.org/cincuenta-textos-escogidos-de-francisco-de-quevedo/

Also, Emilia Pardo Bazán was famous for her short stories:https://librivox.org/cuentos-de-amor-by-emilia-pardo-bazan/

In Portuguese, Orpheu number 1 is historically significant: https://librivox.org/orpheu-no1/

I will try and think about some more. :hmm:
Leni
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HannaPonomarenko
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Post by HannaPonomarenko »

The one and only (so far) Russian play on LV of worldwide known master of short stories is very well acted in native language. It leads a listener to the time of poorly developed land law and tells some aspects of marrige question back in 19 century. Light, interesting and short)
https://librivox.org/predlozhenie-by-anton-chekhov/
Kitty
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Post by Kitty »

Might I advertise the Black Cat magazine ? https://librivox.org/group/628 even though we have only just started and finished the first year (12 issues - 2 are in the making, and maybe one more is finished by the end of March). Each issue features only a handful of short stories, but so far they are great, a mix of mystery, romance, chilly ghost stories, funny but also sad stories. The magazine ran from 1895 to 1922 and I fully intend to offer them all (if I live long enough).

BTW the CD covers alone are worth a look, wonderfully done by Annise :9:

Sonia
mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

I may have suggested this one before. It is a collection of short stories that I enjoyed DPLing very much.

https://librivox.org/the-countess-of-lowndes-square-and-other-stories-by-e-f-benson/

There are also several short story collections by Barry Pain in our catalogue. I'm not familiar with all of them, but I enjoyed the ones I worked on.
Availle
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Post by Availle »

Thank you ladies!

I think I already picked the Chekhov play, but he does have many more of his pieces in the catalog, so a reminder is always welcome! :D
Cheers, Ava.
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Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."

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Availle
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Post by Availle »

I looked it up now - yes, in Russian. July 2017.

But even so, I only pick any particular book once, no matter which language. If we have it in more than one language, then I mention (and link) it.

We get 100 new books every month, there is no need to do re-runs.
Cheers, Ava.
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Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."

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Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

We have a mammoth cycle of short stories in Italian, Pirandello's Novelle per un anno. Also in Italian, less imposing in scope, but a delightful surprise for fans of Renaissance literature, Le Piacevoli Notti by Giovanni Francesco Straparola (1480 - 1557).

Michael
Availle
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Post by Availle »

Interesting - thanks! :thumbs:
Cheers, Ava.
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."

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HannaPonomarenko
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Post by HannaPonomarenko »

May I suggest a fresh work of developing Russian and Ukrainian speaking team?

A short story read in Russian where each character has their own voice describes a person fond of restrictions who eventually meets the one reasonable and open minded. The later, the Ukrainian, was read by talanted Wolfgan Bas, native Ukrainan speaker, which was a rare luck to meet)

https://librivox.org/chelovekvfutliare-by-anton-chekhov/

Thank you)
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