I’m not a big reader, but I do like the occasional short story. Which short stories have the best twist endings?
Having some computer problems, so this will be brief. :/
The two most widely acknowledged masters of the twist ending in literature are O Henry and Guy de Maupassant, so I pretty much have to mention a couple by each.
O Henry
* The Gift of the Magi – mentioned by Kate S, worth seconding
* The Cop and the Anthem
Guy de Maupassant
* The Necklace – read by many in high school
* The Piece of String – better than The Necklace, in my opinion
Some of my personal favorite twist endings:
* Red by Somerset Maugham
* Appointment in Samarra retold by Somerset Maugham
* The story of the widow of Ephesus from the Satyricon of Petronius
Of course, I can’t really explain why I chose these without spoiling the endings, but I hope you can take my word for it. I read a lot.
February 21st, 2010 at 12:15 pm
There’s nothing wrong with that! As a whole, short stories are probably more rewarding to read, on a cost-benefit ratio, than novels: You learn all the skills a novel takes on a smaller scale, and you learn how they’re used even more judiciously.
A couple of old chestnuts with twists:
* The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry.
* The Monkey’s Paw, W.W. Jacobs.
* An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Bierce.
* The Masque of the Red Death, Poe.
* The Lottery, Jackson. (Not really a twist, but still a shocker.)
* The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Ditto this, on the "not a twist, still shocking" theme.)
Et cetera, et cetera.
References :
February 21st, 2010 at 12:26 pm
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References :
February 21st, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Having some computer problems, so this will be brief. :/
The two most widely acknowledged masters of the twist ending in literature are O Henry and Guy de Maupassant, so I pretty much have to mention a couple by each.
O Henry
* The Gift of the Magi – mentioned by Kate S, worth seconding
* The Cop and the Anthem
Guy de Maupassant
* The Necklace – read by many in high school
* The Piece of String – better than The Necklace, in my opinion
Some of my personal favorite twist endings:
* Red by Somerset Maugham
* Appointment in Samarra retold by Somerset Maugham
* The story of the widow of Ephesus from the Satyricon of Petronius
Of course, I can’t really explain why I chose these without spoiling the endings, but I hope you can take my word for it. I read a lot.
References :