Bruh this is the most underrated channel on RU-vid. Not only is the quality of the content outstanding but so is the video quality which many book reading channels lack. Hope to see this channel grow exponentially in the next year. I'm finishing up my own read of Count of Monte Cristo currently and then reading the Idiot with another book club but I'll certainly subscribe after and take advantage of the Anna Karenina materials. Cheers.
Thank you very much, Cody. I really appreciate that :) Count of Monte Cristo is a tremendous long read! And The Idiot is a superb choice too - anything by Dostoyevsky and Dumas is a winner. It would be great to get your thoughts on Anna Karenina when you get to it. My personal all-time favourite novel!
This is still one of my favourite videos of yours. I'm just enthralled by your story! Your passion for literature is contagious, and it encourages me to read more books and study literature. Thank you for producing wonderful, insightful videos.
'Sredni Vashtar' and 'Tobermory' by Saki, 'The house of Asterion' by Borges, 'To build a fire' by Jack London and 'The cask of Amontillado' by Poe are, IMO, some of the greatest short stories ever written. Loved the video Benjamin, very insightful and entertaining.
What a gift your channel is. I have downloaded Chekhov, Turgenev, and Maupassant in the last couple of days-because of your inspiration. I am looking forward to the many hours that lie ahead, immersed in these different worlds. Thanks for sharing your gift with the world. 🙏🏽
This is one of the most amazing guys on youtube when it comes to English Lit! Absolutely enthralling way of talking about short stories! Mate, I would love for you to come to talk to my high school students! Completely mad for Turgenev, Chekov, Hemmingway, Joyce, etc!
A wonderful short story I read quite a few years ago and have since re read is An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce published 1890. It is set at the time of the American civil war and uses a very early stream of consciousness narrative as well as an irregular time sequence and a fantastic ending. Everyone I've recommended it to has loved it.
I'm a fan of Colette's short stories. And The Yellow Wallpaper got under my skin. And, Turn of the Screw is excellently haunting. I also really love Willa Cather who wrote a number of terrific short stories but alas, perhaps not so memorably, since I can't give you a specific title.
Hello Benjamin. Thank you for the video. I would recommend you 'Malgudi Days' by R.K. Narayan. It is a great collection of short stories. Very few writers have such a talent to describe things as Narayan had.
I've been meaning to start reading Shakespeare since watching your Shakespeare in a year project. But I have never read or watch a play before and is quite intimidated by it. Can you make a video on how to read a play generally and Shakespeare specifically?
Wow! You're in for a real treat :) I envy the adventure you have ahead of you. Absolutely I can make a video on that. I'm actually planning an entire series on how to read plays and reading Shakespeare specifically :)
I used to stay away from short stories until I came across the stories of William Trevor. I find great pleasure and comfort in reading these for pleasure.
I’m in the minority in that I prefer short stories to novels, especially Checkhov and Hemingway. I’m curious to hear your take on Raymond Carver, another favorite of mine. American Checkhov?
You've raised some interesting topics I had never thought about before, so maybe I just don't get some of your points, but I would like to comment on the truth of poetic fiction. Is it really only about a work being "true" in the eyes of the reader? I think it is more important whether an author themselve belives in what he/she is writing. I mean, we don't have to agree with a person in order to be able to enjoy a conversation (whethter it's real or through-a-book) with this person, right? This is especially the case with some older, medieval or Renaissance literature. Differences in social structure, mentality and conditions are so huge, some of the thoughts and ideas of older stories are just plain horrifying and disgusting for most of the modern people. Yet those stories can be quite plesant to read and reread if: 1) They are true in the eyes of the author 2) Author knows how to tell them in an interesing way 3) Author seems to be a nice and comprehensible person in general (though maybe in some cases the third one might not be important either).
I think Tolstoy would agree with you. He thought art had a moral duty to infect readers with sincere religious experience. Basically, the writer had to feel and believe the truth of what they were writing for it to be valuable high art. So, in that regard, it's up to the writer primarily, not the reader. I think what we're searching for is literature that is true (to the author) but which we also find true as readers - but we don't have to agree with a writer to acknowledge a truth. And two things can be true simultaneously, even if they seem to contradict each other. Keeping with the Tolstoy example - I don't like him personally from what I know about him. I also don't agree with much of what he writes. But I find deep truth in his works :) Thanks for the awesome comment!
I've often had the experience that the second time I read something I find it actually harder to let sink in, like I'm less open to it, do you have any advice about this? Maybe it just takes practice having a 'beginner's mind' the second time around. I wonder if you have had this happen?
I know exactly what you mean! You could try introducing more time between your first and second reading. Sometimes we need to give our books a little gestation period. Then we can bring our lived experience to that second reading if it comes many months down the line!
I'm here because I'm reading a collection of short stories by Garth Nix and it's confusing because every short story has such an emotionally powerful ending that I want to stop reading and let it sink in. But I want to just go through the anthology and read all the short stories. so I'm confused right now
What you say makes sense. It's sad that pre-university literature instruction often introduces students to only one work by each author. You don't really get to know the author in the way that you recommend. It's a superficial acquaintance at best. 🥲
