February Short Stories: Round 1

The Open Boat by Stephan Crane (1891) - A+

I am no longer scared of the short story, instead, I am eager.

What a masterpiece. In 15 pages, Crane packed a whole lot of emotions. Hope, despair, desperation, grief, acceptance, it was all there. Four men, a captain, a correspondent, a cook, and an oiler, stranded at sea after having lost their ship, struggle with the realization that, although they can see land, it may just be out of reach.

This tower was a giant, standing with its back to the danger of small creatures. It represented to the correspondent the calm of Nature against the struggles of the individual—Nature in the wind, and Nature in the sight of men. Nature did not seem cruel to him then, nor kind, nor dangerous, nor wise. But she was not interested, completely not interested.

A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle (1891) - D+

This short story really ruined the idea of Sherlock Holmes for me.....is this really where he began? A genius doing something as lame as searching for a scandalous picture for a king.....yawn.