Reader discussion: Carmen

Public reader discussion about Carmen in the WeRead Catalog by Prosper Mérimée.

Looking for great short stories authors

By readswindow

Hey everyone! I’m pretty new here, so I hope I’m not breaking any rules with this post. I’m looking for recommendations for short story writers. I mostly read novels, but I’ve been thinking about trying to write something myself, and short stories seem like a good place to start. So I figured reading some really solid short stories would help me figure out what works. I know the classics like Chekhov and Borges (I think I read his stuff first), but I’d love to hear about more modern authors too. Also, English isn’t my first language, and I’m not planning to write in it anyway, so I’m not going to mess things up with terrible grammar :)

Just finished Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House and I can barely describe the experience.

By draft_ribbon

In *In the Dream House* she really goes into what an abusive relationship feels like. It was kind of a rough read just because of the topic, but I still think it’s worth it if you want to understand how abuse works and how the whole dynamic can play out. She pulls in a lot of other references and stuff to line up her own experience, and it also gets into what her abuser was doing and why. There are also bits about other real cases of abuse, which made it hit even harder. If you’ve ever wondered why someone might stay with an abuser, or how these relationships start and end up getting worse, I’d definitely recommend it.

Short Story Recommendations for College Book Club

By DawnBookworm2

I’m starting a short story club at my university next semester, and I’m trying to find some great short stories that’ll work for a really mixed group of readers. I want the reading list to actually reflect a bunch of different authors—different ethnicities, backgrounds, genders, time periods, and both classic and more modern stuff, plus different genres too. I’m really hoping it’s not just the same old white guys / Western canon stuff, except maybe a couple. Any suggestions would be awesome, because I’m still not sure what to pick. Thanks!

Favorite Short Story Collections

By inburntBookmark

Short stories are honestly my go-to, and it feels like they don’t get talked about enough. What collections are you all loving? And are there specific writers who mostly do short fiction? Some of my favorites so far: “Her Body and Other Parties” (Carmen Maria Machado), “The Story of Your Life and Others” (Ted Chiang), “North American Lake Monsters” (Nathan Ballingrud), and “Orange World” (Karen Russell). They’re all pretty newer picks, but I’ve been really into current speculative stuff lately.

Who is Carmen?

By careful_bottle

Has she ever actually said who Carmen is? Like, do you think Carmen is someone she came up with, or is it meant to be Lana, or maybe she’s just singing about a real friend? I can’t really tell.

Greatest short story writers (according to writers and editors)

By simple-market5111

I stumbled on this “Personal Anthology” thing where people (writers + editors) put up their 12 favorite short stories, and it’s like thousands of recommendations total. So I started asking myself who keeps getting pushed to the top. Like… who are the repeat favorites? It’s basically a whole ladder of names (Le Guin, Carver, Cortázar, Lahiri, Saunders, Machado… then Erskine, then Ballard/Paley, then Joyce/Walsh, all the way down and up again). Alice Munro is there and I wasn’t really shocked—she’s pretty much treated like the top living short story writer and she won the Nobel in 2013. But Lydia Davis is the real eyebrow-raiser. She somehow beat everyone on the list, even Munro. And what really gets me is that while one Davis story (Break it Down) shows up a few times, most of the recommendations are totally different. That feels wild to me. Also: Lorrie Moore is paired up with Borges and Kafka, and honestly that makes sense. I think Birds of America is her best collection, and People Like That Are The Only People Here is probably the best individual story. For Borges, I’d point to The Aleph and The Garden of Forking Paths. For Kafka, A Country Doctor and In the Penal Colony. And if you haven’t, Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, Calvino’s The Distance of the Moon, and Mansfield’s Bliss are all worth your time too. So yeah—what stories from these writers are you into? Any writer you feel like is missing? And do you have a go-to short story collection?

Best/favourite short story collections?

By folio-needle

I’m really into short story collections and I’m trying to find some great ones that I might’ve missed. What are your favourites (especially ones that aren’t talked about as much)? I’ve got two Hemingway collections: one is just a small selection of stories, and the other one is basically his whole short story output from Everyman’s Library. I do like him, but I have to be in the right mood—otherwise I find him kind of dry. When it clicks though, I really end up admiring the way he writes. Another author I’ve got a bunch of short stuff from is Murakami. He’s probably my most-read author, and I’ve already worked through Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman and After the Quake (I loved both). I’ve also just started Kazuo Ishiguro’s *Nocturnes*. I finished the first story, “Crooner,” about half an hour ago, and I’m getting the feeling I’m going to adore this collection. It was pretty melancholy, but still close and gentle, and it honestly felt like it was up there with the best short stories I’ve read so far. My last collection is Dostoyevsky. I really respect him and I know how highly people rate his work, but I can’t seem to get into it. I’ve tried multiple times with *Crime and Punishment* and I just didn’t feel interested, and I even started *White Nights* but didn’t finish that either. I keep wanting to be able to say I’m a fan, because of course I do… but right now I can’t honestly say I enjoy his writing. I also have a Chekhov collection (kind of a “short novel” thing, I guess), and I’m not sure if that even counts for this list. I’ve never read it yet, but I’ve been meaning to for ages. Anyway—what short story collections have you loved, and what is it about them that makes you keep going back? Edit: Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I might not be able to reply to every comment, but I’ll definitely read them all and look into the ones that sound like my kind of thing. It’s also cool to see such a range, and some more well-known collections I haven’t checked out yet. Thanks again!

in the spirit of Valentine's Day, what's the most romantic quote you've read in a book?

By red_hare56

I basically use books as a way to not deal with the fact that I’ve got basically zero romantic prospects, so please indulge me. I’ll kick it off: “My own perceptions were no longer enough to constitute the physical world for me. Every sound, every syllable that reached me I wanted to filter through his consciousness.” — *The Idiot*, Elif Batuman Ugh, this just nails that whole obsession thing—like the minute you feel a connection with someone, your brain starts orbiting them and it kinda takes over.

Maybe if you haven’t read “In The Dream House”, you should.

By Panther_Cloudy

CW for domestic/sexual abuse Carmen Maria Machado’s “In the Dream House” felt way too close and super intense, but in a good way—like it really gets under your skin. I can’t fully tell if it’s the way it’s written (second person stuff) or just how plain and open the sentences feel, but it stuck with me. It made me think hard about queer abuse and how messy the effects of relationships can be, especially ones people don’t really talk about. I haven’t read a ton of memoirs, but the ones I have always had this weird gap between me and the writer, like they’re trying to perform the story for you instead of letting you live in it. This book doesn’t do that. It leans into the closeness even though everything is awful. She doesn’t really try to play the “poor me” card, but you can tell she’s talking from the worst kind of truth. It hits the emotional center fast, no pause button. She doesn’t ask for pity either. Instead she kind of pulls you in and makes it clear that stuff like domestic abuse isn’t this distant thing—it’s right there if you pay attention. The bookending about archives worked really well for me, and the poetic parts still felt necessary, not just pretty. Overall it all clicked, and it hit hard. I’m really glad I got to read it.

What are your reading "icks"?

By Happy_Letter

If you want a local book group, there are a bunch of cities already—looks like fifteen and still growing. Just a heads-up on how the sub runs: no AI spam stuff (instant permaban), pics only during the last week of the month, keep posts on-topic, and don’t request paywalled links. If you want to promote anything, you should check with the mods first via modmail. Also, try to stick to writing + writing groups when you’re talking about stuff like that. Next up for discussions: - Russian Spring / Introduction - June 5: Pushkin — Eugene Onegin - June 12: The Way of the Pilgrim - June 19: Limonov — It’s Me, Eddie They also list previous books mentioned and how they choose stuff (mostly what the podcast talks about, plus what trends in recommendation threads, and classics). If you want to lead a discussion, you can DM the mod with the book and dates, or start a thread as long as it’s related to Red Scare and includes an intro + prompts/questions.

current state of american literature

By CarefulDeer6061

I’m just curious what everyone’s into and hoping for some recs. I haven’t really found myself falling for any newer American lit lately, but I’m wondering if there’s anything with that stripped-down rural realism vibe people associate with Carver or Tobias Wolff. Also, I really like Mary Robison, Lidia Davis, Renata Adler, and I’d love to hear if anyone thinks there are any newer writers with a similar feel. What older American stuff do those people tend to link them to? I’ve loved a lot of past American lit movements too—postmodern stuff especially, and Donald Barthelme is one of my all-time favorites. John Cheever and Updike are great as well. That said, the newer authors I’ve read haven’t landed super hard for me. I liked Moshfegh enough (like, good, but not a “love”), and Ocean Vuong and Hanya Yanagihara didn’t really grab me. So I’m basically hoping someone can point me to exciting new names I haven’t checked out yet. One exception: I do love Carmen Maria Machado, but that’s pretty much the only one I can think of right now. Excited to see what you all recommend.

Killshot by Elmore Leonard

By VioletVelvet1982

With most of Dutch’s non-western stuff, I’m always impressed with how he builds these really different characters and drops them into the messiest situations, then you watch it all unfold. But every time, once I hit the middle I’m like… okay where is this headed? What’s the plan for the criminals to finally move? How’s the main person supposed to get out of it? Wayne and Carmen really felt believable to me. They bicker like a couple that’s been together forever, and Carmen’s clearly not happy and Wayne just kind of keeps doing his simple routine. Carmen gets really mad that Wayne won’t understand her, even to the point where she has to pull a shotgun on Armand. It all felt like a real marriage, not some smooth movie version. Armand and Richie were great too. They don’t feel like cartoon villains or James Bond super-plots. It’s more like these contained little bubbles happening over a few days or weeks in Detroit or South Florida. Still, they’re dangerous though—sometimes even kind of messy or incompetent—and they just keep getting worse the closer they get to that point where it’s basically you vs them. Also, I really liked Carmen killing Armand. Overall I’d rate it 7.5/10.