I find that short stories have been consuming more and more of my reading lately. Probably because I don't get much free time to read and short stories are, well, short (I feel like I need a meme here). Anyways, I thought I'd share some of my favorite authors and stories I've read lately.
H. P. Lovecraft
"Memories and possibilities are ever more hideous than realities." - H. P. Lovecaft, Herbest West: Re-AnimatorI am withdrawing to write a book. And another time: I am withdrawing to construct a labyrinth. Every one imagined two works; to no one did it occur that the book and the maze were one and the same thing." Luis Borges, The Garden of Forking Paths
More than anyone else, Borges influenced me most lately. His ideas are intensely fascinating. The Garden of Forking Paths touches on by the idea of forking timelines based on choices made (well before this was a respected theory, at least, maybe even before it was a hypothesis) but more importantly hypertext: the idea that making a choice won't elminate the other possibilities and you can infinitely fold it back on itself. It's crazy. Another work that blew my mind, for whatever reason, is Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote. Maybe because it made some of House of Leaves make sense. In fact, reading Labyrinths made a lot of House of Leaves make sense. We also have the Library of Babel and The Circular Ruins in the Labyrinths collection.
Favorite Stories: Just buy Labyrinths. Seriously. It's genius.