A Personal Anthology, by Maria Glymph

I’ve noticed over the past decade that I am more interested in short stories and novellas than long epic novels. Nothing wrong with the latter (I recently finished Murakami’s Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which racks up over 600 pages, and I loved it), but I have been drawn to the economy of thought and language in stories, which leads to an elimination of excessive description. For me, there’s a balance between what the writer sees and what I imagine reading. As I started compiling this list, I thought that there is no pattern to my weave, but I see now that there are certain themes that tug at me, and there are creative elements that appeal to me over and over. I share these stories in no particular order, and I must confess that I’ve never been good about saying what a story or a novel is about because I want the reader to make the discovery while reading. Here goes:

‘The Third Bank of the River’ by João Guimarães Rosa (First published in Primeiras Estórias, 1962. Translated into English in The Third Bank of the River and Other Stories, Knopf, 1968)

I love stories with question marks. Ones that make me wonder what is happening, why, and if events are real or imagined. I love stories that me think about what the story is about. Really about. And then to leave me with a few more questions that will take time to untangle. ‘The Third Bank of the River’ is such a story. It is a haunting tale. A man leaves his family to live on a boat in the river. Told from the viewpoint of the son, who seeks to understand his father’s mysterious behavior, wanting to connect with him, hoping he’ll return. What causes people to withdraw? How do they sustain themselves?

‘Love’ by Clarice Lispector (First published in Laços de Família, 1960. Translated into English in Family Ties, Avon, 1972, and The Complete Stories of Clarice Lispector, New Directions, 2009)

This story has stayed with me since the first time I read it. A lasting impression. An image that I can see very clearly. It is the story of an ordinary life, an expected life, that fractures upon a chance encounter – while riding a bus, a woman sees a blind man, and her ability to ‘see’ things changes. What do you do once you know differently?

‘My Life with the Wave’ by Octavio Paz (First published in 1949 as part of his collection ¿Águila o sol?. The English translation by Eliot Weinberger appeared in 1976 in the collection Eagle or Sun?, published by New Directions)

This story is about exactly what the title suggests – a man in a relationship with a wave. I was a bit skeptical at first that Paz wouldn’t be able to pull this off. But he did, and he did so brilliantly. It bears all the hallmarks of love and romance and how difficult it is to hold on to that which is wild.

‘A Continuity of Parks’ by Julio Cortázar (First published in Spanish in his collection titled Final del juego (End of the Game), 1964. It was translated into English in End of the Game and Other Stories, 1967 – later editions called Blow-Up and Other Stories; also in the Everyman’s Library Cortázar edition, 2014)

I find this story to be perfection. All the elements work toward the desired effect of the story. It takes down the fourth wall and places the reader in the tale. It’s very tightly woven so I cannot say anything about the story without allowing the reader to feel the warmth surface from within as they come to the conclusion.

‘The Adulterous Woman’ by Albert Camus (First published in France in L’Exil et le Royaume, 1957. Collected in Exile and the Kingdom, Alfred A. Knopf, 1957; also available as a Penguin Mini Modern Classic, 2011)

Another story about a woman and a life seemingly unfulfilled. She travels with her husband on a business trip into the desert and finds herself at the intersection of betrayal. This is another story that I absolutely adore. It nestled perfectly at the beginning of Camus’s collection Exile and the Kingdom. In my mind the worst part of an act of disloyalty is the compromise of self. The question is: When did that act actually occur?

‘A Circus Attraction’ by Panos Karnezis (First published in 2002 as part of his collection titled Little Infamies)

The entire collection of Little Infamies is a must read and a must re-read. Superbly crafted. Ingeniously imagined. It was difficult to select which to share in hopes that it will provoke a desire to read them all. Karnezis blends his Greek heritage, which I share, with mythology and magical realism and all things otherworldly. The best recipe in my opinion. And he’s sly and witty. When do we take on the characteristics of what we believe we are? And when are we what we believe we are?

‘The Plague in Bergamo’ by Jens Peter Jacobsen (First published in Jyllands-Posten, 1889. Collected in The Plague in Bergamo, Gyldendal, 1890)

Such a clever story. I like clever stories. There is a timelessness to this tale. A plague wipes out a significant part of the population, and those left living rejoice with debauchery. What are the consequences of a life lived without a moral framework? Is the proper frame to live as if you could die at any moment? What do you help bring about as a result?

‘Young Goodman Brown’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne (First published in New England Magazine, 1835. Collected in Mosses from an Old Manse, 1846 and The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Doubleday, 1982)

Another outstanding story that leaves you wondering. Real or imagined? Young Goodman Brown goes into the forest innocent and comes out suspicious, bitter, and forever changed. All around him, he sees duality and hypocrisy. Where is the forest in our daily lives? Who and what inhabitant it? How do we know that what we perceive is real?

‘The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow’ by Gabriel García Márquez, trans Edith Grossman (First published as part of his collection Strange Pilgrims (Doce Cuentos Peregrinos), 1992, and in English in Strange Pilgrims, 1993, Jonathan Cape)

Marquez is one in my holy literary trinity (along with N. Kazantzakis and L. Durrell). While there are many stories I could share, I selected this one because of bureaucracy – that which is excessively complex and hard, if not impossible, to engage with or tackle or overcome or… When do we give in to the feeling and thus idea of being powerless? And why?

‘The Book of Sand’ by Jorge Louis Borges (First published in Spanish 1975 as part of a short story collection of the same name. The English translation first appeared in The New Yorker in 1976 and can be found here, and the entire collection was published in 1977)

What if you found a mysterious book that contained infinite wisdom? What would you hope to find in the pages? I like to think that this is a simple treatise on the power of books, but it’s more than that. The story is about a man who acquires a book such as the one I’ve described. He becomes obsessed with it and spends all of his time with it. Until handling the book becomes too much to grasp.

Old Rosa: A Novel in Two Stories by Reinaldo Arenas (Published by Grove Press, 1989)

Old Rosa is a novel in two stories as the title states, so I’m counting this selection for two slots on my list. I recall being profoundly moved upon first reading this book. It was like putting my foot in the river and getting pulled in and rushed along with the current – hard to stop. The stories are harsh in their reality, and ultimately, they are dreamlike and disturbing. Another to reread over time.

* Maria Glymph is a versatile writer on a lifelong creative journey. After a successful business career, she transitioned to a literary path, founded Modern Odyssey Books, and produced her debut poetry collection, Barn Quilt. In early 2024, Maria began publishing the In Search of… puzzle book series, designed to make timeless literature both accessible and engaging for contemporary audiences. She also published the heartwarming-adventure titled Hope, Time, and Other Things That Are Hard to Measure. Maria is currently working on a novella, expanding her poetry repertoire, and curating two anthologies. Keep up with her at www.mariaglymph.com.

* You can browse the full searchable archives of A Personal Anthology, with over 3,000 story recommendations, at www.apersonalanthology.com.

* A Personal Anthology is curated by Jonathan Gibbs, author of two novels, Randall (Galley Beggar, 2014, and out now in the US from Tivoli Books), and The Large Door, and a book-length poem, Spring Journal. He teaches on the MA/MFA Creative Writing at City, University of London.

* And if you are interested in contributing your own Personal Anthology to the project, then please let me know by replying to this email. I’m always on the lookout for guest editors!

* Finally, if you enjoy this Substack you might enjoy Creative Digest, a collaborative Substack produced by the Creative Writing team at City, and to which I contribute. Read and subscribe here.