07:00 – Today I’ve resolved to make a concerted effort to catch up with my short story reading. Usually I would only digest one to two short stories per day, allowing the stories to more completely pervade my soul, and allowing me to extract more on their condensed meaning. So with that goal firmly in mind I set upon my first short story of the day – The Fiddler, a recently featured Herman Melville short on Fifty-Two Stories.
In a story written in the indubitably lofty style so recognisable as Melville’s, The Fiddler tells the tale of Helmstone, a failing poet, who is introduced by his friend Standard to a charismatic fellow by the name of Hautboy. I won’t go into the ins and outs of the story (you can read more in my afterthoughts post for The Fiddler), but I will say that I rather like Melville’s style of writing. It’s difficult to connect with at first but when one does what is revealed is a prose that’s rich and opulent with a distinct air of prestige about it.
07:45 – Story #2, and a great excuse for another pot of morning coffee 
. It’s a Fifty-Two Stories offering again, Joe Hill’s Abraham’s Boys, and if a clue is needed as to what this story may be about, then Abraham’s surname is Van Helsing. Don’t expect wall-to-wall vampire hunting in this story though, because it’s more about Abraham’s sons and his relationship with them. Is it a story worth reading? You damn well bet it is! Short the story may be but it packs a real punch. It’s one taken from Hill’s collection 20th Century Ghosts, and based on this story alone, I’d say this is a collection well worth picking up. Nuff said! You can read my official ‘afterthoughts’ post on this story HERE
10:30 – The short story goodness rolls on and after dealing with the minor incident of dropping my copy of Ox-Tales: Water face down on a plate of buttered bagels (gasp!! Scrub, scrub. Clean, clean), I went through my third Fifty-Two Stories offering of the morning, the great John Fante’s One of Us. Many people revere Fante for his literary genius and reading short stories such as this one only helps to illustrate why. The story may be simple in construction and penned in a straightforward manner, yet it still manages to exude such a profound quality. Without giving too much of the story away, it’s focuses on coming to terms with an unexpected death, but from the perspective of a child. Quite simply, I adored this story.
22:00 – With a block of reading time presenting itself to me before teddy time, I’m going to begin diving into the latest book on my reading pile – Richard Holloway’s Between the Monster and the Saint (Canongate Books). I’ve still to post my forethoughts on this non-fictional work which looks at man’s compulsion for evil, but I’ve penned enough of it for it not to make an influence on my forethoughts if I begin reading it. I still have absolutely no idea what to expect from this book penned by the former Bishop of Edinburgh, but I’m assuming it will be primarily ecclesiastical in nature. We’ll see. Expect my forethoughts on Between the Monster and the Saint soon, hopefully tomorrow.
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