George R. R. Martin is releasing a new book at the end of the month, but it's not a continuation of his awesome A Song of Ice and Fire series... it's a short story anthology! I've actually read some of his short stories, and they were fun, but I'm not going to buy the books for one simple reason: I never finish short story anthologies. In fact, I'm convinced that no one ever does. You read one or two stories, then lose interest and move on to something else. Am I wrong?
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The comment login system is acting strange. If you get an error message saying you aren't logged in when you are, just reload the comment page and try again. I'm trying to track this bug down, but it's not easy.
I voted yes, but it's rare. Alexei Sayle's two collections "Barcelona Plates" and "The Dog Catcher" might be the only sets I've finished in the passed decade. Even so, collections can be excellent value. I have complete sets of Lewis Carroll and Oscar Wilde I dip into frequently, but might never finish.
I finished several Ray Bradbury anthologies as a kid. But you're right in that they're hard to finish.
I think it's because usually they're put together by researchers who love the author, and so the anthologies have no sense of pacing or drama across the whole book. Maybe you should distinguish anthologies assembled by the author as opposed to assembled by someone else. An anthology should be something like an album, where each song has its own mood and story, and then the album strings those songs together in a sequence that's emotionally satisfying.
I think I have only started one. And I don't remember if I ever finished it. It was an anthology of Korean Short Stories. I do remember that all of the stories were depressing. So, I don't think I ever finished it. Too much depression. I guess, I would have to vote no.
jez: Are you talking about anthologies of books put into one volume, or anthologies of short stories? I love getting "The Complete Works of..." volumes, and I often finish those. It's just the short stories that don't do it for me in anthology form.
BB: I think you're onto something. I like reading series of books in the same universe with the same characters, but unconnected short stories aren't as interesting. I don't listen to music much, so I can't really compare anthologies to albums. I just remembered that I've read the complete Sherlock Holmes' series... they're basically short stories connected by common characters and themes.
Travis: I can see how writing depressing stories could be cathartic, but yeah, who wants to read them?
good distinction. I guess I only finish anthologies from a single author.
In a more diverse collection, once you've finished one story, there's no motivation to read the next as it will be different. They can be good to dip into though.