Small But Perfectly Formed
Lydia Davis has chosen her five favourite stories for Metro, who today ran a two-page interview with Lydia:
‘Dante And The Lobster’ by Samuel Beckett
‘Anything by Beckett, of course, but particularly this story for the deadly (and deadpan) precision (and accuracy) of its conclusion, “Well, thought Belacqua, it’s a quick death, God help us all”, followed by “It is not”.’
‘Wants’ by Grace Paley
‘Again, almost any story by Grace Paley because of her brilliantly dense style, her economy, her humour, the generous reach of her spirit. Wants is all of two pages, involving an ex-husband and a library fine of $32, family life and anti-war activism.’
‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’ by Flannery O’Connor
‘This for its cleverness, its wry integration of the colloquial speech of its characters (the naively bigoted mother and the martyred son), its devastating humour and its deft portraiture.’
‘You Must Know Everything’ by Isaac Babel
‘In this the boy spends Saturday with his old grandmother in her stifling apartment, studying and taking his lessons under her watchful eye. The scene is presented in constantly amplified detail that brings us wholly into that afternoon.’
‘The Burrow’ by Franz Kafka
‘Because of the confident and convincing narrative voice of its obsessed narrator, who begins, “I have completed the construction of my burrow and it seems to be successful”.’