The short happy life of Francis Macomber

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1. copperxNov 2020
   Yes. I don't understand why short fiction isn't more popular these days when many of us have shortened attention spans.

   I think "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Hemingway should be mandatory reading in high school.

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2. stevedisSep 2019
   Tons of good stuff already here. I love lists like this.

   Two short b-sides: - The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway - The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

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3. therealdrag0Jul 2018
   Many years ago I collected short stories I enjoyed in an Evernote list. Here it is if you want some inspiration. :)

   Asimov, Isaac - "Nightfall"

   Asimov, Isaac - "The Last Question"

   Barthelme, Donald - "Some of us had been threatening our friend Colby"

   Beckett, Samuel - "That Time"

   Bisson, Terry - They're Made Out of Meat

   Boyle, T. C. - The Hit Man

   Carver, Raymond - Little Things

   Chekhov, Anton - "The Bet"

   Dick, Philip K - "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" Gibson, William - Dogfight ("...he had nobody to tell it to. Nobody at all.")

   Hemingway, Ernest - The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

   Hemingway, Ernest - Hills Like White Elephants

   Makkai, Rebecca - "The Briefcase"

   Bradbury, Ray - "The Veldt"

   Saroyan, William - "Seventy Thousand Assyrians"

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4. Jeff_BrownJun 2021
   The "should write a novel" bit was a joke.

   To your broader point, it depends what you want out of the novel. If you want world-building and dialog -- as I pointed out -- you won't get those from the Cliff notes.

   I think that's fine, as I don't want them. Or rather, I don't want them as much as I want other things I can spend my time on.

   And you're right, I don't read much fiction. The only piece I remember reading all year was The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, a short story by Hemmingway. It was fine.

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5. kragenMay 2010
   It sounds like you're saying that their decision was a mistake, simply because one of them died as a result. The story sounds sort of like "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." But you're guaranteed to die no matter what you do, so by that measure, any possible decision is a mistake. The relevant measure is what else you manage to do under that constraint. Getting kidnapped by "pirates" and then getting shot isn't my ideal set of experiences for the next year, but it still might have been better than whatever they would have experienced otherwise.
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