In honor of short story month, I am sharing an excerpt from one of my very favorite short stories of all time.
I wish I could get well faster.
But I must not think about that. This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had!
There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down.
I get positively angry at the impertinence of it and the everlastingness. Up and down and sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere. There is one place where two breaths didn’t match, and the eyes go all up and down the line, one a little higher than the other.
Brilliant, right? The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a masterpiece. I first read this story in college. Many years later, in a small used book shop, I stumbled upon a small copy from a small press which was printed the year I was born, proving my crazy connection to this story was real.
Now, my little yellow book is a cherished possession, like a worn stuffed teddy bear from childhood.
It completes me.
First published in 1892, the story is available here and, if you have not read it, you really must. I insist.
My Sunday thoughts in 200 words or less.
Lemon Shark 
What a special book for you. Funny how we have those that become a part of us and without which we seem incomplete. Thank you for introducing me to this writer and book. 🙂
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You’re welcome. I hope you get a chance to read this. And, yes, the book is special. It’s my preciousss… 😉
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Oh, I loved The Yellow Wallpaper! I read it college, probably my first semester as an English major, and it was kind of my inaugural moment of reading and dissecting literature as a young adult. So great you found a copy (re)printed the year of your birth!
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It was probably mine, too. (Although I recall The Awakening…) Regardless, loved this then and love it now. I think, if possible, the story had grabbed hold of me more over the years. And, yes, it was like my own special little magic that I found that reprint. 🙂
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Just found a Kindle version. I’m going to give it a read. It sounds really interesting. thanks for the pointer. 🙂
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Oooh! Awesome! Let me know what you think. 🙂
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I love that story. Not sure about the teddy bear analogy, but it is one heck of a story.
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Haha! 😀 The book is the analogy, not the story.
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With your recommendation and those affirming it in your comments plus that it can be purchased on Kindle it sounds like a must read for me. Books that have that effect on you are a treasure indeed.
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Oh, Irene, I really think you’ll like this one. Please let me know if you read it. Yes, it’s a treasure for me for sure.
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I’ll certainly let you know Sarah.
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Yes! Such a good one that can be read again and again.
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Isn’t it? I adore this for so many reasons.
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I’ve never read it, but I do have a copy – a very slim volume just right for my next train journey. Thanks for the reminder and recommendation.
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Excellent. I think you’ll find this extremely interesting (if not a little disturbing since you know this “rest cure treatment” was fairly common).
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What a sweet gem to share for short story month! I grew up in a house with original 1860s wallpaper so I might connect to the story, as well.
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Ooh, that’s very cool. (If you’re not stuck in the room staring at the wallpaper too long…) 😉 Hope you get to read it.
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I haven’t read it, but from what you’ve written and the excerpt, I know I must. Those sentences are brilliantly written.
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Aren’t they? And it’s one of those stories you get more out of each time you read it. The whole story is just so beautifully written. Let me know what you think if you do read it.
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How very intriguing. Would you say The Yellow Wallpaper influenced your writing, or even your outlook?
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Hmm. I will have to think more about that.
I will say that, while I find the writing brilliant, I also learned a lot from this piece: feminism in the 1800s, “treatments” in the 1800s, what was considered “mental illness”, how doctors handled “female problems”, and the personal struggle of the author — this is semi-autobiographical. I could relate to it a little, too, like Emily Dickinson’s writing. The whole thing just fascinates me.
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My teacher had our class read this story in the beginning of the year. I thought it was pretty interesting, and it’s fascinating how angry the doctors got over it.
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Yes, well it undermined (if not attacked) their “treatments”, attitudes toward women, and diagnoses of “female issues”. I’m so happy to hear this is still being taught. I imagined it would be but didn’t know anyone who was reading it for school. Excellent. 🙂
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