Imagination
Lando — 01:14 pm Pacific Time — May 28, 2008
In honor of “the six-word short story” and “your life in six words,” this thread is open to six-word homages to classic works of literature.
Whether you want to reduce Jane Austen’s classic opening sally to six words (Truth here: Rich men need wives) or sum up Robert Frost (“Out walking. Took a new path”), this is the place to do it.
The times were good. Also bad. 
A Tale of Two Cities 
My name is definitely not Isaac. 
 Moby-Dick 
Meera Hyphenated — 01:56 pm Pacific Time — May 28, 2008 — #3 of 28
 Bilbo took quest. Got the Ring. 
The Hobbit 
 Twelve people tried to return it. 
Fellowship of the Ring 
Ring got tossed. Frodo came home. 
Return of the King 
Heidi Lynn — 03:53 pm Pacific Time — May 28, 2008 — #5 of 28
 Man catches fish. Sharks eat it.  
The Old Man and the Sea 
 Kids sneak around, get married, die. 
 Romeo and Juliet 
 Desperate, noble poor get shafted. Repeatedly.  
The Grapes of Wrath 
 Rapacious government consumes truth, excretes war. 
1984 (or the Bush administration) 
 Soldier rushes fate, gets cocky, loses. 
Macbeth 
Lando — 04:00 pm Pacific Time — May 28, 2008 — #6 of 28
 Be good. Precisely how is unclear. 
The Bible (Old Testament) 
LaurenF — 04:48 pm Pacific Time — May 28, 2008 — #8 of 28
 Man sleeps with mother. Gouging ensues. 
Oedipus the King 
Woman sleeps with preacher. Branding ensues. 
 The Scarlet Letter 
Tonstant Weader — 07:13 pm Pacific Time — May 28, 2008 — #10 of 28
 Woman sleeps with count. Suicide ensues. 
 Anna Karenina 
Literal, symbolic rabbits are petted, mauled. 
 Of Mice and Men 
longtime — 09:25 pm Pacific Time — May 28, 2008 — #11 of 28
 Hell, Purgatory, Heaven and sweet Beatrice. 
The Divine Comedy 
 After much dithering, revenge is deadly. 
Hamlet 
 Three daughters, two bad, one good. 
King Lear 
 No one misses a charming bootlegger. 
The Great Gatsby 
 Satan falls, tricks Eve, Adam follows. 
Paradise Lost 
 Achilles sulks. Friend dies. Achilles fights. 
The Iliad 
Jared2 — 06:53 am Pacific Time — May 29, 2008 — #14 of 28
 Nothing happens. Then nothing happens again. 
Waiting for Godot  
Virgin gets knocked up by angel. 
New Testament 
Lando — 07:53 am Pacific Time — May 29, 2008 — #17 of 28
 Red-headed orphans: Well worth the trouble. 
Anne of Green Gables 
 Vile man pities self, hates world. 
A Confederacy of Dunces 
Jared2 — 09:05 am Pacific Time — May 29, 2008 — #19 of 28
 Pandora opens box. Four horsemen escape. 
Prometheus gives man fire; has regrets. 
Pilgrims set out; much hilarity ensues. 
Canterbury Tales  
MGF — 09:30 am Pacific Time — May 29, 2008 — #24 of 28
The Austen Oeuvre:
 Unworthy entanglements neutralized, appropriate pairings proceed. 
Sense & Sensibility 
Hysterical mother marries off three daughters. 
Pride & Prejudice 
Poor relation annoys readers, weds cousin. 
Mansfield Park 
Alleged spinster, failed matchmaker makes match. 
Emma 
Girl renounces pulp fiction, finds husband. 
Northanger Abbey 
Yes this time, family be damned. 
Persuasion 
Or, to be utterly concise:
Worthy maidens get husbands they deserve.
Randall — 11:03 am Pacific Time — May 29, 2008 — #27 of 28
 Life’s not worth it. So what? 
L’Etranger, Camus 
LaurenF — 11:14 am Pacific Time — May 29, 2008 — #28 of 28
 Man turns cockroach. No one cares. 
The Metamorphosis 
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