Here is another favorite O. Henry story.
You may have seen a movie that consisted of several short stories including this one.
If you are in the mood to laugh, you might enjoy this one.
The Cop and the Anthem.
Not when it’s the week of Thanksgiving, you have an ear infection and a good quarter of the book left and your 10th grade lit teacher says have it finished by Monday. I would have African Queened that boat back where the book started.
I was going to mention Vonnegut. His books are short and generally a quick read. But they are thought provoking and often very moving. Mother Night is one of my favorite books. I know Slaughterhouse Five gets a lot of attention, but I think many of his other books are better. Some of his books are sci-fi, some are crazy dystopian stories, some are just kind of fucked up. But all of them that I’ve read have been worth the time.
I also recall really liking Steinbeck’s The Moon Is Down, which I think is like 150 pages. I read it years ago, but I remember it being very lyrical and spare. It takes place in WWII, so it might not fit the OP’s requirements, but if you don’t like it, hey, it’s short.
But, really, the answer is Vonnegut.
Su Tong, Raise the Red Lantern.
This book is actually 3 novellas, each should be under your 200 page limit. They are pretty rough, astonishing stories set in 1930s China. They are translated, it is a Chinese author, but don’t let that put you off- the writing is very good, the stories are sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, often at the same time, and they are so good that the foreign-ness doesn’t seem to matter, at least to me. They are crazy, great reads!
The first three booksin Jack Vance’s Demon Princes series are well under 200 pages, the last twoare slightly over though. Still five novels in less than 900 pages is pretty good going.
IMHO, “short” does not always equate with “quick to read.” I posted a spoiler to the ending of Heart of Darkness in an earlier thread.
When I was just a wee toddler, there was a doctor in our town named Robert Ness.
He was well loved and respected. Everyone just called him “Doc Ness”.
When he died, he left a will that stated he wanted to donate all his major organs to people in need. It became well known that a wonderful lady got his heart and she underwent a huge transformation. She was a kind of miserly cantankerous woman before her heart transplant. But afterwards, she became a kind and loving person who would go of her way to help other people - especially those in need.
Can you guess the punchline to this story? Have you ever heard any albums by “The Firesign Theatre”?
Well, if you want to guess, I will put the punchline in a spoiler box so that you can try to guess if you like.
It was always said by the town folk that the reason she underwent this amazing transformation was because she had the “Heart of Doc Ness”.
Giggle.
What does this have to do with The Firesign Theatre?
Firesign Theatre was a comedy group from the 1970s who produced several comedy albums and referred to a character named “Doc Ness” several times.