I've never been a fan of short stories. So many bad ones have been published and well reviewed that I feel that the market must be under sourced in some way. The critical barometer seems way off.
SIDENOTE 1 - Though recently I've been wondering about the people who are out there reviewing at the moment - see example A - our taste-makers really need a shake up.
SIDENOTE 2 - Also I'm not talking about Dostoevsky's short stories by the way. If you've read this blog at all you'll have noted that I have never read any of the Russians - not through lack of planning (I even asked my more classically well read friends what the easiest Russian to read was - Anna Karenina was the "popular" choice) but through lack of doing and the abundance of other excellent modern literature alternatives and thinner classics of note such as Francois Sagan, natch.
However I don't think I've read a more inspiring set of short stories than The Collected Stories of Richard Yates. It even makes me want to write short stories. Which is surprising as I haven't ever wanted to write short stories before, because previously I never saw the point of them. How closed my eyes and my mind has been! The short story is a REVELATION (yes we are seeing capitals and italics on that one) and one that has come quite unfairly late in my life too.
Previously I thought of the short story as either a chapter of a novel, an excerpt from a bigger story that was never satisfying on its own (just frustrating in that it made me want to read the novel which was rarely, if ever on hand), or simply an undernourished idea that was sent out pint size in paperback for me to roll my eyes over. In another form there are the jokes of story - one liners that were stretched out to a few hundred words - funny but pointless. This is not to say I didn't enjoy some of these stories or even a collection of them at their best but they were never as fully satiating as full novel. I almost need a new term more respectful than short works/stories/pieces (or the dreaded novella) to describe Yates flawless jewels of prose! Each one so perfectly formed, designed and timed - touching, funny and yes, cheesy as it is, heartwarming, gut wrenching and sigh inducing!
I don't want to be a bore about it or anything so you could skip the above self indulgent musings for this - Yates? He kills me.
1 comment:
Some long stories (as opposed to short stories) would perhaps have benefited from being less full of filler, such as adjectives. Most long stories could probably be turned into very powerful short stories by a masterful writer, and imagine then reading short versions of all of literature ever written in a short time; with so much variation! Or for a long time but escaping repetition and stuffiness altogether! It'd be like shuffling on an iPod or chanel surfing on TV! Snippets and outlines ad absurdum for a post-bored ADHD Generation! Short stories are the best! The shorter the better, really. Maybe Revenge of the Lawn is the best book ever?
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