I have felt the same way about short stories since I started reading. However, I can't stop myself from reading them. I am so baffled -- every time -- that I think: well, I can do that too. So, I go and write a short story, although I don't really want to. What I want is to go back to writing my novel and talk to characters that I really care about. But I finish my short story and send it to competitions. I rarely win anything. Then I read the winning stories and I'm baffled again. The writing is usually superb, but when I reach the end, I hear myself say, 'So what?'
Short-story novels are different. A Visit from the Goon Squad is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. I could never write something like that; it is so well done. But as a reader, I grieved for the characters every time I reached the end of a short story. I wanted to hear directly from Sasha again, but after the first chapter, that was it, I could only see her through other characters' lenses. I also enjoyed -- and grieved for the characters in the same way -- The Turning, by Tim Winton.
I was so excited to read about your quiz night. My partner and I go to the quiz night at the Dunsy in Dunsborough every Tuesday. I've been telling them for years to include more questions about books and literature, but there are only a few every week, while they dedicate a whole round to music and another whole round to TV and cinema. I wish I could go to the Beaufort Bookshop on Friday, the 27th, but there are markets the next day in Dunsborough and I'll be there selling books. Hopefully I can go to the next quiz.
I'm glad I'm not alone. So what? is so often my reaction. I also LOVED Goon Squad, but, like you, missed the characters when their chapters ended. What a shame you can't come to the quiz :(
I always want to read more short stories but hardly ever get there - they really vary for me but Ursula Guin's 'The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas' is one of the most powerful short stories (in fact most powerful pieces of writing altogether) that I've ever read, and I also love Billennium by JG Ballard - I seem to be going for ones with social commentary but would love to hear what you think of these!
Now I just want to throw you all my faves …Have your heard Margaret Atwood’s Stone Mattress on the New Yorker or Barn Burning by Murakami? I find them so hit and miss but some authors I will love forever (Mary Gaitskill,Stacey Richter,Denis Johnson) …. where do you stand on the novel-in-stories? Elizabeth Strout?? Goon Squad? I find this so interesting. Maybe yiu just prefer the space/range a novel offers, although I think the best short stories carry the world on their back. I find them harder to write than novels…
I have felt the same way about short stories since I started reading. However, I can't stop myself from reading them. I am so baffled -- every time -- that I think: well, I can do that too. So, I go and write a short story, although I don't really want to. What I want is to go back to writing my novel and talk to characters that I really care about. But I finish my short story and send it to competitions. I rarely win anything. Then I read the winning stories and I'm baffled again. The writing is usually superb, but when I reach the end, I hear myself say, 'So what?'
Short-story novels are different. A Visit from the Goon Squad is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. I could never write something like that; it is so well done. But as a reader, I grieved for the characters every time I reached the end of a short story. I wanted to hear directly from Sasha again, but after the first chapter, that was it, I could only see her through other characters' lenses. I also enjoyed -- and grieved for the characters in the same way -- The Turning, by Tim Winton.
I was so excited to read about your quiz night. My partner and I go to the quiz night at the Dunsy in Dunsborough every Tuesday. I've been telling them for years to include more questions about books and literature, but there are only a few every week, while they dedicate a whole round to music and another whole round to TV and cinema. I wish I could go to the Beaufort Bookshop on Friday, the 27th, but there are markets the next day in Dunsborough and I'll be there selling books. Hopefully I can go to the next quiz.
I'm glad I'm not alone. So what? is so often my reaction. I also LOVED Goon Squad, but, like you, missed the characters when their chapters ended. What a shame you can't come to the quiz :(
I always want to read more short stories but hardly ever get there - they really vary for me but Ursula Guin's 'The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas' is one of the most powerful short stories (in fact most powerful pieces of writing altogether) that I've ever read, and I also love Billennium by JG Ballard - I seem to be going for ones with social commentary but would love to hear what you think of these!
Now I just want to throw you all my faves …Have your heard Margaret Atwood’s Stone Mattress on the New Yorker or Barn Burning by Murakami? I find them so hit and miss but some authors I will love forever (Mary Gaitskill,Stacey Richter,Denis Johnson) …. where do you stand on the novel-in-stories? Elizabeth Strout?? Goon Squad? I find this so interesting. Maybe yiu just prefer the space/range a novel offers, although I think the best short stories carry the world on their back. I find them harder to write than novels…
I find short stories hut and miss - but not the ones I mentioned…those I lurve
I haven't read much Strout but I loved Goon Squad. I think you're right - i ike the depth a novel offers - or the breadth.