Posted by guillermo maynez
on 2/12/2011, 13:43:01, in reply to "Re: Recent Reading"
189.178.234.130
Interesting. Of course I share your interest in character development, and as I've written before, there is nothing in literature I enjoy more than a long, full of sub-plots, tangled novel, XIXth Century-style (sort of like "A Suitable Boy"). And I almost never read a collection of short stories back to back, as with novels. I usually read a stories collection little by little, with few exceptions when the collection is rather short, like last year's "The Gentleman from San Francisco" by Ivan Bunin.
But, in my view, short stories can be enjoyed in their own league, as glimpses into the lives of the characters, as compressed plots that carry a surprise or a message or a sensation, and some of them are simply masterful. Are there any particular short stories or short-stories writer you have enjoyed? It would be interesting to know what short stories attracted someone who is in general not an admirer of the genre.
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: Joffre, I have a question: why is it that you detest
: short stories so much? It would be interesting to read
: about it, because I love short stories so much...
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: I can not speak for Joffre, obviously, but what I
: object to about the short story is that there is only
: room to present a very limited development of
: character, plot, theme, etc. I prefer novels, often
: long novels, in which I have the time and space to get
: to know the characters, observe their milieu, develop
: themes more fully, etc.
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: Not that I haven't enjoyed many short stories, I have.
: What I find myself unable to do is to finish a
: book-length collection whether a collection of a
: single author's work or an anthology. Somewhere
: around the middle, I am fatigued by all these separate
: little unconnected "snacks" and long for a
: whole multi-course meal.
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