Short Story Facts
Short Story Facts
We find in the contemporary short stories an extraordinary quality of characterization, dialogue and situation. Several of these stories reveal the tense moments leading to an apt climax. The violence appearing as predominant theme in some short-story writers is not surprising, because our planet is now almost accustomed to the sinister storms of terror, nuclear war, moral and sexual depravity in all walks of life.
In a few stories , we find the authors demanding freedom not of principles but of instincts, a freedom to live in ‘a lawless universe where the only master is the inordinate energy of desire’ (Albert Camus, The Rebel). These short stories are ‘charmingly unexpected, and unexpectedly charming’. What is extraordinary is that these authors are at the peak of their style-unpolished, vigorous, terse and suggestive.
In several stories, we notice the use of satire, but it is a gentle criticism of contemporary life and manners, devoid of any contempt or malice against any one in particular. A highly sensitive mind lays these authors open to all the emotions of the heart, and they are quite successful in describing the involvements, feelings, and characters of contemporary life.
I find these qualites in Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Galsworthy (1867-1933), Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), Somerset Maugham ( 1874-1965), James Joyce ( 1882-1941), O’Henry (1862-1910). The 20th century saw the remarkable development of short story. Some of the extraordinary short stories are John Collier’s “Bottle Party” (1939), Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Demon Lover” (1941), Saki’s “Tobermory”(1911), Danish writer Isak Dinesen’s “The Sailor-Boy’s Tale” (1942), E. B. White’s “The Door” (1939), E. M. Forster’s “The Celestial Omnibus” (1908), Katherine Anne Porter’s “Flowering Judas” (1930), Flannery O’ Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (1953), James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1942), Eudora Welty’s “Petrified Man” (1939), Dorothy Parker’s “The Custard Heart” (1939), Arthur Schnitzler’s “Fate of the Baron” (!923), Mary McCarthy’s “The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt” (!941) etc. During the postmodern period (1980-?) some of the finest short stories are Frank O’Connor’s Collected Short Stories, Eudoro Welty’s Collected Short Stories (1980), David Walton’s “Evening Out” (1981), Walker’s “You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down” (1981), Joy Williams’ “Taking Care” (1982), Carver’s “Cathedral” (1984), Sharon Sheeche Stark’s “The Dealer’s Yard” (1985), Peter Meinke’s “The Piano Tuner” (1986), Updike’s “Trust Me” (1987), Donald Barthelme’s Forty Stories (1989), Wilson’s “Terrible Kisses” (1990), etc.
The short story writers should present a many-sided picture of life, not only rose-colored but also the villainy and shallowness of contemporary life. It is especially significant that the best short stories always penetrate to the very heart of the characters, and paint reality in all its contrasts.
We find in the contemporary short stories an extraordinary quality of characterization, dialogue and situation. Several of these stories reveal the tense moments leading to an apt climax. The violence appearing as predominant theme in some short-story writers is not surprising, because our planet is now almost accustomed to the sinister storms of terror, nuclear war, moral and sexual depravity in all walks of life.
In a few stories , we find the authors demanding freedom not of principles but of instincts, a freedom to live in ‘a lawless universe where the only master is the inordinate energy of desire’ (Albert Camus, The Rebel). These short stories are ‘charmingly unexpected, and unexpectedly charming’. What is extraordinary is that these authors are at the peak of their style-unpolished, vigorous, terse and suggestive.
In several stories, we notice the use of satire, but it is a gentle criticism of contemporary life and manners, devoid of any contempt or malice against any one in particular. A highly sensitive mind lays these authors open to all the emotions of the heart, and they are quite successful in describing the involvements, feelings, and characters of contemporary life.
I find these qualites in Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Galsworthy (1867-1933), Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), Somerset Maugham ( 1874-1965), James Joyce ( 1882-1941), O’Henry (1862-1910). The 20th century saw the remarkable development of short story. Some of the extraordinary short stories are John Collier’s “Bottle Party” (1939), Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Demon Lover” (1941), Saki’s “Tobermory”(1911), Danish writer Isak Dinesen’s “The Sailor-Boy’s Tale” (1942), E. B. White’s “The Door” (1939), E. M. Forster’s “The Celestial Omnibus” (1908), Katherine Anne Porter’s “Flowering Judas” (1930), Flannery O’ Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (1953), James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1942), Eudora Welty’s “Petrified Man” (1939), Dorothy Parker’s “The Custard Heart” (1939), Arthur Schnitzler’s “Fate of the Baron” (!923), Mary McCarthy’s “The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt” (!941) etc. During the postmodern period (1980-?) some of the finest short stories are Frank O’Connor’s Collected Short Stories, Eudoro Welty’s Collected Short Stories (1980), David Walton’s “Evening Out” (1981), Walker’s “You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down” (1981), Joy Williams’ “Taking Care” (1982), Carver’s “Cathedral” (1984), Sharon Sheeche Stark’s “The Dealer’s Yard” (1985), Peter Meinke’s “The Piano Tuner” (1986), Updike’s “Trust Me” (1987), Donald Barthelme’s Forty Stories (1989), Wilson’s “Terrible Kisses” (1990), etc.
The short story writers should present a many-sided picture of life, not only rose-colored but also the villainy and shallowness of contemporary life. It is especially significant that the best short stories always penetrate to the very heart of the characters, and paint reality in all its contrasts.
In the postmodern wold, the short story should concentrate on the latest social trends. The obsolete and monotonous themes shold be discarded.The short story writers should present a many-sided picture of life, not only rose-colored but also the villainy and shallowness of contemporary life.
ReplyDelete