Over the course of the school year, I’ve discovered a delightful little thing—the short story. Strangely, I’ve always stayed away from them. I was raised on novels and was never introduced to short stories in high school. When I did try reading them, I was always disappointed—I’d just start to get attached to the characters and plots, and it would be over. But earlier this year, I happened upon several short stories that made me realize what I was missing.
After reading a multitude of short stories, I finally understand the genre. Before, I had been expecting short fiction to be like a mini-novel, a full-fledged representation and exploration of life. Once I realized short stories showed a slice of life, a small moment of significance, I started to appreciate them. I also found that unlike novels, they fit well
into the life of a college student.
Novels are very time-consuming and absorbing. Once I start reading them, I can’t stop. Whenever I start a novel during the school year, I find that I skimp on my homework, go to bed too late and even skip class, just so I can keep reading. Short stories, however, besides only taking about half an hour to read, are self-contained. When I put them down, I don’t have to stay awake all night wondering what will happen. Short stories fulfill my reading needs without distracting me from school.
However, just because short stories are, you know, short, that doesn’t mean they don’t pack a big punch. One of my original objections to the short story was that I didn’t think anything meaningful or moving could be conveyed in about 20 pages. But once I dove into them, I realized this was far from true: Perhaps the reader doesn’t have the same attachment to the characters as in a novel, but, instead, the short story form allows writers to magnify small moments from life that resonate with the reader.
For instance, in Sherwood Anderson’s spine-tingling, eerie story “Death in the Woods,” the grim, plain facts of old rural woman’s life become incredibly heart-wrenching because of the care Anderson takes in portraying them. Simple details often become beautiful and elegant in the short story, and this makes them as moving as an epic, sweeping novel.
The story, “In the Gloaming,” by Alice Elliott Dark, moved me as much as any novel and nearly took my breath away, and Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories are sensual and relatable as well. Short stories can be refreshing bursts of humor, too. Lorrie Moore, a professor at UW-Madison, writes funny, quirky stories, and John Updike’s “The Christian Roommates” made me laugh out loud. When I don’t know what I’m in the mood to read, I’ll often pick up the annual “Best American Short Stories” collection and page through it until something catches my eye.
I’ll always be a novel girl at heart. Yet, over the past year, the world of the short story has opened up for me, and what an exciting world it is. But, in the immortal words of LeVar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it. Pick one up and see for yourself!
Disagree with Anna? Think bigger is always better with books? Send her a novel-sized response at akwilliams@wisc.edu.
