Is it me or is it everybody else? My son passes on books for me to read. I have just bought him a copy of Salt Slow - a book of short stories by Julia Armfield and I must say I read a lot of it before I passed it over to him. I am now waiting for his opinion. It was greatly praised on publication. I quite enjoyed the stories but some of the didn't seem to me to have a beginning a middle and an end. That seems to be the way writing has gone these days. Stories often just seem to be what I would call 'episodes'. It is obviously me that has just not kept up with styles of writing. Have you a book of short stories you particularly like?
Here once again it has been a bright sunny day with just a breeze but the breeze seems to be coming off the North Sea which does make it just a bit chilly. Looking back to last April (yes I do know we are not quite there yet) it did show itself to be 'the cruelist month' as I remember we had a lot of frosts and gardeners lost many plants they joyfully decided up to then had survived another winter and lived to tell the tale.
But my violas outside the front door in pots have without a doubt put on more growth in the last fortnight than they have done the whole winter and they are now merrily in full bloom - and what a joy to see. When I went to check that the front door was locked at bedtime I opened it to look out as there was a perfect moon and a sky full of stars.
Another weekend bites the dust - a new week begins tomorrow. I wonder what this week will bring. Let's hope it is better news. In the meantime take care fellow bloggers - I'll see you tomorrow,
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20 comments:
It isn't just you. Perhaps I'm overly attached to short stories having a beginning, middle, and end. The writing has to be very, very good to get away with just a sketch or impression that doesn't resolve in some way. I've also lost patience with plots that skip abruptly around in the past, present, and future or from more than one or two characters' perspectives. Just tell the story or experience from beginning to end please.
It is very cold here today and I can vouch that there is a cold air coming from the north east and a frost is expected here tonight. I do not like short stories at all so don't read them so can't help with short story styles. I dislike novels where each chapter is spoken through a different character in the book, can't stand those at all, but you know this because I have told you before. There are one or two exceptons to this but they are rare.
Down here in North Kent and despite cold air coming in off the North Sea, it has been a glorious weekend with unbroken sunshine and warm sunshine and all of next week is forecast to be the same - bring it on!
I have just started reading David Bailey's new autobiography, which is both very amusing and entertaining.
The flitting about somewhere in the middle of the narrative is also very fashionable in screen drama these days too. In the old days you were alerted to a flashback by the screen going all wavy and the last words of a character being repeated as an echo. Now I have to think hard to work out at which chronological point the scene took place most of the time. Very confusing.
I haven't read any short stories for years. I remember discovering John McGahern and Bernard Maclaverty at about the same time, but that was years ago. There seem to be a lot of writers about who are far too clever for their own good.
I am not a great fan of short stories so cannot help with any recommendations.
Now that our strong, easterly winds have dropped we are looking forward to some warmer spring weather, although an overnight frost has been forecast.
I haven't read short stories for a long time, but some books I've read don't seem not to follow a chronological order and chapters are written from the view point of different characters, Having been to listen to talks by authors, some write chapters out of order, so would this explain why there doesn't seem to be a beginning, middle and end?
I love short stories but suspect the type I prefer are rather vague in form for your tase - yes, they tend not to have a beginning, middle and end! When done poorly, I agree this can be excruciating - rather like bad arthouse films - but when done well they are captivating and thought provoking. My favourites are by Raymond Carver, Jean Rhys, Carson McCullers, Katherine Mansfield, Anton Chekhov.
I don't care for short stories and always feel that if the characters are interesting, I want to know a bit more about them.
Another glorious spring day here. I have been keeping my eye on a neighbour's flowering cherry tree and watching the buds get fatter each day. I'm sure they are almost ready to pop.
Please can we have just a tiny bit of good news soon.
A short story seems like short life - I prefer an epic - life and story.
Lynne Marie - a "man" after my own heart.Thank you for the recommendations Bike Shed
Such a coincidence. I was discussing that very subject the other night with a friend, and asked her point blank if she had ever come across a book that simply rambled on, and on, and on. There doesn't appear to be a plot -- nor a beginning, middle, or end to it. By no means a short story., my current read is just such a book, two inches thick, with the tiniest print I've ever encountered. It will be interesting to read how she manages to tie up all these loose threads (at least I hope she does after all of this meandering through various not-so-unusual family dramas).
Have you ever thought how dreadful it would be if you started a very compelling story but have no ending?
I'm another who doesn't like short stores - I prefer a narrative arc with a beginning, middle and end. Not all the threads have to be tied up, but at least some of them do!
ceci
Waiting a while yet for flowers to bloom here!
You remind me that I like short stories but I haven't read one for years.
My favourite must be W B Yeats 'Mythologies'. Very Irish.
Alice Munro, a writer who has written mostly short stories, very few novels. Usually I prefer longer narratives, but I think her stories are really good, in an old-fashioned way with a beginning and an end and not a start somewhere in the middle and an abrupt stop.
I don't mind some collections of short stories.
Maybe the reason I read so much crime fiction is because it has a beginning, middle and end.
It's been a long time since I last read any short stories. These days (or years!) I prefer books that really take me with them, where I can delve into the stories, get to know the characters, feel for or with them and want to know what happens next. There is simply not enough time in a short story to provide all that.
On the other hand, creating a story with few words is an artform all of its own.
We mostly seem to be of the same opinions but then we belong to the same age give or take a decade or two.
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