I think the main difference between short stories and novels in the intentionality of the author. With a novel, there are symbols and themes written into the book, but I often feel like I am over-analyzing when I am writing my essays. Just due to the sheer volume of words, not every phrase will have the same weight or significance to these themes. With a short story, the writer must be much more intentional with their writing, as there simply isn't room for wasted words. I feel like this is exemplified in "The Walk," which is only about 5 pages. Every description and interaction serves a purpose, and something is always happening, even when describing routine activities.
I felt like the two short stories were relatable to my own experience during the pandemic. In "Recognition," the isolation that everyone has experienced was on full display. While not everyone moved out of my neighborhood, the friendly neighbors, the pickup games at the local park, and football matches with school friends all seemed to disappear in the span of a week. As someone who is not particularly outgoing, I empathized with the main character and her struggle to develop new relationships. I also felt like the end of "The Walk" reflected my attitude as this pandemic has continued much longer than anyone anticipated. There is this sense that things that never will get back to normal, and I feel like American culture will permanently change as a result of COVID. For example, I feel like the importance of hygiene and paranoia surrounding health will be noticeable changes. Keeping distance and even the presence of masks in public settings may find a permanent home in daily life. Overall, I feel like the stories did a good job of reflecting the experiences that everyone has/is dealing with currently.
I fully agree with your initial sentiment. Every word counts in a short story, and the author knows that. It actually is reminding me of all those college application essays I wrote, and how the struggle was always making sure I didn't exceed the allotted word count.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the management requirement of short stories. As you mentioned, space is limited, every detail they add has to be fine crafted to fit into the purpose of the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that authors have to be more intentional in short stories since less words are used whereas novelists can include a lot more details that do not all have to serve a purpose. I also am curious about if American culture will ever go back to normal after COVID-19.
ReplyDeleteShort stories are definitly intentionally with every word, whereas in analyzing novels not every word is as meaningful and needs to be scrutinized
ReplyDeleteI completely agree when you pointed out that there aren't many words wasted when it comes to short stories. The authors take a lot more time to make each line significant to either the context of the story or the plot.
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