Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply, Eric. I always know I can count on you to
challenge me to further thinking about literary issues. I am not really concerned with the reader’s
recognition of short stories vs. novels generally. Heft and length of reading are usually sufficient. Poe’s single setting criteria could very
well depend on how long one’s butt holds out.
One could very well get so caught up in a good detective novel that he
or she will read all night in a single lying as it were. The reading issue for me settles on the
so-called novella, a category which I think Gatsby belongs to because of the
symbolic structure and the stylistic tightness of the prose. I did a blog post a while back on Colm Toibin’s
novel Brooklyn, which I argued was structured and styled more like a novella
than a novel. I am now reading his new
work, which he categorizes as a novella, entitled The Testament of Mary. I have
posted some blogs in the past on what I think are the differences between
novellas, short stories, and novels. More on this in the future, I reckon. Thanks again for your helpful response.
Charles
Although simple word count sounds pedestrian, I don't think you should give up to quickly on scale as a way
to define and classify prose fiction. Scale seems to be an essential aspect
of reality, both physical and psychological. Baseballs and electrons can both
be thought of as fundamentally quantum particles, but the baseball leads a
very placid and Newtonian sort of life, where the electron jumps around so
much in a space/time sort of way that it can practically be called a
"cloud". Actually the baseball is doing the same thing, but,
relative to its mass, the quantum jumps are the equivalent of nil. The same
behavior but on different scales. Psychologically the quality of our
experiences are also related to scale if not as drastically as electrons and
baseballs. Poe's "single sitting" for example is a scalar
explanation. As someone said, "quantity is a kind of quality". And
scale I think would turn out to be more useful and sophisticated than just
the idea of word count. on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
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on 12/7/12
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I also thought "Anything Helps" was a great
story, but I also think it's a shaggy dog kind of story. on Best American Short Stories 2012—Part IV
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Anonymous
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on 12/3/12
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Hi, Karen, good to hear from you. I will take another look
at the Saunders story, for I have always admired his work. I got a nice note
from Edith Pearlman, who liked my discussion of Honeydew. I am not sure about
the Pushcart, for I have always found those selections uneven. I will take a
look at it though. Thanks for your comments. And thanks for reading mine. on Best American Short Stories 2012: Part III
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on 12/3/12
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Hi, Prof. May, I've worked through this group: "Diem
Perdidi" is incredibly beautiful. I listened to a wonderful NPR reading
(three videos, about 9 minutes each; though it's a video, it's really audio
only) which only made me love it more. Otsuka really has a gift, seen here
and through The Buddha in the Attic, for using poetic style to tell a story. "Honeydew"
bothered me at first – I so loved all those elements, but hated the ending
tying up all the loose ends. Because of your comments, I tried again, and
just like the Rubin Vase test where a vase becomes two profiles (or vice
versa), I clicked on a kind of sardonic humor that changed the way I saw the
whole piece. I still think I would've preferred that the story ended with the
three of them in the woods, but there is a kind of bizarreness that works.
"Occupational Hazard" seemed like it needed editing; it should've
started with the funeral. I don't get what the girl's act with her mom,
inspired by the father, had to do with on Best American Short Stories 2012: Part III
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on 11/28/12
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Eric, it is always good to hear from you. I just finished
reading Gatsby again, for the upteenth time, and thank you for giving me the
impetus to do so. You know, there are lots of books that one reads when young
that pale when read again in the so called golden years. Catcher in the Rye
was a disappointment to me when I reread it recently. However, I loved Gatsby
all over again. A brilliant book, a kind of miracle of style and vision that
Fitzgerald never really achieved again. The difference between the short
story and the novel is not, for me, so much a matter of word length as it is
a matter of technique. I realize there are some novelistic techniques in
Gatsby, but basically I think it is a novella, in the tradition of Heart of
Darkness, Billy Budd, The Bear, etc. And true novellas (as opposed to short
novels) are, in my opinion, closer to the short story in technique than they
are to novels. And it is that novella technique that makes me think Castle of
Otranto is closer on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
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on 11/26/12
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John, I have not received my copy of Munro's new book yet,
so do not know what changes she might have made in "Corrie" since
it appeared in New Yorker. I will get back to you when I get the book later
this week. on Alice Munro, "Corrie" New Yorker, Oct 11, 2010
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on 11/26/12
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I thought "Anything Helps" was a great story,
maybe the best in the collection. Not a wasted line. And certainly moving,
maybe the most moving piece in the lot.. Other than that, I definitely agree
with your other evaluations. I wasn't a fan of the Wilson story, either. A
great dialogue exchange with the director and the pet wrangler, but beyond
that, kind of meh.. on Best American Short Stories 2012—Part IV
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Anonymous
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on 11/21/12
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Read a review of Munro's new anthology in our local paper
this a.m. Intrigued by the reviewer's one-sentence reference to
"Corrie". Downloaded the book. Read "Corrie" first. Was fooled
and felt foolish as the last paragraphs went by. Wanted to plumb what this
story's story was and found your post (among not-so-well-thought-others).
Thanks. on Alice Munro, "Corrie" New Yorker, Oct 11, 2010
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John Read
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on 11/18/12
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And perhaps Castle of Otranto which you discuss as a short
fiction (in the Poe Study), if not short story, but which at 35,000 words is
quite a bit shorter than Gatsby, but still long for a short story. on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
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on 11/17/12
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I know your book on Poe, when I became interested in short
stories and saw that your blog was by the same guy who wrote your Study of
Poe's Short Fiction, I started to follow the blog. During Sandy I reread it
by LED lamp, and am very glad I did. It's not very long, but hardly modest.
And you can congratulate yourself for writing some deep, if brief,
discussions of Poe's short fiction without much lit crit jargon at all. I am
reading it through yet again but this time rereading the Poe story discussed.
For some reason I have a lot of problems wrapping my head around Metzengerstein,
and your discussion was very helpful. I am trying to write some of my own
thoughts on some of Poe's fictions, and frankly was very impressed with your
straightforward approach, which I feel is absolutely essential. I am also
trying to read more of the coeval German romantics, especially Tieck. If a
couple of those guys had been fused int the same person perhaps there would
have been a German Poe, on Terrence Holt's In The Valley of the Kings and Edgar Allan
Poe
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on 11/14/12
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You said "The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel, but
that is because, in my opinion, it is more a long short story than it is a
short novel." I think discussing your ideas about that would make a very
interesting post, that would have to go in some measure to the crux of what a
short story is, if it can be as long as a 50,000+ words. Eric on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
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on 11/14/12
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I was puzzled to see that Axis is not in Munro's new
collection. That decision intrigues me. Best American Short Stories but not
Dear Life? Why? I'll be thinking about that as I make my way through Dear
Life. on Best American Short Stories 2012: Part II
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Susan
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on 11/7/12
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My reactions to "Paramour" and
"Volcano" were the reverse of yours - I was more interested in
"Paramour," the idea of how new knowledge changes how we feel about
past events, and the interesting wording of the ending paragraph – the
narration isn't through Christine any more, but she'd probably find the last
sentence kind of startling. And creepy. Whereas I couldn't overcome my
intense feeling of unfairness generated by "Volcano" – and it felt
kind of standard psych-horror, lifted up a notch by the lucid dreaming
seminar. But the sensuality of the story was pretty remarkable. I loved
"Navigators" – it's my favorite in the volume so far, because it
conveys this heartbreaking situation in such a strange context. It's the kind
of read-between-the-lines thing I love. I'm curious to see how it plays out
with those with no gaming background at all. Interesting this is the second
year in a row a heavy-duty gaming story, telling a story through the game
itself, has been included in BASS ( on Best American Short Stories 2012: Part II
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on 11/7/12
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I'm so glad you're going through BASS 2012 story by story.
I liked "…Anne Frank" a lot more than when I read it back in its
TNY run, mostly because I stopped trying to compare it trope for trope to the
original. It was the choreography, who touches whom, who snipes at whom,
where they are and where they go, the claustrophobic pantry, that really sold
me. "Pilgrim Life" reminded me of "After Ellen," a TNY
story from the summer that I truly hated, and I couldn't get past it, but I
thought it was better. At least there was movement. But yeah, I agree, the
loser thing annoys me. "The Other Place" felt like a manipulation
to me. But that's me. Who am I to argue with Mary Gaitskill. I loved
"Last Speaker" with its flawed characters who love each other
anyway – and the tiny bits of humor (the wheelchair might be a feature rather
than an obstacle…lol). And the daughter who changed her name, which the
mother never realized was possible – that projects something into the future.
I on Fourth Anniversary of Reading the Short Story: Reading Best
American Short Stories: 2012
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on 11/7/12
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very nice blog sir , i read your bio also its glad to know
that you have teaching experience of 40 years . on Frank O'Connor Short Story Award Shortlist: 2012-- Kevin
Barry's Dark Lies the Island
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on 11/4/12
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Don't apologise, Charles. I like reading your thoughts and
chewing over them. And this theme, of the grasp at timelessness and the
inevitable falling back, is one of the great themes, as you eloquently point
out. I was reminded, in another context - thinking about the relationship
between literary and musical forms - of Proust, and of Orpheus, who has to
look back.... on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
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on 11/4/12
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Dorothy, The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel, but that
is because, in my opinion, it is more a long short story than it is a short
novel. And yes, I agree that what Lewis describes as something that is
timeless is something that Gatsby tries to embody in Daisy. When he must face
the reality that she is only a temporal event in space--mere flesh--and
therefore subject to all that flesh is heir to, the loss is too great. The
green light that he yearns to reach out for (which is untouchable) is already
behind him and therefore accessible only in the imagination. When Nick tells
Gatsby he can't repeat the past, he is incredulous, insisting that, of course
he can. All religion and all art aspire in some way to defeating time. So, we
beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past
because even as we know we cannot escape time, cannot, as we live achieve
timelessness, we continue to beat on--like Ahab, like Kurtz, like Oedipus,
like Hamlet, and on and on. So on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
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on 11/4/12
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It's October 31st today and i didn't feel I could write to
anybody living in America without expressing my sorrow for all those who've
suffered in the terrible storm. I wanted to pick up on one of your quotes
from CS Lewis. 'We grasp at a state and find only a succession of events in
which that state is never quite embodied.' For some reason, this made me
think of the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, at the end of 'The Great
Gatsby'. I wondered whether the green light might have been, for Gatsby, an
instance of what Lewis is talking about. And I wanted to ask you - because
surely you will have thought about it - why the green light is already behind
Gatsby (at the time Nick is talking about) and what is happening with time in
these last paragraphs of the story. on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
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on 10/31/12
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Thanks for this, Jay. I am looking forward to the book--I
always look forward to a Munro collection. I don't know why she left Axis out;
it is in the new Best American Short Stories Collection. I will take a look
at the changes Munro has made, especially in "Corrie," which was
debated quite a bit on my blog and others. I don't like the sound of
"Finale" either; and the title "Dear Life" has a
valedictory tone to it also, don't you think? Especially since "Dear
Life" first appeared in the New Yorker not as a story, but as a memoir.
Thanks for reading my blog, Jay. I appreciate it. on Alice Munro's "Amundsen" and The Stories in Her New
Book, Dear Life
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on 10/29/12
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Hi, Dorothy. Thanks for reading my blog. I have heard
other short story writers talk about the form in terms of a musical form. It
seems that sometimes the subject of the story is not as important as the
pattern or rhythm. I have read a number of stories in the present tense. The
problem I have with some of them is that they neglect one of the primary
aspects of "story" as an event that occurred in the past, as an
event that the storyteller feels has a sense of completion--not just one
thing after another. on Is the Short Story an Obsessive, Unnatural Form?
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on 10/29/12
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I ordered a copy of the new collection (it's already out
in Canada), and just finished reading it. Wonderful stuff, needless to say.
It's worth re-reading the stories that have been printed in the various
publications, since Munro has made some changes. (For instance, I believe she
adds a paragraph to the end of "Corrie" that quite changes the
story.) All the stories Munro has published since TOO MUCH HAPPINESS are
collected, with the exception of "Axis". I wonder why Munro decided
to omit that one, and I'm curious to see if it shows up in a book in the
future. I certainly hope we see more collections, though I have to say that
there was a slight valedictory air to the last four stories in DEAR LIFE,
which Munro includes under the heading "Finale". What a wonder
Munro is! The only complaint I have about the book is the decision to put
"To Reach Japan" first. Generally, short story collections should open
and close with their strongest stories, right? So I was a bit flummoxed on Alice Munro's "Amundsen" and The Stories in Her New
Book, Dear Life
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Jay
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on 10/29/12
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Thanks for saving me $14.95!!! on Junot Diaz’s This is How You Lose Her
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on 10/28/12
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This is a PS to my last comment. What do you think of the
current fashion of writing solely in the present tense, (both novels and
short stories)? It suddenly occurred to me to put the question to you. on Is the Short Story an Obsessive, Unnatural Form?
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on 10/28/12
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Thank you for these insights, Charles. I've read several
of your posts now, and they always give me food for thought. I think, from
the perspective of writing short stories as compared with novels, the unity
is as much one of pitch and tone as other qualities. I'm conscious of this as
I write, how the pitch of a story is intense and unsustainable over time, how
I could not and would not wish to sustain it. It often helps me to think in
relation to musical forms. on Is the Short Story an Obsessive, Unnatural Form?
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on 10/28/12
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I got quite tired of reading Diaz's stories as they kept
popping up in The New Yorker. On my blog, I've become quite grumpy about his
work and there have been some interesting arguments in the comments sections
between those who think like I do and those who defend him, only I've yet to
read a convincing defense. Ah well, I'm sure we'll be hearing his name
throughout the awards season this year. on Junot Diaz’s This is How You Lose Her
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on 10/26/12
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You seem like you need to do something other than read
another short story. Maybe write one. on Junot Diaz’s This is How You Lose Her
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Anonymous
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on 10/25/12
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I haven't read him. The quotes you use make him sound
interesting but,I appreciate your bucking the headwind of flattering
commentary. on Junot Diaz’s This is How You Lose Her
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Anonymous
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on 10/23/12
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Yes, indeed. I think the short story is "mostly"
interested in the everyday world to the extent that it can be transformed
into significance. I think there is indeed a category of experience one could
call the "personally mythic." In fact, I am not sure I know what a
universal sacredness is; I think sacred is always personal; when it becomes
other, it becomes a "church" and thus social. on The Profane and the Sacred: Novel vs. Short Story
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on 10/20/12
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Do you think there could be a middle ground in the short
story? Something that is beyond profane but, only personally mythic and not
touching a universal sacredness. on The Profane and the Sacred: Novel vs. Short Story
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Anonymous
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on 10/20/12
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Thanks for this wonderfully detailed comment, Michael. I
am sorry I do not have the time to respond to it as it deserves at this
moment. However, when Munro's new book comes out, I plan to look carefully to
see if she has tweaked the story (as she often does). I will get back to this
when I get the book. on Alice Munro's "Corrie": Secrecy and Point of View
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on 10/20/12
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As usual, good to hear from you. I am glad you have discovered
Valley of Kings. And, of course, Poe has always been a favorite of mine. I
tried in my modest little book on Poe to explain how and why he became such a
master of the short story. It is surprising just how many authors have been
influenced by Poe, don't you think? For example, John Barth has said he owes
much to Poe. I think Millhauser is indebted to Poe as is George Saunders. on Terrence Holt's In The Valley of the Kings and Edgar Allan
Poe
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on 10/20/12
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Steve, thanks for this information. I am surprised that
"Axis" is not in the collection since it is in the new Best
American Short Stories collection. I look forward to reading the two
previously unpublished stories. on The Profane and the Sacred: Novel vs. Short Story
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on 10/20/12
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Thanks very much for this, Sandra. I always appreciate
your comments. I am not arguing that the novel never deals with the sacred
and the profane, but rather that the short story is, from its very beginning,
based on the human encounter with the tension between the sacred and the
profane. I think, as opposed to the novel, which is most often focused on
social issues, the short story is more often focused on personal spiritual
issues. I hope to make this clearer in my book; or I should say, I
"must" make this clear in the book. Thanks again. on The Profane and the Sacred: Novel vs. Short Story
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on 10/20/12
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Thanks for you comment, Carmen. What you would like most
in a book such as I am working on is precisely what I hope to make it. I
appreciate your reading my blog. on How-to-Read Books and New Book on Reading Short Stories
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on 10/20/12
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Thanks for your comments, Kelly. And thanks much for
checking out my blog. Denis Johnson's collection is an important one, it
seems to me. I look forward to hearing from you again. on Denis Johnson's "Emergency": Puzzle the Prof
Contest--Short Story Month 2011
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on 10/20/12
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Love your interpretation. I looked at it from the vantage
point of the Vietnam War and the blindness/justification towards it: We
killed the mother and saved the children; Neil Young reference/our bumbling
about like the incompetent doctor/Fat Quivering Nurse worried only about
herself and her family. Will definitely return to this piece again and again,
as both a writer and a reader. on Denis Johnson's "Emergency": Puzzle the Prof
Contest--Short Story Month 2011
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on 10/12/12
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Thank you so much for working on this project. As a short
story writer, I wanted to give you my input. I think a book that shows
general readers (especially those who "prefer novels") how to
appreciate short stories is sorely needed. There are plenty of how-to-write
books and writing workshops for short story writers. What I would like to see
is something I can hand my mother, roommate or ESL student, that will leave
them with a better understanding of why the short story can be a fascinating
and beautiful form. Selfishly, what I would most like is a book that would
help people understand why I love what I read and write. on How-to-Read Books and New Book on Reading Short Stories
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on 10/11/12
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Charles - not related to your post, but I thought you'd
want to know that the table of contents of Munro's "Dear Life" is
now visible on Amazon.ca (since the Canadian publ. date is earlier than the
US one). Fourteen stories, two previously unpublished, and of her recent
published work "Axis" (New Yorker, Jan. 2011) is not included. on The Profane and the Sacred: Novel vs. Short Story
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Steve
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on 10/9/12
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This is fascinating to me. But in the back of my mind I
wonder what you say about the novels of Hilary Mantel in particular the 'who
am I' question posed throughout regarding Cromwell. (Wolf Hall and Bring Up
the Bodies) It does seem to me she straddles the novel and short story in how
she writes the profane (the historical events) and the sacred (the moral
dilemmas and complexities of self). Have I missed the point about this
separation of novel and short story? Thank you so much for a unique and
outstanding blog. on The Profane and the Sacred: Novel vs. Short Story
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on 10/7/12
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Just finished In The Valley Of Kings which I would no
doubt not have read without having read your post. So thanks for that. I
fervently admire Poe's writings (I believe Pym to be as overlooked a
masterpiece as overlooked can be), and it was worth reading Holt just to try
to pick up the references to different tales. There was some strong Kafka
influences in there too. I don't know if it is a novella or short story but
the title piece was VERY well constructed, kind of like the Pit and the
Pendulum with no way out. Anyway thanks for the recommend and if you know of
any other good literature that is similarly Poe-etic, I would be glad to know
of it. Personally I think Poe was right, the essential possibility of the
short story is to hold it in the mind all at once, that it is short. Just
about everything else is more or less true about shorter or longer forms. Des
Esseintes or Mersault is as artificial and marginal as Bartleby or Roderick
Usher. Oh, by the way, in terms of my on Terrence Holt's In The Valley of the Kings and Edgar Allan
Poe
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on 10/5/12
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Hello, I've just redd Munro's story as appears in the
Pen/O. Henry anthology, and the reason I Googled this story (and found your
page) is that I wanted to see if anyone had understood the structure as I
had. From your discussion, it looks to me as if everyone is unduly
simplifying (or complicating?) the terms of what Munro does. That is,
everyone accepts implicitly that Corrie's conclusion is correct and is trying
to decide if Munro cheated. This seems wrong to me in the first place. The
story hinges on how Corrie perceives herself: as damaged, as self-deprecating
under "her self-satisfaction, if that's what it was", as
"lucky" for whatever scraps she can claim, as precisely the sort of
person who deserves to "pay" and be tricked. This doesn't have to
be something Howard does to her, although it may work just fine in his favor.
Munro tells us that Corrie has come to her conclusion in the night, but Munro
doesn't tell us Corrie is correct, nor does she provide evidence that she is.
on Alice Munro's "Corrie": Secrecy and Point of View
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Anonymous
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on 10/1/12
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thanks for posting. on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
Significance of Rereading
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Anonymous
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on 9/27/12
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Thanks, Sandra. When someone who never reads lit crit
finds my own writing helpful, that is about the best complement I could
receive. Above all else, I want to be readable and helpful. on Is the Short Story an Obsessive, Unnatural Form?
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on 9/25/12
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I write and read short stories. I almost never read lit
crit but I find that your writing informs my own esthetic for writing as well
as reading. I look forward to your upcoming book on Reading the Short Story.
on Is the Short Story an Obsessive, Unnatural Form?
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on 9/25/12
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It is wonderful to come across something brand new. I've
been reading Lewis for years but never heard of "On Stories". Thank
you for the information! I'm going to begin my search for this book
immediately. nortonliterature.blogspot.com on C.S Lewis on the Hidden Element in Stories and the
Significance of Rereading
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on 9/24/12
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Thanks for writing, Jay. I too like Richard Yates's
stories, although I think he is a better novelist. I have written about his
stories and agree that Eleven Kinds of Loneliness is a better collection than
Liars in Love. Yates provides me with an interesting opportunity to discuss
the problem of "realism" in short stories. I will see if I can find
the piece I did a few years ago on Yates's stories. on 200 Short Stories I admire From Boccaccio up to the 21st
Century
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on 9/21/12
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Good to hear from you, Michael. I have listened to David
Means' reading of "Chef's House' and his discussion of the story, which
I like. I also am a great admirer of Means'stories and have posted more than
one blog essay on his work. Glad you agree with me about Toibin, who is a
better novelist than a short story writer in my own humble opinion. on Colm Tóibín’s THE EMPTY FAMILY: 2011 Frank O'Connor Short
Story Award Shortlist
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