The novel versus the short story or Why would one bother to read short fiction in the first place?

This entry will examine an idea that I have encountered while following other writers and readers of fiction. The idea that short fiction is not as worthy of a reader's time than other literary forms like the novel, typically pointed to as the most respectable of literary pursuits There are so many great novels written throughout history making this a fairly strong argument.

The best option for a reader is to focus exclusively on novels. When one thinks of the greatest works of literature, the list typically includes only novels, so it follows that the novel form is the best in literature. Frankly, I don't see much value in this argument. After all variety is the spice of life and we should read as many different things as possible to have a greater appreciation for the different forms that literature can take.

So what is a short story? What is a novel? Why should I care?

In terms of definition, a short story is typically any piece of literature with a word count of 1,000 to 4,000 words. However a piece of writing can have a word count up to 20,000 words and still be considered a short story. Due to its shorter word count, short stories generally are less elaborate than novels and take less time to read, but does that mean that we should stay away from short stories and focus entirely on novels?

Ultimately the answer to this is up to you. Read what you want when you want.  If you get satisfaction from reading Gravity's Rainbow or Infinite Jest and then telling your friends about it, then go ahead. I'm not going to stop you. I'm guilty of the same exact thing.

Yet as a reader of many short stories, here is something I would like for you to consider. A short story is basically a more concentrated version of the novel. When someone who reads novels says that short stories are worthless, that person has unknowingly attacked their own literary form of choice. To anyone who says that reading novels is better than reading short stories, I would say variety is the spice of life. Perhaps consider putting down your Thomas Pynchon novel and trying some Flannery O'Connor, perhaps starting with 'The  Barber'

I have read both novels and short stories. I started with novels early in my life and didn't encounter short stories until high school English classes. It was here that I first read the stories of Hemingway, Hawthorne and Poe. These stories showed me the power of the form to create a more condensed and powerful reading experience. It never occurred to me that this shorter form was any less worthy or meaningful. In fact I believe the opposite is true. In a world where attention spans are becoming shorter all the time, I would argue that the short story is the form best suited to meet our literary needs in the 21st century.

I hope that this was informative. Please remember, don't let anyone tell you that short stories are "less than" or "more than" another literary form. All writing is words on a page and we should ultimately read what we want. To me that is the beauty of literature.

/rant

The Kiss by Anton Chekhov

In 'The Kiss' by Anton Chekhov several military officers are invited to an aristocrat's house at night to partake in a party. The military officers are worried about going to the party because they recently experienced a similar situation where a rich old dude kept them up all night talking about boring stuff. But this party turns out to be a lot better than that experience. There are women, dancing and drinks at this party which creates an awkward situation for one soldier in particular named Ryabovich. For every other soldier, this is seemingly not an awkward situation. Ryabovich is decribed as shy, modest and undistinguished in comparison to his fellow soldiers.

Ryabovich enters a dark room where he is kissed by a woman who mistakes Ryabovich for another man. This accidental kiss has a profound effect on Ryabovich. In the days following the party, he thinks about the kiss constantly and it gives him something nice to think about while going through the day-to-day of a soldier's routine.

This is basically all there is to the story. There is also the detailed descriptions of scenery that for me exemplify Chekhov's unique writing style. The way that Chekhov describes the setting of his story is similar to a painter. Chekhov uses visual language which allowed me to imagine the story in rich detail. Here is an example:

'The red moon was reflected near the left bank; little ripples ran over the reflection, stretching it out, breaking it into bits, and seemed trying to carry it away...'

Writing such as this is my favorite thing about Chekhov's stories. The scenery is so richly imagined and described that it almost takes precedence over the story. I know that Chekhov was interested in landscape painting and this interest is reflected often in his stories. In a story like 'The Kiss' where the plot is short, I find myself looking more at Chekhov's descriptions to find insight regarding the story.

At the end of the 'The Kiss' we can see a distinct change in Ryabovich's mental state. At first Ryabovich daydreams about the kiss, causing him to feel pleasure while going through his daily routine. But after revealing the incident to his comrades, Ryabovich's emotions change drastically. "And the whole world, the whole of life, seemed to Ryabovich an unintelligible, aimless jest." This character arc left me with a sad feeling regarding this story. It would seem that Ryabovich would be better off without the kiss from the woman because it merely opened his eyes to what his life is lacking. It's the kind of encounter that is so far removed from daily life that it opens one's eyes to how unpleasant life is in comparison to other people. Just a tiny taste of a better life has left Ryabovich in a depressed state. It's the kind of revelation that leads people to abandon their jobs in the search of something better. Indeed the story ends with Ryabovich refusing the next invitation to a party in favor of going to sleep in his tent.

Here are some other things I noticed about the story:

• The story's unique structure. There is one climactic event (the kiss) that takes place early on and the rest of the story examines the effects of this climactic event on the story's protagonist.
• The social obligation that requires wealthy families to invite military officers to their home. It provides a great setup for this story.

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