Saturday, June 9, 2012

The Power of Short Stories

When Ray Bradbury passed away this past week I clicked around the 'net reading many of the posts about this wonderful writer.  Checking out his biography I discovered that he wrote twenty-seven novels and over 600 short stories.  Of the novels only three were mentioned frequently "Fahrenheit 451",  "The Martian Chronicles" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". 

Amazingly it was his short stories that resonated with readers.  Stories like "The Veldt", "Dandelion Wine", "All Summer Long", and "A Sound of Thunder" were mentioned over and over.  Chuck Wendig, over on his blog, Terrible Minds, asked people to name their first Bradbury and the overwhelming majority had a short story tale to tell.  You can check it out here http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/06/07/your-first-bradbury/

Well written short stories have a sticking power that lasts well beyond their fleeting appearances in magazines.  They live forever in the minds of short story readers.

9 comments:

Manuel Royal said...

Well, "Dandelion Wine" is the title of both a short story and a sort-of novel; its chapters work as stand-alone stories, but together they form a very loosely-plotted novel. (The same is true of "Mister Roberts".) Many of them were published individually first. (I think the original short "Dandelion Wine" is Chapter 3 of the novel.)

I'd actually like to see this format used more. (Thought about that when I was doing a fiction column for an online paper.) So much of our life is episodes; short stories that might form a novel in hindsight.

Bradbury constantly demonstrated that, whether or not it's assigned to a "genre", a good story is a good story; and if it really gets into the pains and joys of the human heart, and the green meadows, dark alleys and pitch black flood-hollowed caverns of the human mind, it may be a great, lasting story. One of his best shorts was "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl", a masterpiece about obsession and guilt.

Charles Gramlich said...

Probably the most influential book on my life, or close to it, was the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume 1, which contains, to my mind, many of the greatest SF stories ever written. I just love short stories like those in the book, and Bradbury's of course.

sandra seamans said...

Yes, I love reading stories that are connected like that, Manuel. I have several group of them and have wondered about collecting them together.

Most of the best short story writers hated being lumped into a genre.

It's wonderful when you find a collection that resonates with you, Charles. The Western Hall of Fame Anthology did that for me. The stories were about the people of the West, not the gunfights and saloon brawls we usually associate with Westerns.

Chris said...

I have to say one of the best things I've done is this project I've been doing where I was going to read at least one story a day this year. Quickly it was up to two. Now I am shooting for three; as of this moment I'm at 371 for the year. I've learned a ton, and found some stories that I will remember for a long time.

And this coming from one of those people who, up until about 2 years ago, would have claimed to not really like short stories.

sandra seamans said...

The more you read, the more they grow on you, Chris.

pattinase (abbott) said...

That's true. What you said to Chris. After a while, novels seem bloated, forced to their greater length.

sandra seamans said...

Yes, they do, Patti. I read some novels and think what a great short story that would make. I miss the short novels, "novellas", that they used to publish. No bloating, just a great story.

David Cranmer said...

Short stories are where it is at. Plain and simple.

sandra seamans said...

They certainly are, David!