SHORT STORIES
Right from my younger days - school days to be more precise - I have been fascinated by the ability of writers to convey so much in a few pages. The protagonist, other supporting characters, if any, and the denouement, if the writer wants a closed end. There are stories however, which leave the reader pondering of the end, since the reader didn't find any resolution to any conflict. Such stories have a more lasting impression in me, at least, since I keep replaying the story in my mind; picturing the various scenarios presented by the writer, and trying to complete the story myself. Probably that is what the writer intends in the first place. Total involvement by the reader; bringing him/her closer to the scene of action and making him/her a part of the whole narrative.
Some authors have argued that a short story must have a strict form. Somerset Maugham
thought that the short story "must have a definite design, which
includes a point of departure, a climax and a point of test; in other
words, it must have a plot". This view is however opposed by Anton Chekov
who thought that a story should have neither a beginning nor an end. It
should just be a "slice of life", presented suggestively. (From: Wikipedia)
Among English short story writers, my favourite has been O. Henry. His life was interesting, to say the least and some of his stories were ones where there wouldn't be any conclusion with the reader left to ponder regarding what would happen next. Among Tamil short story writers, Sujatha (Rangarajan) was a master with his simple writing style and various genres that he explored. Jeffrey Archer is another master story teller and his short stories have been quite popular. Our Mahabharata contains so many short stories told by various characters during the exile of the Pandavas that they form the moral fibre of our culture and tradition. How can one forget R. K. Narayan and his Malgudi Days collection of short stories? The stories featured a small boy, Swami, and his interactions with various people who came into his life in the small fictional town, Malgudi.
Advertisements are another form of story telling. Now this is done in a few seconds and those ads that convey a story of sorts, capture our attention more and we look forward to the ads reappearing again for us to understand the 'story' embedded in the advertisement.
Sometimes when we read long novels or watch full length feature films, we tend to think that this would have made an excellent short story or a short film rather than the boring novel or full feature length film. Haven't you felt like that?
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