Driving to Work Thoughts...

[yeemichan]

While driving to work this morning, my brain decided that it would debate the merits of short stories vs. novels.

Comments

[mariann]

Out of curiosity, what are your top 5 favorite books? Any genre, any period, any author.

[yeemichan]

In no particular order,

"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
"Dracula" by Bram Stoker
"The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas
"The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes)" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

At least these are the 5 that pop into my head at the moment. It probably changes weekly.

[mariann]

It's really interesting to me that the 4 of the 5 that first popped into your head are classics, and 2 of those classics are over 500 pp. So something in those works really connect with you on some level, be it character as you mentioned or story or some other reason. There's no rhyme or reason to this question/observation, mind you, just a curiosity. And even though your list may change from one moment to the next, maybe keeping track of this sort of thing will help you find other longer works that will be enjoyable. :)

I've never read Ender's Game or, I'm ashamed to say, The Three Musketeers, but Dracula was definitely a favorite thanks to a gothic literature unit back in high school. Also liked Frankenstein, as I recall, and still adore Wuthering Heights. Some day I intend to finish Moby Dick... I'm just not in any rush. :)

[yeemichan]

Yeah, couldn't actually finish Moby Dick. Not because it was long, but because I couldn't stand the writing style. Wuthering Heights was never finished, because, for some reason, I didn't enjoy the story.

I think my novel vs. short story observation, at least for me, was more applicable to modern authors. I can't seem to be able to connect as readily with the characters and stories from a lot of modern authors. Classics, I can usually get through. Some of the newer stuff, not so much. I mean, I had issues with the last few books of Harry Potter. I almost didn't get through the first 200 pages of "Order of the Pheonix" because I thought there was too much rambling. I get the same feelings with the longer works of other authors, like James Patterson, Stephen King, Michael Donnelly, etc.

[stardustshine]

I prefer novels myself, for the same reason I prefer tv shows to movies - it just prolongs the enjoyment more - but I have huge respect for short-story authors. I think it takes a lot more skill to create a well-crafted short story than it does to write a novel. In fact, I wish more novel authors did some work in short stories because I think it develops skills that are sadly lacking in novels these days, most notably the ones you mentioned. Too much fluff with no purpose, stuff that, in my opinion, and editor should have sat down with them and said, "Look, you don't need this, it's detracting from your story and you need to think very seriously about taking it out." I also think that novels (and movies especially) also lack unity of purpose these days - writers need to decide what ideas are important to have in *this book* and then save the rest for something else

[nitasee]

I like both, but depends entirely on the writer. I think I'm more selective with short story writers, though I can't pinpoint why. If you ask me, Ray Bradbury is a master of the short story.

[yeemichan]

I do enjoy Ray Bradbury a great deal. I think he was one of my first introductions into short stories. Him and Edgar Allen Poe. Still in my top favs list.