Heresy?

I feel like as someone who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree it's somehow not ok for me to say this, but here goes: I don't like short stories. I'm reading Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri right now, and, while I recognize that her writing is truly excellent, I find myself wishing over and over that the book was a novel and I could stay with one set of characters and situations rather than moving from one to the next to the next to the next.

My friend Patrick pointed out to me that it doesn't help that this particular book of short stories is incredibly depressing (although I believe book reviewers have preferred to use the terms "thoughtful" and "meditative"). It's not just that though - short stories are disorienting for me. I feel like I'm dropping in from nowhere, and then swooping back out again all too quickly. Each of the stories in Unaccustomed Earth is like a small, shimmering pearl (like I said, Lahiri never puts a foot wrong when it comes to her writing), but I get creeped out by the lack of context and the lack of closure.

I only mention this now because I was thinking about all of this last night and trying to think of other short story collections I've read, and how I felt while reading them. Nine Stories? Made me feel the same dislocation, and my love for Salinger borders on worship. Thinking of Salinger last night then made me think "Wait a second, is he dead yet? Surely I'd remember if he'd died?". He's still with us (I double-checked), but he's 90, so he's going on my celebrity deathwatch list along with Peter O'Toole (only 76?? Can that be true?) and Amy Winehouse (25, but I think you're with me on this).

But, I digress. Point being, short stories often leave me feeling icky, somehow. Lahiri's so good though that I'm going to power on through, icky feelings and all.

Comments

[drew]

I HATE SHORT STORIES!!!!!

[Tania Culbertson]

Yay! Thanks Drewy!