Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Short Story vs. Novel
The way I read novels, or longer stories, verses short stories are very different. I tend to find that when I read novels, it is easier for me to skim over the smaller details so I can get go for the bigger picture of what might be going. In short stories, I see the need to look further into what is being presented because what is being presented is a fraction of what we encounter in longer pieces. I also find that in short stories, the details grip you more. In The Yellow Wall Paper the woman describes the paper as having "a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down"(507). While this might seem like a trivial detail, it is the little things I find grip me in short stories. However, in longer novels such as the Wide Wide World, it is so easy to skim over the details especially when Ellen is crying...again. Missing out on the smaller details in the bigger scheme of things is not as big of a deal but in short stories, the it is in the details that the richness of the stories are found. Because of this I look for the details more carefully and therefore read more into the stories to seek out the details so that there can be richness in the plot lines. I feel like it is easier to get lost in a exert from a long novel where as because short stories are short, my attention is able to be kept for that short amount of time!
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Anna, I definitely agree! I am the same way with my reading habits towards novels versus short stories. When reading longer novels I sometimes skim over minor details too so I can read the more exciting things. Especially when Ellen was crying, great example by the way! I enjoy reading short stories because they make me think more about what I’m reading and they always keep me on my toes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of yall I always skim over long novels and when I read short stories I tend to pay more attention to every single word, so I don't miss out on an important point. I agree in the Yellow Wallpaper there where a bunch of important details that you may have missed if you skimmed over. I also skimmed over the Wide Wide World because I felt a lot of the reading was repetative and unlike short stories the major details stand out so you dont have to read it so carefully. Overall great post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree too that the details in short stories are so important. Even when we would talk about smaller details in stories like Wide Wide World, they seemed so trivial because the bigger picture and main idea was so much more important. I found it difficult at first to transition from long stories that you could skim parts of to short stories that you must pay such close attention to the whole time.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the change of the way you read novels is affected by it being a short story or a long novel. With the end of the story is further away, I tend to notice myself just reading for the plot and the events. When I read the short stories, I can allow myself to slow down and notice the details that can hold sometimes an even greater significance.
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