Books Worth Reading

Inspired by reading The Best American Short Stories 2007, edited by Stephen King.

I have never been a big fan of the short story. I like to immerse myself in a world, really get to know and love the characters of a story, and read a complete narrative–beginning, middle and end. For me, this can only happen satisfactorily in novel form. In fact, I prefer longer novels, and I am not daunted by books weighing in at 500 pages or more.

I wanted the collection Best American Short Stories 2007 to add to my Stephen King collection (King was the guest editor). But since it represents the best of contemporary short story writing, I thought I’d challenge myself and see if I could find something to like about the short story in reading it.

A short story is only really long enough to do one of two things well: explore a single character or detail a single incident. In doing so, a good story will reveal a truth about the human condition. Both types of stories are presented in this collection. I prefer the incident stories, which seem to be more about something than the character-driven ones.

But even though I recognized that the writing overall was very good and all the stories were engaging, I still failed to connect with many of them on any more than an appreciative level. At the end of the story, I usually found myself asking, “So what?” These stories seem so fraught with meaning, so important, and yet so little happens. The meaning is subtle and hidden, requiring a more patient or insightful reader than me to dig it out.

I realize this is not necessarily the fault of the writer, but I am not going to blame the reader either. The short story is just not a form of literary conversation that engages me. My husband, an avid reader of short stories, would disagree with me, but isn’t it wonderful that there are all sorts of books and stories available to us, and both of us can find something to satisfy?

I will note the exception that proves the rule. One story out of the entire selection of the year’s best spoke to me very strongly. It’s also the story with the best title: “Where Will You Go When Your Skin Cannot Contain You?” by William Gay. I responded to it because it made vivid an emotional state I have never personally felt but that I could understand and experience just by experiencing this story. I also liked it because it is one of the darkest stories in the book. Runners-up were “Balto” by T.C. Boyle and “Allegiance” by Aryn Kyle.

But overall, reading this collection only served to convince me that the short story is just not for me. And that’s okay.