The Sentient Search Engine

Last week, I got a question from a mother at my branch. She was looking for books of short stories for her older boys (approximately 5th grade?) and wanted to know where she might find some. I worked my Librarian voodoo and we found her several. She was delighted and left happy, yet I was left with a hollow feeling. On the one hand, I was very happy that I could find so much for her without having to resort to reserves and interlibrary loan. On the other hand, the fact that so much short fiction was available hurt a little. Why was so much available? What’s wrong with short stories?

If you think about it, short stories have so much to recommend them! For early or reluctant readers short stories are a great way to break them in slowly. For that matter they’re great for any kid in this short-attention-span universe in which we now live, as they include a beginning, middle, and end that can be finished in one sitting.

Adults could likewise get into the action. All the folks that say “I don’t have time to read” almost always really mean “I don’t have time to get involved in a book right now”. Well who said you did!! Read a short story!! The longest ones probably won’t likely take longer than an hour, and there’s a lot of short fiction that’s just as powerful as the latest New York Times bestseller!! In the fast and busy pace of modern life, I’d think people would be jumping at the chance to read something that will fit in a smaller unit of time.

So why exactly can’t the cause of short fiction gain any traction? I think there are three main reasons.

1. Value Judgments - I think some have a perception that reading short fiction isn’t real reading. I have nothing to say to this other than it’s just dumb. The very idea that a child that has read a 3,000 page Harry Potter book (okay so I exaggerate on occasion) has accomplished more than another that’s read a couple short story collections is preposterous.
2. Quality – Some people have the idea that short fiction is shallower because the short length limits how well the author can develop characters. Tell that to Edgar Allan Poe, O Henry, or Mark Twain and get back to me on their reaction to that will ya’? Short fiction can be just as developed and high quality as its longer cousin in the hands of a good writer, just as a bad author can make a miserable novel! Length has nothing to do with quality, get over it!!
3. Personal Taste – There are some folks who just prefer the longer forms. This is totally a matter of preference and the only reason for which I have any respect. I myself prefer longer works, by and large. I like investing in a book and getting cozy with the characters. Nevertheless, I do like to branch out on occasion. Short fiction is a great way to try new genres, styles, and authors. Sometimes after reading an especially epic tome I like to kick back with a short story collection to “clear the palate” as it were. Try it, it works!

Of course Novels have had better PR for quite some time. In so many literacy campaigns and reading clubs, there are frequent exhortations to “read a book”. That’s fine and all. I support that totally. Everyone should read more really. I guess it’s that “book” thing that concerns me. Couldn’t we say “read a story (of any length)” or (even better) just “read” like long running ALA campaign. I think it’s important to encourage people to read regardless of what appeals to them.

If you’ve never read short fiction, give it a shot!! If you have, give it another try! After all, why visit one world when you can visit twenty in the same amount of time?!