Good short stories are elves, and they are extremely elastic, like soft matter in the physical realm. Their vitality does not depend on the amount of quantity, but on the internal structure.
As a narrative art, it is impossible to structure a story, and in the cramped space of the short story, there is nowhere to escape the responsibility of storytelling.
If it is a novella or a long story, xu has room for maneuver, and can justify itself within a spacious space, but isn't the novel self-justifying? Reproduce a premise that arises from a hypothesis to the end.
In this process of reproduction, the medium and long pieces have the opportunity to derive and add new conditions, constantly supplement or modify the way, and also allow a little side work, or even stay.
But the short story does not become, once the beginning must be planned properly, can not be spent on the way to unnecessary consumption.
This does not imply that there are any shortcuts to be taken, that there are any omissions, but that if so, it will certainly detract from its vitality, which is contrary to the original intention of our creation.
So, not in a simplified way, but in what? Still borrowing from the concept of physics, Einstein's school has a view that the highest principle of theory is to judge whether it is "elegant" or not.
How can "elegance" lie in theory?
Einstein's opinion was: "As simple as possible, but it can no longer be simplified." "I thought this explanation could be used in the same imaginary way. Therefore, a good short story has a definition, that is, elegance.
In the age of storytelling around the fire, I think short stories should be told in one night, so that the listener of the story can go back to sleep contentedly.
At that time, there was no electricity lighting, the firewood in the brazier had to be saved, and the daytime work could not afford to stay up late, so the story could not be too long.
Even Sheikh Ratchada in "The Night" must not stop telling in order to save her life, but in fact, she knows how to connect one story to the next, and every night, she still tells only one story, that is, a short story.
From this point of view, the short story has considerable leeway for storytelling, and there is a complete opportunity to create suspense, let the characters into the set, and then unbutton, and let the characters in the set get out.
It is also possible, or it must be, to have the humor of the narration, otherwise how can it reach the audience? In that era, the relationship between creators and audiences was simple and direct, and there was no cover to detour.
Many short stories come from this classical tradition and are responsible narrators, such as Maupassant of France, whose famous "Jewelry" condenses the truth derived from small people in the long and ordinary normality of life into such an interesting event, which seems to be a completely unfortunate accident.
Short stories are often written on chance, but this accident brings together all the necessary reasons. The reason is sufficient, but it should not be too clustered, which will appear sluggish and bulky, lacking in aftertaste.
So it is still necessary to return to contingency, which must be a very good accident, which can be relaxed and relaxed, and can accommodate the logic that must be formed with ease.
Another example is the French Tudor's "The Last Lesson", these short stories have been exemplary for many years, and they have their own truths.
France was occupied and schools canceled French lessons on a day when a truant child was dying. If I were to write about the day of the grocery store owner, I am afraid it would not be so to the point.
French writers seem to be quite good at short stories, is there anything to do with the exquisite rococo ethos? Unique insight, from the details to see the overall situation.
It is also due to nature, born to like subtle things, Flaubert's long pieces, are inlaid with delicate details, seamless, each part of the independent view is also its own world.
Proust's "Remembrance of a Watery Age" is to cut a small world like a diamond into countless prisms, and the edges and edges refract and reflect the glow, and finally exhaust the light and reach saturation.
Short stories are a bit like diamonds, the more cutting surfaces, the more light is collected, one is to see the purity of the material, and the other is to see how the craftsmanship is.
Short stories are not all so crystal clear, and some are much more simple, such as Chekhov's short stories.
The temperament of the Russians is serious and heavy, and the broad-mindedness is related to the living environment and geographical climate of this nation, and the forests, rivers, fields, deserts in winter and the blossoming of flowers in spring are all large and heavyweight.
Chekov's short stories, even if they are extremely short, are not frivolous, and cannot be said to be dexterous and exquisite, his "Death of a Petty Official", "Chameleon", "Set of People", are all short and concise works, but they are full of real life.
It is from the world of grabbing one thing and one person, out of a particularly sharp and merciless gaze, into the wood three points, due to excessive focus, it is somewhat deformed, become absurd, but the bottom is a more severe reality.
And Korolenko, unlike Chekhov, who wrote a lot and was famous, but also had some short stories that were unforgettable.
For example, in "Strange Woman", on the way to exile, the escort soldiers tell his experience - many Russian novels are structured on the story of someone, and the fire that told stories in ancient times has continued, continuing the bonfire in Turgenev's "White Quiet Steppe".
Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades" is the fireplace in the living room, where the famous white nights are prolonged, and the time is extended, and it is passed by storytelling—in "Strange Woman", which is the stove in the caravanserai, where the young man recounts that he once escorted a female revolutionary party.
A short encounter, just right for a short story, there is an unrealized possibility in the encounter, which can go beyond the thing itself, and constantly stretch out, straight to the vast world.
And Pu Ning, "Light Breathing." In Russian novelists, this lightness is not that lightness.
A young girl, who still has time to leave a coherent life, is only a few pieces of scales and broken claws, and finally goes with the wind, stored in the blind and pious heart of the old maid, comforting each other.
A short story structured in such a loose plot is bound to have an underlying cohesion. The Russians are full of strength, small things, but weighing the scales, like meteorites, the speed is aggravated, and the force is pointed to the human heart.
To talk about short stories, it is impossible to avoid O Henry, his stories, are perfect, seem to be too complete, that is, too responsible, will not let people's expectations be disappointed, satisfaction is satisfaction, after all, lack of aftertaste.
This is the Americans, immigrants of the New World, the foundation is somewhat shallow, from the hometown to bring the road inside, there is a story of this bowl "old woman soil", light and dexterous, but also according to local conditions.
There are also some jugglers in the market who want to practice their craft well, hide their cleverness, and do not show flaws. As the saying goes: the drama will change, and each has a different way of changing.
O Henry's tricks are sweet and sad variations, such as "Maggie's Gift", such as "The Last Ivy Leaf", and the listeners sitting around the brazier will shed a few tears and make a few sighs, which is rare to have his kind heart and intelligence.
How many years have passed, to Carver, the village atmosphere of the foreigners has been purified, and it has been educated, and this short story is much more profound and ambiguous, some minimalist, and some like a mystery, and the conditions for the puzzle are very limited, that is, the riddle of the trick, which requires a wise and educated audience.
It is a story for reading, a story for interpretation, a written story, so it is closer to the concept of "short story".
Salinger's short stories are also written, but he seems to be more responsible than Carver, and that responsibility lies in the fact that even in such uncertain situations, he strives to carry the narrative through to the end. Leave the difficulty of comprehension more to yourself than to the reader.
Many indescribable subtleties, he always conveyed to the maximum, such as "For Esme", the tea chat between the young man and the little girl who was about to go to the front, if it was in Carver, maybe he would leave a mystery, and then turn away, Salinger must come one by one.
There are some too many words, but more talk and less talk are different, subtle situations emerge from the literal bottom, this is the real subtlety.
Even if it is more talked, it is still in the scope of short stories, and no matter how much sea chat is just an occasional tea chat.
Again, short stories are mostly written by accident, if they are medium and long, occasional encounters will continue to develop, and short stories, encounters are just encounters.
The confusion is, what can we do in such a moment of cross-arming? Salinger answered this question, only to do a limited number of things, but there is an infinite meaning in this limited thing.
Maybe it was too much effort, so he didn't write much, not like a professional writer, but a ticket-playing. And he is indeed a professional writer, and only professional writing can do such a wonderful job.
Luigi Pirandello, Italy, wrote more than two hundred short stories in his lifetime.
That nation has a large number of fairy tales and legends, like Calvino, specially collected and sorted out two major volumes of fairy tales, you can see the close relationship between fairy tales and them, but also can see the love of the nation for stories, see what is a story.
It is like the immortal path in Chinese mythology, turning stones into gold, no matter what, once it is legendary, it becomes a story with a beginning and an end.
For example, Pirandello's "Taxidermy Bird" is about a gentleman in the family of genetic diseases, determined to fight against fate, medicine, nutrition, abstinence, exercise, and finally survived the limits of survival.
According to folklore, it is safe to say, "He has lived a happy life ever since", but here things are not over, what will the people with genetic diseases do?
Never again, he had one last attempt, that is, to shoot himself and finally master his fate! This is not a fairy tale, but a short story.
The writing of modern intellectuals gradually departed from the originality of the story and began to enter the seriousness of real life, no longer simply believing in miracles, and things continued to proceed under normalcy.
As for the norm, the short story is not the best choice, and Carver's short story is the norm, but it is somewhat obscure.
Calvino's short stories resemble modern fables, Virginia Woolf's short stories in England are closer to prose, and Ireland's James Joyce's Dubliners is an exception, opening a small window into his lengthy daily life for us to peek into, some russian temperament.
In my opinion, the short story still depends on strange feelings, and it is probably because of this that the output of the short story is decreasing.
Japanese short stories are rather bland in the impression, which is probably related to the Japanese language, and the honorific system is full of solemn rituals, making the narrative process twisty and long.
Modernism, on the other hand, gave the opportunity, and many nascent concepts catalyzed forms, and Mr. Chiji Kuroi could be regarded as the first to lead the trend.
I once read a new generation of Japanese female writer Yamada Yongmei novel, called "yo-yo", wrote a pair of men and women meet, buy each other spring, the first day she buys him, the next day he buys her, each day to pay the bill less than one money, and in the end, there is no money left, and the purchase of spring is over.
There is also a mr. Takuro Shinyoshi, a novel called "Salmon", which uses his wife to write a letter to her girlfriend, because her ran husband suddenly returned to stop writing, and it was three months after he mentioned the pen again, "He is completely like a salmon, desperately going back to the stream..."
Jiro Asada's short story "RailroadMan" is named after the movie star Ken Takakura, whose short stories are mostly supernatural stories, and he describes himself as "What happened to you... Gentle miracle", which is also in line with my concept,
Short stories should have strange feelings, and "gentle miracles" are really a good saying, opening up the gap in an overly compact life.
In contrast, the Chinese language is actually suitable for short stories, simple and multi-meaning, concise and vague, Chinese tradition and has a delicate and light taste.
For example, the famous "Liaozhai Zhiyi", are good short stories, such as "Wang Liulang", a fairy and a custom, gathered and scattered, acquaintance and acquaintance, is the ancient version of "Brokeback Mountain", but not so sad, but happy!
It is simply strange that the short story is made of what material, can be stretched freely, and it is appropriate to be relaxed and urgent, and it is no longer a concept of modern physics that can be explained, but to go to Eastern mysticism.