Blog 5 NR

Flash fiction in essence is a short, complete story of fiction. In broader terms, it is a more “to the point” body of work without the clutter of wordy descriptions and histories of characters, all the while still maintaining basic story structure. Such characters may therefore be more defined by their actions than descriptions given to them by the writer, thus giving the reader more room to develop its own opinion and draw its own conclusions.

Richard Currey uses the focus and brevity from shorter styles of writing to construct his novel, Fatal Light. By dividing each chapter into sub-sections, or “flashes”, catalogued scenes, events, and some graphic images throughout the book are further emphasized as separate and individual. There is also no transition between sections, further emphasizing this idea in an attempt to help the reader grasp simple, individual messages. As I cruised through the book I noticed that most if not all of the flashes started with one or two sentences that set the tone for their remainder, and that as I finished each one I was left with something to reflect on.

I found Currey’s tools useful in gripping my attention throughout this read as the frequency of presented events prevented my mind from wandering off and day dreaming. He didn’t hurt my brain with talk about what a true war story was or make me wonder whether Currey the narrator or Currey the writer was addressing me as the Nick reader. He wrote what happened and who said what, all while doing so in a way that made me feel connected to the narrator. Now to the question of whether or not this writing style benefits the writer’s ideas. Devil’s advocate says no.

Mortal Places-12 is two sentences long. If I were to summarize the sub-chapter I’d simply say that the narrator’s plane is approaching the Vietnamese coast and the view from the porthole is described. One might think that this event is of little importance, that it is a physical description of the scene and a mechanic to tell us time has passed. Although, If I am to be consistent with my theory that the author constructed the sub-chapters in order for us to take something away from each one and eventually as a whole, then this should have an underlying message as well. Is it supposed to spark thoughts of how he is about to be waging war on an innocent and beautiful country, a war of which it’s reasoning he is not even sure of, or are we supposed to drift into what we think we know about the Vietnam war, and the terrible future that surely lies ahead of him? By leaving this section so short, I’m left to wonder if Currey simply wanted to mark a passing of time or if he wanted to push the reader’s mind adrift. This writing style is not beneficial in conveying his ideas because while other messages and portrayed feelings may be more obvious in many flashes, the brevity of some others leaves room for question and debate, therefore leaving room for such ideas and feelings to be mixed with our interpretations. It is with the tedious clutter of long descriptions and histories that writers paint us the exact painting they want us to see.