Flash fiction is a form of storytelling where the author is required to or intends to tell a story in a limited number of words, ranging from 100 words to 1,000 words. Stories that are told through the form of flash-fiction tend to depict a single event without the frills and lace that usually accompany a longer piece of writing, making every word essential. This type of story has a beginning, middle and end and focuses on a single image using minimal descriptive words to convey a larger feeling or meaning.
In Richard Currey’s Fatal Light, flash fiction benefits the ideas in the story greatly because each of the chapter uses this form of story-telling and because the novel itself is a work of fiction. The majority of the chapters in the novel are short, no more than three pages long making them the perfect length for flash fiction. Each chapter shows the reader a snapshot of different portions of the war, ranging from the civilian point of view, to being drafted, to different parts of the war itself, and to the after effects as well. By giving the readers snapshots rather than detailed descriptions, Currey is able to effectively evoke specific emotions in the reader.
In the majority of the stories found in Fatal Light the reader starts off confused and has to piece the background of the story together through assumptions and tiny details. This allows the reader to draw out the meanings and focus of each story without having to read between the lines since everything is stated in a more straightforward manner- presenting only the facts and nothing more. Rather than telling the reader how something feels, flash-fiction usually allows the reader to experience a similar emotion and empathize with the narrator by understanding what happened. Currey does this throughout the novel and in doing so, is able to give readers a view of how Vietnam is able to make a solider uncaring and unfeeling.
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Flash fiction is a form of a fictional short story that is usually between 300 and 1000 words. Stories that are told through the form of flash-fiction tend to depict a single event without the frills and lace that usually accompany a longer piece of writing, making every word essential. Sometimes flash-fiction is also thought of as telling a story using selective memory. This type of story has a beginning, middle and end and focuses on a single image using minimal adjectives or descriptive words to convey a larger feeling or meaning.
ReplyDeleteIn Richard Currey’s Fatal Light, flash fiction benefits the ideas in the story greatly because each of the chapters uses this form of story-telling to convey a single idea and because the novel itself is a work of fiction. The majority of the chapters in the novel are short, no more than three pages long making them the perfect length for flash fiction. Each chapter shows the reader a snapshot of different portions of the war, ranging from the civilian point of view, to being drafted, to different parts of the war itself, and to the after effects. By giving the readers snapshots rather than detailed descriptions, Currey is able to effectively evoke specific emotions in the reader because of the lack of adjectives.
In the majority of the stories found in Fatal Light, the reader starts off confused and has to piece the background of the story together through assumptions and tiny details. This allows the reader to draw out the meanings and focus of each story without having to read between the lines since everything is stated in a more straightforward manner- presenting only the facts and nothing more. Rather than telling the reader how something feels, flash-fiction usually allows the reader to experience a similar emotion and empathize with the narrator by understanding what happened. Currey does this throughout the novel and in doing so, is able to give readers a view of how Vietnam is able to make a solider uncaring and unfeeling.
Flash fiction also benefits the novel because it allows the reader to focus on one idea or theme at a time, rather than having to pull the different ideas and themes apart. Using flash fiction allows each of the stories in "Fatal Light" to be that much more meaningful because the lack of adjectives allows each story to have a stronger impact on the reader, providing them with a greater insight into the realities of war.