Flash Fiction means fiction of extreme brevity. Fatal light is flash fiction; each chapter comprises of a maximum of three pages and many of just a half a page.
I certainly feel that flash fiction was the most effective writing style for a novel such as fatal light
because each gruesome incident is presented to the reader without complexity.
Because the chapter is so short, the reader is distracted by small details that occured during the incident and the whole focus is on the suffering. Also Currey was able to cover all of the main character's life in very few pages, keeping the reader interested and yet drawing a clear picture of the character's background and development. However unlike The Things They Carried, this novel is told from only one perspective, the perspective of the main character. Therefore the reader has no choice but to believe what he says but also the reader will not be as confused and will rely on the character's story more easily.
Unlike most books and unlike The Things They carried, each chapter in Fatal Light tells a separate story and does not overlap the information in other chapters in the book. The story is told in chronological order and each chapter draws on a different part of the main character's life.
The book starts off where the main character is a teenager and knows nothing about going to the being inducted. Each chapter takes the reader through one experience the main character had with people or any individual. In the beginning he describes his experiences and relationship with his grandfather. Following these chapters, he describes the days before leaving for war with each of his loved ones.
Through flash fiction the author shows the reader a soldier's experience in the Vietnam war with simplicity and without embellishment.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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Flash Fiction means fiction of extreme brevity. Fatal light is flash fiction; each chapter comprises of a maximum of three pages and many of just a half a page.
ReplyDeleteI certainly feel that flash fiction was the most effective writing style for this novel
because each incident is presented to the reader without complexity and just as bluntly as it is. The chapters are short but powerful.
Because the chapter is so short, the reader is not distracted by small details that occurred during the incident. Also, Currey was able to cover all of the main character's life in very few pages, keeping the reader interested and yet drawing a clear picture of the character's background and development.
Chapter five for instance is less than half a page and Currey brilliantly makes the reader feel what the soldiers felt. The men who were being drafted were just ordinary men looking to go to school like Currey’s character and all of a sudden they would receive letters that they had to report to the military.
Chapter five shows the style that Currey uses to say so much so concisely and so ordinarily without embellishment.
Flash Fiction means fiction of extreme brevity. Fatal light is flash fiction; each chapter comprises of a maximum of three pages and many of just half a page.
ReplyDeleteI certainly feel that flash fiction was the most effective writing style for this novel
because each incident is presented to the reader without complexity and just as bluntly as it actually is. The chapters are short but powerful.
Because the chapters are so short, the reader is not distracted by minor details that occur during the incidents. Also, Currey was able to cover all of the main characters' lives in very few pages, keeping the reader interested and yet drawing clear pictures of the characters' background and development.
Chapter five for instance is less than half a page and Currey brilliantly makes the reader feel what the soldiers felt. The men who were being drafted were just ordinary men looking to go to school like Currey’s character and all of a sudden they would receive letters that they had to report to the military.
Chapter five shows the style that Currey uses to say so much so concisely and so ordinarily without any embellishment.