Friday, May 11: Bandersnatches
FRUMIOUSLY SPEAKING
by Steven Steinbock
When I was first asked to participate in Criminal Brief, my first response was, “Why me?†I’m a reviewer, a collector, and an armchair scholar of detective fiction. I own a sizeable collection of mystery short-story anthologies, and magazines, I’ve had articles published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, but I’ve never written a published short story. The modest part of me felt I was out of my league. Bu I said, “Yes, I’d love to.â€
The title of my weekly posting, “Bandersnatches,†is an allusion to the nonsense creature invented by Lewis Carroll in his poem, “Jabberwocky.†Carroll’s “Alice†stories have served as fodder for hundreds of mystery writers, including John Dickson Carr, Fredric Brown, Craig Rice, Peter Lovesey, and Ed McBain. “Snatches†suggests little grabs, thefts, or nibbles. What better title for a series of columns about the mystery short story?
In future Bandersnatches, I’ll discuss and review stories, authors, anthologies, magazines, and collections. For this opening article, bear with me while I ponder some philosophical questions about the nature of the short story and it’s popularity.
In his inaugural posting, our esteemed captain, James Lincoln Warren, provided a nice bunch of analogies that compared short stories to novels. Roadsters versus limos, Cartier versus Christian Dior, a snack of wine and cheese versus a four-course banquet. Clever analogies all. I have another one to add. A novel is a long-term relationship, while a short story is a really hot fling. I’m fairly certain I didn’t come up with it myself, but I don’t know who to attribute it to. In my personal life, I’m more a long-term relationship kinda guy, but in my reading I’m always up for flirtation and dalliance.
Another analogy drawn from one of my myriad hobbies is stage magic. A novel is a multi-phase stage show. A short story is a single trick or sleight of hand.
It might be said that novels are all about character, while short stories are all about plot. The world is seldom black and white, so even though I just said it, I’m not putting too much stock in it. But before dismissing the idea outright, it’s certainly true that short fiction leaves less room for character development than does book-length fiction. And, while short fiction can often take the form of vignettes or character pieces, more often (especially in the world of mystery and detection) the plot is central to short stories.
There are many avid mystery readers who never touch short stories. As James pointed out, short stories were once the staple of mystery readers, but today are ignored by the larger mystery-reading public. I’m not out to convert anyone. In fact, if you’re reading this, I’d likely be preaching to the choir. There are many possible reasons for the drop in popularity of short mysteries. Modern readers may be more attracted to character and to the ongoing character development found in novel series. Many readers might be put off by short fiction’s emphasis on plot or by the choppier, abrupt storytelling style necessitated by the length of short stories. The publishing marketplace may have conditioned readers to consume longer and longer works.
Whatever the reasons, why don’t you join me? Grab an issue of Ellery Queen or Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, buy one of Crippen & Landru, Publishers’ fine volumes. Get an old copy of Black Mask or Dime Detective, or a collection by H.C. Bailey, G.K. Chesterton, or Agatha Christie, and let’s talk about some great stories.
Hot fling! (laughing) Now I understand my problem.
But I’m shocked, SHOCKED that Bandersnatches are nonsense creatures. They always made sense to me.
TIP: The Jabberwocky Literary Agency, headed by Joshua Bilmes, happens to lean toward mystery and science fiction. Methinks they outgrabed the web site design(!) to a color-blind dyslexic Jubjub, but all the pertinent information is there.
You had me at hot fling!
Welcome aboard, Steve. Glad to have a scholar in our midst.
Loved the “fling thing,” and the deft style! I’m an advocate of the short story, it’s a time thing, in part. Will make a point to return!
“It might be said that novels are all about character, while short stories are all about plot.”
This attitude has always driven me nuts–as if character and plot were somehow separable. As I understand it, “character driven” means that the story is driven by the behavior of the characters, and that “plot driven” means that the behavior of the characters is driven by their circumstances.
These are simply techniques of story telling.
It is true that characterization in short stories is limited by their scope. But the same thing’s true of plot–you couldn’t exactly squeeze WAR AND PEACE into five thousand words, could you?
The big difference between short stories and novels are, surprise!, length, complexity, and economy. In a short story, the writer only shows those elements of character and plot that are directly necessary to the story, whereas in a novel, the writer has the opportunity to develop several levels of both.
A good short story will have better characterization in it than a bad novel.
I said “It *might* be said. . .”
Like our whole discussion of genres and subgenres, this whole plot vs. character thing is a generalization, and it only means anything as far as it is pragmatically useful. Ellery Queen’s novels were very strong on plot, but in my opinion, often thin on character.
Then there are writers like Jeffery Deaver, who is a awfully good plotter. But it’s the characters in his short fiction that stay with me long after I’ve put down the magazine.
I should also say that there’s more to fiction than plot and character. I didn’t mean to set up such a binary, black and white dichotomy.
Dear Steven,
I have just been reading your blog re: Why me?’ and your actual blog page which is certainly packed with meaty material – I wil enjoy reading it.
I noted that you studied religon along the way – One of my Undergrad. Majors was Comparative Religious Studies..and later in Natural Law and Questioning Justice I came across Holocaust Studies which wrung my soul out…My other Major was Philosophy and of course I now have the MLitt…So much for being a Preacher…I was born with a pen in my hand crying out, ‘Give me a bottle of ink!’
All the best with your writing!
Jane
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