The Happy Prince...
Nov. 21st, 2006 06:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranYesterday's reading was _The Happy Prince and Other Tales_.
I can't help admiring these stories each time I read them. They're fascinating for a writer because they do so much with little. Character engagement, unreliable narration, a superb ear for dialogue, evocative background with minimal description -- all these skills are on show in an amazingly small amount of wordage. And then, of course, there's the true storyteller's gift - the killer shift that turns the story on its head and moves a good story into a great one.
It's interesting to ponder whether the same techniques would work on larger scale stories, or if they're so effective here precisely because the tales have been stripped back so far.
I can't help admiring these stories each time I read them. They're fascinating for a writer because they do so much with little. Character engagement, unreliable narration, a superb ear for dialogue, evocative background with minimal description -- all these skills are on show in an amazingly small amount of wordage. And then, of course, there's the true storyteller's gift - the killer shift that turns the story on its head and moves a good story into a great one.
It's interesting to ponder whether the same techniques would work on larger scale stories, or if they're so effective here precisely because the tales have been stripped back so far.
