Stories of Men and Gods

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The vogue of the short story seems to have come to an end now. It had a wide and enthusiastic readership the world over till the middle of the last century. The decline began with striking, economic progress, and the advent of the TV and the personal mobile phone. These two tended to absorb all the spare time, particularly of the middle class. That would have been otherwise devoted to reading fiction. The cinema and cricket, especially in India, have not lagged behind in adding to the diversionary attractions.

From reading to seeing this is the change that has come about. Two social factors have hastened the change viz. the young being drawn to technical education and women taking up jobs. Most engineering students have neither the time nor the inclination to read stories, which are products of imagination, when they have much to do with materials and machines; in contrast, art students still have a lingering interest in men and events. The latter involve human emotions and actions, which are the stuff of fiction. Housewives, who were avid readers of short stories, have now emerged from the chrysalis of the home and compete with men for jobs. With opportunities for education, their disinterest in the short story is to be naturally expected.

Consistent with this change of the milieu, there are to-day few journals, and Sunday supplements of dailies that carry short stories. In an environment none too congenial, if not hostile, why am I bringing out this collection of old, if not odd, short stories? I have compulsions, internal and external, too strong to resist.

Fiction, it is said, is human experience interpreted in dramatic terms. The short story is fiction in a short form, the matter is compressed within a few pages. H. G. Wells (1866-1946), the noted writer of world history in outline and novels, suggested that it should not exceed a thousand words and not take more than half an hour to read. This is like describing a house in terms of its area and height without its occupants satisfactory but not adequate. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), the master story-teller, paraphrases Edgar Alan Poe's (1809-1849) view thus: "This is a piece of fiction dealing with a single incident, material or spiritual, that can be read at a sitting; it is original, it must sparkle, excite and impress; and it must have a unity of effect or impression. It must move in an even line from its exposition to its close." Good enough but what is the stuff of the short story? It is all about the living creatures of the world, perhaps more of man, his joys and sorrows when caught within the net of life with its transient pleasures and immortal longings. It is a product more of an emotional churning than of intellectual speculation. Its appeal is mostly to the mind.

W.H. Hudson gives some useful hints to the story writer viz., he should aim at clarity of outline and possess a sense of proportion, concentration of interest and singleness of aim and effect.