SHORT FICTION
Varied fare
K. KUNHIKRISHNAN
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True to reputation, the stories reflect the vibrancy of modern American short fiction.
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The O. Henry Prize Stories 2005, edited by Laura Furman, Anchor Books, $14.
WILLIAM SYDNEY PORTER, popularly known as O. Henry, was one of the best short story writers in the world. The short stories collected under the award instituted in his memory, "intended to strengthen the short story and to stimulate young authors", became the best of annual collections in the genre, selected from among those published in American and Canadian periodicals. The rules and methods of selection have varied from time to time. The series editor selects 20 best stories and sends them to three jurors who choose one each for the celebrated O. Henry Prize. Laura Furman, short story writer and novelist, is the series editor of the current volume and the prize jury consists of Cristina Garcia, Ann Patchett and Richard Russo. All three are well-known novelists.
The broad spectrum
True to reputation, the stories reflect the vibrancy of modern American short fiction and deals with the struggles of individuals in societal life everywhere. The writers include celebrities and novices and the fascinating stories sensitively present life in all its diversity, bringing out the dynamism of the art of the short story. Six out of the 20 stories are from The New Yorker. Four of the stories also appear in Best American Short Stories 2004, published by Houghton Mifflin. Two each of the stories are from Kenyon Review and from Zoetrope.
The prize-winning stories are "Mudlavia" from the Atlantic Magazine, by Elizabeth Stuckey-French, "Refuge in London" by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala in the Zoetrope and "What You Will Pawn, I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie in The New Yorker. "Mudlavia" is the story of a young boy coming to terms with illness and of the deep unhappiness of his mother in her marriage. He finds that the mud bath treatment in Mudlavia is a cover-up for con games. The narrative style is very powerful, evoking a profound understanding of both the son and the mother. Every day, the soothing sun bath gives the sick boy more knowledge about the world and when he grows up, he understands his mother, who ran away from his father, better. The emotional drama that he undergoes makes him pursue happiness.
A different theme
In "Refuge in London", Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who was born in Germany and was in London as a refugee during the Second World War years, writes a powerful story, moving away from Indian themes (She married the Indian architect Mr. Jhabvala and lived in India from 1951 to 1975). It is based on a relationship a girl has with a famous artist in a crowded London boarding house, having an assortment of people: lawyers, businessmen and painters. The poor artist could only afford the girl, the landlady's grandniece, as a model. This touching story has several dimensions and layers and from the perspective of the characters, it unravels the life, the success and the disillusionment of an artist and the maturing of a young girl.
"What you will Pawn, I Will Redeem", by Sherman Alexie is about an unnamed Spokane American Indian. He wants to redeem the regalia that his grandmother had pawned. The events in the story happens during a 24-hour period from noon to the next noon. He needs $ 1000 to redeem the regalia and he gets some money from a newspaper agent, but he drinks all the time and in the end, the pawnbroker gifts the regalia to him. It is a hilarious story of friendship between a cop and a drunkard and of the obsession of the man to get back the family regalia.
Story and poetry
Nell Freudenberger's "The Tutor" (Granta) is set in Mumbai, where a young man, Zubin, tutors students who want to get admitted to American colleges. The story is about the relationship that develops between him and an American girl, Julia. The story is something that the author describes as her own "response to certain poems as a teenager". Sixteen-year-old girls were bored by poetry, except Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress". The story takes a tour of the psyche of Julia, who represents this generation.
The locale of Frances de Pontes Peebles' "The Drowned Woman" from Indiana Review is Pernambuco, in Brazil, where she lives. The story revolves around the body of a drowned woman washed ashore. The family relationships that the incident unravels and the peace of a remote beach being disturbed come out in a poignant manner. In "Grace" (Harper's Magazine), Paula Fox uses the timid and stubborn dog, Grace, to make John Hillman into a person of elegance from a kind of moron that he was. The story has a very intricate narrative style.
There are established writers like Kevin Brockmeier ("The Brief History of the Dead), Charles D'Ambrosio ("The High Divide"), Edward P. Jones ("A Rich Man"), Tessa Hadley ("The Card Trick") and lesser known writers like Caitlin Macy ("Christie"), Nancy Reisman ("Tea") and Ben Fountain ("Fantasy for Eleven Fingers") who feature in the collection. But then again, it is a matter of subjectivity that celebrated writers like John Updike and Alice Munroe do not feature in a collection of really the best 20 of American short stories.
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