I Like A Good Short Story

I recently finished reading a collection of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald called Flappers and Philosophers and I found that I really enjoyed it. I find that the more I read short stories, the more I like the format. You can sit down and read one in an hour or less, and feel like you’ve gotten somewhere and usually there isn’t a lot of superfluous writing put in for filling. If it’s going to be a short story, it usually has to be concise and full of action or ideas to work. Chris and I were talking about this the other day, and he likes the short story format as well.
As for Flappers and Philosophers, I really enjoyed these stories. I’ve read a few Fitzgerald books, and found that most of them are rather melancholy, and they don’t usually end very well for the characters. Flappers and Philosophers, however, has a few happy endings. I love a good happy ending. I love knowing that people can end up as happy as I am. I know that not everything ends happy and there are wonderful books that must end tragically, and they do so in a way that leaves you thinking “wow” after you’ve finished reading them, and that’s great. But I love reading about people who get their true love in the end, or strike it rich and do wise things with the money, or are able to save lives. I think that all of my romance has been sunk into books that I’ve read because in my real life, I have never been one who likes someone to put on a show for me. However, in books, I like the flamboyant and sometimes over the top declarations of love and romantic gestures and the very very contrived coincidences. Flappers and Philosophers has a few of those and of course those things are written from Fitzgerald’s unique point of view during an interesting time period. Also, there is a story that has the element of revenge, but is just so funny because it involves cutting off some braids and flinging them at someone’s door. Anyway, this post is already too long, so read the book. It’s good.