Why You Would Love Short Stories

Complete with recommendations.

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash

There are some really great short stories out there right now. Mind you, these are not your average stories. When you read a short story, it’s not as much about entertainment as it is about finding the meaning of the story. It’s not for the feint of heart, but oh so rewarding if you do find it.

Theme

The theme of a story is a statement about life. The author has, by one means or another, stumbled upon something they believe to be true about life, our society, our relationships, our downfalls, etc. Then, they have written a story that displays this truth (either blatantly or subtly) by way of the circumstances of the story and how it relates to real life.

It’s a little bit like playing detective. You must go into the short story with an eye on what is really being said there. Authors always say something about life in their short stories. Often, the beginning of the story says it all. If you don’t understand after the first read-through, you can usually go back and read the beginning and generally understand what the theme is.

Sometimes, there is a sentence that is literally the whole theme stated directly. This is usually in the middle of the story. These sound a little jarring because they are more general. They sound like a common…