The Right Detail

Our switch to reading short stories instead of poetry has been a very welcomed switch. Especially with this week's short stories. For me, they were the right length, filled with the right amount of description, and entertaining. Although I started to enjoy poetry more near the end of that section of the class, the short stories are easier for me to understand and figure out, because the information feels more concrete, while still having actual meaning behind them. Being someone with a short attention span that only gets shorter when I'm frustrated, poetry was difficult to get through. The short stories provide the entertainment and tell me a story and give me a better chance to get into what the character is saying.

One of my favorite short stories from this week was "The Falling Girl" by Dino Buzzati. At first reading, I read it as a girl from the city during the 1930s who was committing suicide and taking in the sites around her as she fell slowly. This changed during class discussion, however, and the story only became more iteresting after the fact. My favorite part of the story was the description, because it was really detailed and depicted the different levels of economy each section of the building she was falling past well, while not being overly-descriptive. For example, while falling past the higher level of the building, she says, "The beautiful people, then were interested in and that filled her with satisfaction. She felt fascinating, stylish. On the flower-filled terraces, amid the bustle of waiters in white and the bursts of exotic songs..." From this description alone, one can imagine that the people were well-dressed and in a nice place, due to the many flowers and waiters. The music can also be heard in the background, simply by calling it "exotic." Her facial expression at this point can also be imagined as proud, because she felt so fascinating and stylish, despite the fact that she wore what was considered "modest" clothing.

From this story, I learned that putting in the right descriptions is key for making the reader understand what you want them to know about the story and surroundings. Like I said in my previous post, I am usually afraid to put in details, but this story proved to me that, in the right contexts and amounts, it can help make the story just right.