Short Reads for a Short Month
Hefty tomes about a character’s journey to self-realization and big, fat coming-of-age tales or generational sagas can be 700-plus page novels that are engrossing reads and a pleasure to sink your teeth into, but they also require a huge commitment of time. For most of us, time seems to be in short supply these days so why not read a short book instead? Think of the sense of accomplishment you will feel when you finish a book in just a couple of days or even in one sitting! Why not celebrate the shortest month of the year by reading a few short novels? I do not mean short stories but short novels - well written books that pack quite a punch in just a few pages. Do not be misled by the brevity of these short novels. Each of the books mentioned below are meaningful and enthralling reads, in spite of being less than 200 pages. Some of the books mentioned here have been written in the mid-nineteen hundreds but are worth reading. I have thrown in some classics – never fear, they are all short novels- and I have also included some short novels by contemporary authors.
A prolific writer, and one of my favorites, Graham Greene’s novels are usually slim, but always packed with drama and suspense. Unforgettably vivid characters grappling with moral and political issues populate the landscape of Greene’s novels. Skillfully written, The Quiet American is a political novel where the characters navigate the ambivalent terrain between good and evil, friendship and betrayal, set against the backdrop of Vietnam. A naïve CIA agent, a cynical British reporter and a Vietnamese girl whom they both covet, Greene’s nuanced portrait of friendship and betrayal, of innocence and culpability, makes this book a poignant read.
The Quiet American was originally published in 1955. A year before, in 1954, an eighteen year old girl, Francoise Sagan, created a sensation with her debut novel, Bonjour Tristesse. A mere 128 pages, this book, set in the French Riviera, tells the story of a precocious teenage girl and her widowed, bohemian father. A single manipulative act by the daughter results in a tragic ending. Upon reading it recently, I didn’t find the story quite as daring or “amoral” but rather sad. Thankfully, because it was a short novel, it was a quick read and I was able to check it off my “must read” list.
Another earlier short novel (written in 1962), We Have Always Lived in the Castle was Shirley Jackson’s final novel. Considered a masterpiece, this was an eerily disturbing story. I had enjoyed Jackson’s earlier novel, The Haunting of Hill House which I had mentioned in my October blog, “Not for the Faint of Heart.” This short novel is set in New England and features a family of isolated oddballs, whose life story makes for an extremely chilling and engaging read. Once you start, you will find this book hard to put down until you have finished it. Fortunately, the paperback edition is only 146 pages.
Most classics are discouragingly bulky (Dickens, comes to mind), but here are three that are definitely not long reads: George Eliot’s Silas Marner, George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. These classics make up in emotional weight what they lack in pages. Of course, my favorite is Silas Marner. As a fan of George Eliot, I have read everything written by her and this little book is a terrific read. While on the surface, a simple story about a lonely linen weaver, there are undercurrents of alienation, and isolation, community, and religion. A beautifully written tale about loss and redemption, this slim classic is worth a read. And, what can I say about George Orwell’s Animal Farm? That it has won more awards than most books? That it has been selected as one of the best English language novels of our time? That not so very long ago, this book was among the banned books in the Soviet Union and in some of the Socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe? This book containing a mere 124 pages, 10 chapters in all, is a thought-provoking, allegorical tale that is a must-read. Even shorter than any of the books mentioned in this blog is Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphoses. At 44 pages, our library paperback can be read in just a couple of hours. We all like to imagine – we imagine winning the lottery, imagine a trip to a favorite destination, imagine becoming a best-selling author - but would we ever imagine becoming a giant insect? I think not! But, that is precisely what Kafka imagines happening to the hero of his book. A travelling salesman wakes up one morning and discovers that he has changed into a “monstrous vermin.” An extremely odd, (Kafkaesque?) well-written tale that is also a quick read.
After the “heavy” classics, here are two short novels that are entertaining and enjoyable reads: Heartburn by Nora Ephron and The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. The breakup of a marriage is not a funny subject except in the hands of Nora Ephron, while the good old-fashioned whodunit by Agatha Christie makes for an amusing and interesting read.
Somewhat on the longish side, at 193 pages, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan is hailed as a “…dark tour de force, a morality fable, disguised as a psychological thriller” by New York Times writer, Michiko Kakutani, who goes on to say, that this is a book that can be “easily read in one enjoyable gulp…” Unlike McEwan’s later novel, Atonement, Amsterdam is definitely a quick read. A story about two friends, who loved the same deceased woman, an artist who lost control of her life during her debilitating illness. The two friends, one a composer and the other an editor, make a “euthanasia pact”: if ever one of them were to lose their mental facility, the other friend would help out and ease his way into the next world. Of course, nothing ever happens according to plan and we are left with a dramatic and surprising ending, where else, but in Amsterdam!
I have saved the best for last! The Sense of an Ending won the author, Julian Barnes, the Man Booker Prize. The blurb inside the front cover of the book says “A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in one sitting….” Yes, it is an incredibly well-crafted novel that you can finish reading in one sitting; after all, the book is compiled of only 163 pages! The book is divided into two parts both of which are narrated by Tony Webster, a retired man, living alone. In the first part Tony recounts his early school years, his group of friends and his then girlfriend with whom he had broken off. In the second, longer portion of the book, the story takes on a twist that questions the veracity of Tony’s perception, especially his account of the first part of the book. The story stayed with me long after I finished reading it. It will have you pondering about human nature, perception and memory.
A prolific writer, and one of my favorites, Graham Greene’s novels are usually slim, but always packed with drama and suspense. Unforgettably vivid characters grappling with moral and political issues populate the landscape of Greene’s novels. Skillfully written, The Quiet American is a political novel where the characters navigate the ambivalent terrain between good and evil, friendship and betrayal, set against the backdrop of Vietnam. A naïve CIA agent, a cynical British reporter and a Vietnamese girl whom they both covet, Greene’s nuanced portrait of friendship and betrayal, of innocence and culpability, makes this book a poignant read.The Quiet American was originally published in 1955. A year before, in 1954, an eighteen year old girl, Francoise Sagan, created a sensation with her debut novel, Bonjour Tristesse. A mere 128 pages, this book, set in the French Riviera, tells the story of a precocious teenage girl and her widowed, bohemian father. A single manipulative act by the daughter results in a tragic ending. Upon reading it recently, I didn’t find the story quite as daring or “amoral” but rather sad. Thankfully, because it was a short novel, it was a quick read and I was able to check it off my “must read” list.
Another earlier short novel (written in 1962), We Have Always Lived in the Castle was Shirley Jackson’s final novel. Considered a masterpiece, this was an eerily disturbing story. I had enjoyed Jackson’s earlier novel, The Haunting of Hill House which I had mentioned in my October blog, “Not for the Faint of Heart.” This short novel is set in New England and features a family of isolated oddballs, whose life story makes for an extremely chilling and engaging read. Once you start, you will find this book hard to put down until you have finished it. Fortunately, the paperback edition is only 146 pages.
Most classics are discouragingly bulky (Dickens, comes to mind), but here are three that are definitely not long reads: George Eliot’s Silas Marner, George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. These classics make up in emotional weight what they lack in pages. Of course, my favorite is Silas Marner. As a fan of George Eliot, I have read everything written by her and this little book is a terrific read. While on the surface, a simple story about a lonely linen weaver, there are undercurrents of alienation, and isolation, community, and religion. A beautifully written tale about loss and redemption, this slim classic is worth a read. And, what can I say about George Orwell’s Animal Farm? That it has won more awards than most books? That it has been selected as one of the best English language novels of our time? That not so very long ago, this book was among the banned books in the Soviet Union and in some of the Socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe? This book containing a mere 124 pages, 10 chapters in all, is a thought-provoking, allegorical tale that is a must-read. Even shorter than any of the books mentioned in this blog is Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphoses. At 44 pages, our library paperback can be read in just a couple of hours. We all like to imagine – we imagine winning the lottery, imagine a trip to a favorite destination, imagine becoming a best-selling author - but would we ever imagine becoming a giant insect? I think not! But, that is precisely what Kafka imagines happening to the hero of his book. A travelling salesman wakes up one morning and discovers that he has changed into a “monstrous vermin.” An extremely odd, (Kafkaesque?) well-written tale that is also a quick read.
Somewhat on the longish side, at 193 pages, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan is hailed as a “…dark tour de force, a morality fable, disguised as a psychological thriller” by New York Times writer, Michiko Kakutani, who goes on to say, that this is a book that can be “easily read in one enjoyable gulp…” Unlike McEwan’s later novel, Atonement, Amsterdam is definitely a quick read. A story about two friends, who loved the same deceased woman, an artist who lost control of her life during her debilitating illness. The two friends, one a composer and the other an editor, make a “euthanasia pact”: if ever one of them were to lose their mental facility, the other friend would help out and ease his way into the next world. Of course, nothing ever happens according to plan and we are left with a dramatic and surprising ending, where else, but in Amsterdam!
I have saved the best for last! The Sense of an Ending won the author, Julian Barnes, the Man Booker Prize. The blurb inside the front cover of the book says “A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in one sitting….” Yes, it is an incredibly well-crafted novel that you can finish reading in one sitting; after all, the book is compiled of only 163 pages! The book is divided into two parts both of which are narrated by Tony Webster, a retired man, living alone. In the first part Tony recounts his early school years, his group of friends and his then girlfriend with whom he had broken off. In the second, longer portion of the book, the story takes on a twist that questions the veracity of Tony’s perception, especially his account of the first part of the book. The story stayed with me long after I finished reading it. It will have you pondering about human nature, perception and memory.
- Rina B., West Windsor Branch
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