I'll Keep This Short....

Growing up, like most folks, I could read for days. Was it J.R.R Tolkien who said "There is never a tea cup big enough, a book long enough"? Whomever it was, they said it right! Now that I am "grown" my stance had changed just a little. Maybe it's because I have matured as a reader? Maybe my attention span is shorter? Maybe I like to read more books and short stories are the way to go? 

My reading has not necessary gotten better in regards to the types of books I read with time. I was reading deep stuff in high school, and deeper in college. Even before I took a serious break from reading (as a teacher) I was hardly reading fiction at all, and when it was it was the serious stuff. But, I have come to enjoy a good story, well told in my older years. Short stories are perfect for this. I love, after getting deep in the story, looking to see how many pages are left in a short and wondering just how the author is going to wrap things up. What twist and turn is left. Plus I really appreciate the room for me, the reader, to fill in gaps the author hasn't included. 

I won't lie, reading is, at times, much harder for me than it used to be. My parents couldn't banish me to my room as a kid because my room was where my books were. I traveled with at least three books just in case. I still keep one on me at all times, or at least in the car, but I don't need the back ups like I did. Now, unless a book hooks me deep early on, getting through more than 250 pages can be a slog. On the other hand, I can knock out a collection of short stories in no time. The smaller chunks keep my attention.

Finishing, as you get older, gets harder. Have I said too much already? Nah! But finishing a book gives me that sense of completion that is easily achieved in short stories all the time. Yeah, I just knocked out for short stories in a sitting rather than a percentage of a really long book. Even chapters are less stratifying then a short story. 

This isn't to say I only red short stories now. I have knocked out several LOOOOONG books this year, but the pace has to be quick and keep my attention a lot better than in years passed. Plus, I just love the space for my own understanding to flourish. I could go on longer, but I'd promised this would be short