Wednesday, January 16, 2019

THE SEA WAS A FAIR MASTER by Calvin Deemer

Flash fiction is a difficult form to really pull off. I've found that some flash stories I've read come off as small scenes from a bigger story that the author is hoping to publish someday (the case with many short stories, even the longer ones), or come off as simply mood poems that go nowhere. Calvin Deemer seems to have a sense of how to really pull it off. He keeps things simple, to the point, and knows that the point of flash stories isn't to develop a character or deep thematic material but that it's all about conceptual brevity, plot, and an ending reveal. Deemer packs a lot into just 3 or 4 pages in every story, knowing how to set the stage almost immediately.

Although my favorite stories were the ones that were more emotionally resonant, like the unlikely poignant love in "Yara," the sad regret in "Graves," or the look at tragedy and requital in "The Snakes or the Humans." In most of the other stories, the author seems to simply have a good time, coming up with his fun ideas and letting us into his head. Even though in some of the stories the potentially powerful and slightly ambiguous endings are weakened by final lines too obvious and literal, most of the stories are worth your time!

GRADE: B+

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please be respectful