A Flash of Brilliance

I've been on the look out for a genre that I was unfamiliar with for the Take Another Chance Challenge, Challenge 6: Genre Switch-Up --

Go to this list of book genres and pick a genre that you have NEVER read before. Find a book from that genre, read it, and write about it. Note: If you seriously cannot find a genre that you have never read, then pick the genre that is as far away from what you normally read.

I went to the list but I'm a pretty diverse reader so I had trouble finding something I had never read before.  Then, a couple of months ago, Rob of Rob Around Books started a challenge he calls the "Flash Clash" where he has been comparing five different works of flash fiction with ratings and one word reviews.  It's a great idea and I highly suggest you check it out!

If you aren't familiar with flash fiction (and before Rob's challenge, I wasn't), it is fiction of "extreme brevity" or "short short stories".  Usually, it's considered to be stories of 300 to 1000 words.  Of course, some of the classic short stories I've read may fit into this category but I've never read a book entirely of these very short tales so I chose one from Rob's list.  Israeli author Etgar Keret's The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories was one that I could get from my library system so I decided to start with this one.

I had a great time with this book for so many reasons.  First, I don't think I've ever read an Israeli author before and the subject matter of some of these stories was entirely unique for me.  Even the feel of some of them was just different from what I'm used to reading.  It was refreshing.

Next, I think I'm really a fan of flash fiction.  Many times I have an issue with short stories because I feel they have ideas that beg to be fleshed out.  But somehow with these stories, they are a brief enough glimpse that they feel complete.  I don't know if this is the feel for the entire genre or just for Keret's work.  It's definitely something I want to explore.  One place to start will be Flash Fiction Online and another will be some of the other volumes that Rob has been reading.

Finally, I think there must be a definite advantage to a writer to be able to just get an idea down on paper and then move on.  The stories may be brief but they are polished and there is a very wide variety of topics that are touched on in this one small volume.  It definitely keeps the reader on their toes!

One thing I love from Rob's posts are his one word reviews.  I asked permission to borrow his idea and here are my very brief thoughts on the stories in this volume.

The Story About a Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God - touching

Goodman - ambiguous

Hole in the Wall - depressing

A Souvenir of Hell - disturbing

Uterus - queasy

Breaking the Pig - sweet

Cocked and Locked - gritty

The Flying Santinis - unbending

Korbi's Girl - accountable

Shoes - thoughtful

Missing Kissinger - hurtful

Rabin's Dead - symbolic

Plague of the Firstborn - biblical

Siren - honorable

Good Intentions - good

Katzenstein - ironic

The Mysterious Disappearance of Alon Shemesh - mysterious

One Last Story and That's It - strong

Jetlag - strange

The Son of the Head of the Mossad - inevitable

Pipes - hopeful

Short and sweet (and sometimes very disturbing),
K


Support our site and buy The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We borrowed our copy from the library.