Short Takes: Three Stories about Stories (or Books)

[Note: This post analyzes three stories: "Book War," "Bookless in Biak," and  "Disclaimer" (Short Takes)]

"Nor did I even need to open this book. Simply the knowledge that it's there, waiting to be opened, is enough." ("Bookless in Biak," pg. 170).

This passage is why I chose these three stories. "Book War," "Bookless in Biak," and  "Disclaimer" all are stories about the passion to read and share stories - even if they're forbidden, even if they won't be read, even if there isn't a happy ending.

In "Book War" I found myself confused at first becasue the fairytales described were ones that Disney re-vamped and shaped my childhood. The way in which Ping talks about these stories and how much they meant and just how "classic" the stories were at the time, and are now. I love that in the end, the "war is won" becasue to tell a story doesn't mean you have to write it down, or that it has to be on paper. Ping describes this by saying, "...the stories became alive from the inside. They flapped their wings and flew out of my mouth like morning doves" (pg. 168).

"Bookless in Biak" was the story I related to the most. It was written in a tone of confusion and frustration. Why would the airport ask Millman to give up his book? To him, it was the most valuable thing to have. Even if he wasn't to read it - at least the words were there to explore if he wanted to. In the end he claims he wouldn't have had time to read anyways, but that wouldn't have stopped him from carrying around his most prized possession: a book.

"Disclaimer" was an interesting story. At first, I thought I was reading a string of run-on thought processes. The more I peeled back the layers, I realized - Carlson was describing a story that he wishes were true, like those fictional ones in fairytales. I enjoyed that he "broke the fourth wall" of telling his thoughts to say sorry to his readers. His story is about love gone wrong, which almost everyone can understand. The most powerful line for me was the last: "If you want the coincidence where some character based on me gets the amazing girl back and has his heart start again after so many years, you're going to have to look in a book" (pg. 175). An amazing point to make, as we are physically reading his story out of a book.

Overall, what I learned form these three stories from Short Takes is that creative non-fiction stories don't give the obvious ending. They might reflect on someone's life and they might be overly exaggerated. Some have bigger meanings and some are just there to tell us "This is what I did, and this is how it happened." Stories are told for the sake of sharing, and non-fiction cannot be held accountable for a happy ending, becasue that's not always how life works. Regardless, we should all share these stories, if not for ourselves - to inspire others.