How Ann Beattie’s Short Stories Perfectly Capture the Feeling of Emptiness
The most easily noticeable element of Ann Beattie’s prose style is how incredibly simple and pared back it is. When reading one of her stories, it’s very unlikely to come across lengthy, poetic descriptions of people and places, or find dialogue that people wouldn’t say in real life. When her characters speak, it’s always ‘he said’ or ‘she said’, no matter what the emotions are behind their words. For some readers, the intentionally plain writing style is a barrier of entry, since they want expressive prose that feels like its speaking to them.
After all, though the whole point of art is to create a singularly unique experience that no other artist could have conceived, since it’s only through this that you can tap into a universal experience. But the power and brutal honesty of Ann Beattie’s stories could only shine through in her realistic depictions of everyday life and matter-of-fact prose. Although she’s a very talented novelist, it’s her short stories that are especially amplified by her writing style. Each one offers a brief sketch of its characters’ lives, giving them life through the gaps in their words or the emotions that run beneath them, just visible enough for the reader to see how heart-breaking they really are.
