Totally agree that the dinosaur one doesn't seem like speculative fiction. I don't think didacticism is always bad, but I agree that the didacticism in this story is not of much value. If one interprets it as a didactic story, the lesson would be that 'hate crimes are bad'. Which most people agree on.
Though I think it's possible to interpret this story non-didactically. If one jettisons the idea that the event that occurs has didactic intention, it's a story essentially about mourning violence to a loved one, but the incident in question and the person attacked are so generically described that I feel it falls flat at accomplishing generating any feeling of strong emotion. In fact most description of the actual person is left to the (explicitly stated to be inaccurate) lgbt and racial slurs of the attackers. And I know this is a short story, but I feel if this is about a person being mourned, they could be more specifically described than the way the mourner in this story describes them. In real life such expectations would be quite unfair, but in fiction it's quite the opposite.
I didn't read the Oaken Hearts story (the format didn't appeal), but that one doesn't seem super speculative either, though yeah I guess the ambiguity allows some speculative elements.
Are these short flash fiction stories typical of award winners/runners up in their category? I may not read or write many short stories, but I feel like those two, especially the first one, are extremely low quality.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 6/3/22 03:21 am (UTC)Totally agree that the dinosaur one doesn't seem like speculative fiction. I don't think didacticism is always bad, but I agree that the didacticism in this story is not of much value. If one interprets it as a didactic story, the lesson would be that 'hate crimes are bad'. Which most people agree on.
Though I think it's possible to interpret this story non-didactically. If one jettisons the idea that the event that occurs has didactic intention, it's a story essentially about mourning violence to a loved one, but the incident in question and the person attacked are so generically described that I feel it falls flat at accomplishing generating any feeling of strong emotion. In fact most description of the actual person is left to the (explicitly stated to be inaccurate) lgbt and racial slurs of the attackers. And I know this is a short story, but I feel if this is about a person being mourned, they could be more specifically described than the way the mourner in this story describes them. In real life such expectations would be quite unfair, but in fiction it's quite the opposite.
I didn't read the Oaken Hearts story (the format didn't appeal), but that one doesn't seem super speculative either, though yeah I guess the ambiguity allows some speculative elements.
Are these short flash fiction stories typical of award winners/runners up in their category? I may not read or write many short stories, but I feel like those two, especially the first one, are extremely low quality.