A Really Long Short Story, a Really Short Book, or a Happy Medium?
"The novella falls between the novel and the short story in both length and complexity" (Hamilton 12).
There are differences between novels and novellas, and novellas and short stories. Novellas seem to be in the middle of everything, not long enough to be a novel but not short enough for a short story. Novels are more complex and include many characters and a variety of events. Short stories, however, focus mainly on one point, and generally include less characters. The poor novellas seem out of place considering novels and short stories are much more well known. Just because they seem out of place does not mean novellas are useless. I like then since they are still long enough to engage the reader for a few days while not being overwhelmingly long.
There are differences between novels and novellas, and novellas and short stories. Novellas seem to be in the middle of everything, not long enough to be a novel but not short enough for a short story. Novels are more complex and include many characters and a variety of events. Short stories, however, focus mainly on one point, and generally include less characters. The poor novellas seem out of place considering novels and short stories are much more well known. Just because they seem out of place does not mean novellas are useless. I like then since they are still long enough to engage the reader for a few days while not being overwhelmingly long.
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Recent Comments
Erica Gearhart on A Really Long Short Story, a Really Short Book, or a Happy Medium?: This summary of novellas is gr
Ally Hall on A Really Long Short Story, a Really Short Book, or a Happy Medium?: I think novellas are great rea
Maddie Gillespie on A Really Long Short Story, a Really Short Book, or a Happy Medium?: You made a good summary of exa
Ally Hall on A Really Long Short Story, a Really Short Book, or a Happy Medium?: I think novellas are great rea
Maddie Gillespie on A Really Long Short Story, a Really Short Book, or a Happy Medium?: You made a good summary of exa
You made a good summary of exactly what a novella is. I agree with your point: a novella is long enough and has sufficient detail in order to engage the reader for a length of time without being overwhelmingly long. That is a perfect description! They do seem to fall in a strange place in literature, but then, they wouldn't exist if they didn't have a place.
I think novellas are great reads and writes. It's great for me as a writer who's a little intimidated by the task of writing a great, huge novel. I think novellas are great for classrooms too, because it's a nice length that can still be chock full of symbolic goodness, but short enough that it won't be a ridiculously long unit that grinds on the students' nerves.
This summary of novellas is great. Just like a novella, it is not too long or too short, gets the point across effectively. I also agree with Ally that they are great for the classroom. I read quite a few novellas in high school because of their great literary characteristics and because of their brevity.