crime stories
Rankin short stories
Best selling Scottish author Ian Rankin began his life as a writer with short stories, and he still tends to write short stories in between full length books to try to get the big characters out of his head and system. It’s a format he likes; a good discipline experimenting with narrative voices, structure and economy with words. There’s no place for fat on a story: it has to be lean and fit.
But I have to confess the essence of a good short story eludes me. What exactly constitutes ‘pared back’? I’m not sure. I remember being mystified by that part of my writing course. When it works perfectly I can see what’s needed, but much of the time I just don’t get it.
However, there’s a lot going on in our house right now so I wanted something I could dip into. These stories, spanning a decade or more of Rankin’s illustrious writing career, just filled the spaces in between appointments and activities.
The tales in Beggars Banquet are crime stories and cleverly constructed with devious plots – indeed several have won prestigious prizes. These ones have been collected from magazines, radio and journals.
The best ones for me were the Detective Inspector John Rebus tales – probably because I know his backstory so he comes as a rounded fully-fledged character. I especially appreciated his take on politics: His attitude had always been: don’t vote, it only encourages them. And I can still enjoy those occasional sparkling sentences. My favourite this time was:
The tenement stairwell smelt of deep-fried tomcat.
But I’m in no rush to repeat the exercise any time soon. Give me a 600 page doorstopper that drags me in, engages my emotions, keeps me guessing and turns the pages without effort.