The book “Fatal Light” by Richard Currey is written in the style of “flash fiction”. Flash fiction is a way of writing in which the author uses short chapters and descriptions to depict the actual experience better. “Fatal Light” is about a young man who goes to Vietnam through the draft and leaves behind his family and girlfriend.
The author writes in very short chapters that are mostly a page or two long and get the point and story across to the reader without having any excess. The author makes it a point to show how as the war goes on, the main character gets less and less emotional about the life he left behind. He writes to Mary less and talks less about his family and more about war stories. His day to day stories are short and depict just how quickly and how much the characters life changes. The character never stays in one place for long and the combat is short and gruesome. Even though the chapters are short, the reader gets the full effect of the stories and also gets a better feel for how the soldier felt.
Flash fiction works well to show the reader just how the soldier felt and how he lived in Vietnam and when he returned home. The short paragraphs allows the reader to deeply read into what the author is saying and experience the flashes of memory with the character.
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