Capote: A Christmas Memory

After reading Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory", my view on writing short stories is forever changed.  While the story itself is long (about 20-some pages), the content is short and sweet.  The story focuses around a young boy and an old woman who both live in the same family, though we're not quite sure how they're related.  The family has labeled them as 'different' and excluded them in a way, so they find solace in each other.  What I find so beautiful about this friendship is that while she could be sixty and he could be ten, they pay no mind to the fifty-some years that separate them, they see themselves as equals.  They shop together, bake Christmas cakes together, even get a little tipsy together while trying to finish the last of the expensive liquor they bought to put into the cakes.  The rude awakening during this scene occurs when the rest of the family finds the woman and this young boy drunk in the kitchen.  They begin to scold the woman for giving the boy alcohol which seems to be the appropriate response, but in the context of the story I was so trapped in the perspective of the boy that my first reaction to it was why would they do that?  Personally, I think this speaks to how well the story is written.  The character of the boy was portrayed so well that you begin to think like him just enough that incidences like this occur.
Capote once said that this story was one of the best examples of style that he'd ever written, and I certainly agree, but I think it also has characters with the most depth.  He never says too much about anyone besides the two main characters, but those two seem like they could truly be real people.  As I've studied Capote, I've found that this is where his talents truly lie.  Even when he's writing about real people he portrays them as whole and complete people.  The older figure in the story, for example, shows maturity as well as a childish side that makes her age unimportant.  Within that is also the effortless friendship that seems so natural to both parties that makes the story so much more fun to read.
Lastly, one of my favorite quotes ever comes out of this story.  It describes the two cracking and shelling pecans to make fruitcake, the usage of imagery is absolutely gorgeous.

“Our backs hurt from gathering them: how hard they were to find (the main crop having been shaken off the trees and sold by the orchard’s owners, who are not us) among the concealing leaves, the frosted, deceiving grass.  Caarackle!  A cheery crunch, scraps of miniature thunder sound as the shells collapse and the golden mound of sweet oily ivory meat mounts in the milk-glass bowl...The kitchen is growing dark.  Dusk turns the window into a mirror: our reflections mingle with the rising moon as we work by the fireside in the firelight.”

This is certainly something I'd love to emulate someday. If anyone is interested in writing quality short stories I beg you to read this it is truly a masterpiece in terms of character development and style.