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“"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" is not only the most well-known short story title of the latter part of the 20th century; it has come to stand for an entire aesthetic, the bare-bones prose style for which Raymond Carver became famous. Perhaps, it could be argued, too famous, at least for his fiction's own good. Like those of Hemingway or any other writer similarly loved, imitated, parodied, and reviled, these stories can sometimes produce the sense of reading pastiche. "A man without hands came to the door to sell me a photograph of my house." "That morning she pours Teacher's over my belly and licks it off. That afternoon she tries to jump out the window." "My friend Mel McGinnis was talking. Mel is a cardiologist, and sometimes that gives him the right." What other writer ever produced first sentences like these? They are like doors into Carverworld, where everyone speaks in simple declarative phrases, no one ever stops at one beer, and failure or violence are the true outcomes of the American dream.
North Shore Country Day School English-10 wrote this review 2 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Yet these stories bear careful re-reading, like any truly important and enduring work. For one thing, Carver is one of the few writers who can make desperation--cutting your ex-wife's telephone cord in the middle of a conversation, standing on your own roof chunking rocks while a man with no hands takes your picture--deeply funny. Then there is the sheer craft that went into their creation. Despite their seeming simplicity, his tales are as artfully constructed as poems--and like poems, the best of them can make your breath catch in your throat. In the title piece, for instance, after the gin has been drunk, after the stories have been told, after the tensions in the room have come to the surface and subsided again, there comes a moment of strange lightness and peace: "I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone's heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark."
Much of what happens in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (1981) happens offstage, and we're left with tragedy's props: booze, instant coffee, furniture from a failed marriage, cigarettes smoked in the middle of the night. This is not merely a matter of technique. Carver leaves out a great deal, but that's only a measure of his characters' vulnerability, the nerve endings his stories lay bare. To say anything more, one feels, would simply hurt too much. --Mary Park ”“Stories by Raymond Carver! So good!!!!”
paula m wrote this review 2 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“As close to my version of reality as it gets. ”
Treble wrote this review Tuesday, August 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Raymond Carver stories are the best. You read one and think, "Well, that wasn't much," or "What was that about, anyway?"
moik wrote this review Friday, January 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
But then the story will keep coming to mind and haunt you for days. These are terrific short stories; very affecting, ultimately.”
“I loaned a Carver anthology to a friend of mine about 25 years ago. He was an Arizona state senator and a Stanford grad, altogether a well-bred guy. He kept the book for several months and when he gave it back he said, "Reading this guy is like getting punched in the gut."
Jack L wrote this review Friday, May 23 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I couldn't have described Carver any better.”
“Another collection of Carver short stories, including a few that are in "Cathedral," the first book of Carver's I read. Liked it much more than this book, which has the specific R.C. voice in each of the 17 stories here but which lacks any real excitement or punch. "The Bath," "Viewfinder" and "After the Denim" are the 3 standouts for me, and "Tell the Women We're Going" has a nice, sinister edge throughout, but most of the other stories felt like throwaways, quite honestly. In all fairness, though, I like my stories with more story and character growth, as opposed to "slice of life" moment storytelling that is Carver's specialty. (Read 11/03)
Justin M wrote this review Friday, January 4 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
”
“It sems intresten. Is with a nace tittle nd I love it.”
Ellen m wrote this review Monday, November 12 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Another classic from the American Master. I believe Raymond Carver is the best writer to ever come out of America. Period. His style is amazing. He had the rare ability to take ordinary people and make their lives interesting.”
Reojames wrote this review Thursday, September 13 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“classic”
KristenRex wrote this review Monday, September 3 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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