Rating: 
Summary: Remarkable, touching short stories
Review: Few stories have moved me as much as Carver's, and this book collects some of his best. The depth of his characters, and the clarity of their emotions is all the more stunning when you consider the brevity of some of these short stories. For me, Carver explored those aspects of the human condition that are not only difficult to put into words, but much more so to convey with the beauty and dignity he has done here. A big, big thank you to my high school literature teacher for introducing me to his work.
Rating:
Summary: haunting portraits
Review: Raymond Carver could infuse the most insignificant moments in his stories with weight and beauty that are absolutely haunting. In these, his best stories, you can feel the happiness, love, or (most often) deep sadness in the characters' hearts. I greatly admire his ability to reveal our deepest sorrows and insecurities within just a few pages of simple and calm prose.The outstanding stories found here are too numerous to name individually. The title story is a good one to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Stories with Heart
Review: I think the two best stories in this collection are "Cathedral" and "A Small, Good Thing". While "Cathedral" probably has received the most attention of all the stories in this collection, I like "A Small, Good Thing" better. At the heart of the story is a sense of tenderness and compassion that is rare in contemporary fiction. The last scene moves one to see all differences are minor compared to what we all endure.
Rating:
Summary: Raymond Carver is the best short story writer since Ernest
Review: Carver's style of writing is so unique and fresh that his books are impossible to put down. While Cathedral will always be my favorite, all of Carver's stories are extraordinary. I am a sophomore writing major at St. Lawrence University, and in my techniques of fiction class, Carver was one of our main foci. He is very good at abstract description, describing someones breathing as opposed to their face. I reccomend this book to any short story fans, especially those who hate the kind of writing when a handshake is described in 1000 words. Carver is short and too the point, and his stories are down to earth. Tim O'Brien rules.
Rating: 
Summary: All of Carver's best
Review: Carver is incredibly honest in his approach to people. This book works as a sort of soundtrack to life and how we see it. It's not just about these common folk, these everyday workers, but it's about everyone. And what is startling is that we find ourselves in each of these people. It is amazing the clarity that comes out of each day--Carver is able to capture that clarity and raise it it an even higher level.
Rating:
Summary: Blackbird Pie broke my heart
Review: I think I read Student's Wife first and it was so like my wife, that I bawled like a baby. Then I read Blackbird Pie and when it comes to the part where he says "I'm having to go on without history", I thought I would die, because I am not so sure that this was not written during Carver's life-ending illness. I have never had such profound reactions to literature before or since.
Rating:
Summary: Carver's Best Together
Review: Some of Raymond Carver's best stories were put together in this collection. I was intoduced to him with "Cathedral" (included in this anthology) and was hooked ever since. His talent is obvious, whether it's minimalistic or contemporary or just so true. You can see this with "Little Things" or "Where I'm Calling From" or anything else. Try it.
Rating:
Summary: west coast struggle for happiness
Review: carver is accused of being a surface writer, and while this is somewhat fair, he also dives deeply and accurately into the personality and lack of identity of people living on the west coast. a sort of civilized "western" mentality. the book is a find for anyone, and i think very few have come close to "cathedral" in terms of a perfect short story.
Rating:
Summary: By far, the best book I own
Review: I was introduced to Carver my sophomore year of college, and I think I now have every book he ever wrote! One thing I notice that people say when mentioning Carver is that he was a minimalist, which, I think, is entirely untrue. Carver was smarter than that, he was more unique. What Carver did, perhaps, was to write precisely and consisely. He used less words to show the rawest of all emotions: awkwardness, doubt, guilt, ignorance. He did in eight words what Faulkner took eighty to do. There is always something behind Carver's work. Something small and lurking, something you have to squint to see, but by God, once you do, it's glaring. To me, Carver gives his stories to his readers: he allows his readers to see what they will, because so much is there, but it matters how hard and how long you are willing to look. My favorites: Why Don't You Dance?; A Small, Good Thing; Elephant; They're Not Your Husband; and Neighbors.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the finest writer of dialogue in the English language
Review: Raymond Carver doesn't want to dazzle. He wants to tell the truth. And he lets his characters speak the words, realistically, with an un-authorish character-driven irony. As if the words were audibly uttered in a smoky diner booth next to us. Carver's stories are heartbreaking accounts of a Pacific Northwest people whose lives are as drab as the murky clouds above. They are out of work, employed, alcoholic, intellectual. They live across the street from us, they live in our bedrooms. Where I'm Calling From is his finest collection of short stories, arguably the greatest ensemble of American fiction since Hemmingway. Carver is painfully witty (see "Careful"); eloquent ("Cathedral"); and profoundly romantic ("Distance" will re-awaken dormant memories of your most defining love -- lost). Carver writes in an oxymorronic circular-linear fashion. Although he continually returns to the theme of a broken soul within, his stories wind down without tangible conclusion. Fans of Shakespeare will disapprove of the lacking resolution. But then, even in a glitzy world, reality has a (sadly) profound disposition toward entropy. Carver's untimely death mirrors the heart-breaking destruction found in many of his broken characters. Many of us.
|
