Comments on: Raymond Carver and Cathedral

By: mee

mee — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:28:36 +0000

I thought A Small Good Thing has pretty clear ending. Does your more condensed version has different ending?

I’ve read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love the short story and I thought the style is very similar to the stories I found in Cathedral.

By: Mark David

Mark David — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:04:55 +0000

A Small Good Thing is entitled The Bath in the earlier collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. That edition is more condensed, but its open-endedness makes it more touching to me. I’ve heard Cathedral is a little more poetic. Wonder how this collection actually compares with this one.

By: Short Saturday: Brodkey, Munro, and Kundera | Books of Mee

Short Saturday: Brodkey, Munro, and Kundera | Books of Mee — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:04:10 +0000

[...] As I mentioned earlier, I vowed not to bog down myself with obsessive-compulsiveness to read everything in a collection of short stories and let the randomness takes me. The first story that I chose was one that Eugenides mentioned in his introduction, about a Harvard’s senior attempt to bring his girlfriend to her first orgasm by means of act of cunnilingus. Really, the plot line sounded ridiculous, so I caved. Also, the writer, Harold Brodkey, is the only author in the book that has two short stories. Everyone else only gets one space! [...]

By: mee

mee — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:32:04 +0000

I’ll keep in mind Mansfield and O’Connor. I’m not sure if I have seen them somewhere in the book as I haven’t finished reading it. There are a lot of authors she mentioned that I didn’t know or have not read. I feel so un-well-read! Thanks for the other anthology recommendation, I’ll take note of that as well!

Please please read A Christmas Memory! I even feel like reading it again, and that never happened! :)

By: Paperback_Reader

Paperback_Reader — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:03:37 +0000

I’m glad you are going to be attempting to read more short stories and look forward to reading about them. Francine Prose mentions some great ones including ones I love by Katherine Mansfield and Flannery O’Connor. I have the volume of What We Talk About When We Talk About Love and I’ll be interested what you think of My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead (I have that on my wishlist). I recently read a good anthoology, Let’s Call the Whole Things Off: Love Quarrels from Anton Chekhov to ZZ Packer and the love stories would make great companion reading.

You’ve reminded me that I wanted to read “A Christmas Memory” about now :).
.-= [Paperback_Reader´s last blog: Library Loot] =-.

By: mee

mee — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:20:44 +0000

Nymeth, I’m going to keep looking! I already have a few authors in mind to read next.

By: mee

mee — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:18:20 +0000

Suko, yes from what I read about him, that’s what most of his work is revolved around.

By: Nymeth

Nymeth — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:39:43 +0000

If only more stories lived up to "A Christmas Memory"! Still, this collection sounds worth reading, and I've been meaning to try Carver because of Murakami as well. .-= [Nymeth´s last blog: In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez] =-.

By: Suko

Suko — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:07:32 +0000

Interesting review, Mee. I haven't read anything by Raymond Carver, but from your comments it sounds like he captures slices of life of "ordinary" people. .-= [Suko´s last blog: A Conversation with Enna Neru] =-.