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Ultramarine: Poems
"Mr. Carver is heir to that most appealing American poetic voice, the lyricism of Theodore Roethke and James Wright.... this book is a treasure, one to return to. No one's brevity is as rich, as complete, as Raymond Carver's."
--New York Times Book Review
"Carver's gifts as a storyteller shine through his poetry.... Sometimes a Carver poem also works as a short story, with a...more
--New York Times Book Review
"Carver's gifts as a storyteller shine through his poetry.... Sometimes a Carver poem also works as a short story, with a...more
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
October 12th 1987
by Vintage
(first published 1986)
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Though Raymond Carver saw much success due to the strength of his short fiction, he fails to captivate with his poetry.
Raymond Carver (1938-1988) is often hailed as a writer’s writer, someone whose craft and voice are just as important as the story itself. He uses the language of the people he writes about to tell their story, and though he’s been labeled a minimalist, his work is more of that of a precisionist. Carver wastes no words, and his portions are perfect. To place Carver in...more
Raymond Carver (1938-1988) is often hailed as a writer’s writer, someone whose craft and voice are just as important as the story itself. He uses the language of the people he writes about to tell their story, and though he’s been labeled a minimalist, his work is more of that of a precisionist. Carver wastes no words, and his portions are perfect. To place Carver in...more
'Sweet Light'
'After the winter, grieving and dull,
I flourished here all Spring. Sweet light
began to fill my chest. I pulled up
a chair. Sat for hours in front of the sea.
Listened to the buoy and learned
to tell the difference between a bell,
and the sound of a bell. I wanted
everything behind me. I even wanted
to become inhuman. And I did that.
I know I did. (She'll back me up on this.)
...more
'After the winter, grieving and dull,
I flourished here all Spring. Sweet light
began to fill my chest. I pulled up
a chair. Sat for hours in front of the sea.
Listened to the buoy and learned
to tell the difference between a bell,
and the sound of a bell. I wanted
everything behind me. I even wanted
to become inhuman. And I did that.
I know I did. (She'll back me up on this.)
...more
I liked a few of these poems, but not all. There are rare flashes of genius as in "Waiting". Some are a tad gritty as he writes of his alcoholism.
Poems of Raymond Carver are three-dimensional. Inside each poem, the story makes its own space.
Damn, Carver. How do you do it? How do you make "ordinary life" so effing interesting? Ray takes the most mundane subject and peels it up into an engaging, entertaining piece of work. Ray could take the color blue and make you see it like you're seeing it for the first time, like you've been blind your whole life. If I could only compose half as good ol' Ray. Again, most people know Ray as a short story writer but I seem to like Carver's poems more than his fiction. Moreover, I ...more
Generally speaking this book has some great poems. I am a fan of Carver's short stories and his poetry. Towards the end of the book it lags a bit and some of the poems had a feel of, "Well, nothing really happened, except I caught some salmon, but I had a good day-" which don't do anything for me. However, when he tells stories about things that may have happened decades ago with complete memory and empathy for the characters the page just sings. He doesn't lose you in unending ima...more
this was recommend to me by Bart Parker, in relation to my own work.
Poignant, heart-wrenching, honest. A treat.
I don't go back to Carver's poetry very often, if at all, but as a young writer Carver's poems allowed me an entrance, somehow, from narrative poetry into the more complex pleasures of the lyric and other forms. Whether or not it's nostalgia for his poems on my part, I owe his work a lot.
Patrick
added it
so, i never give books ratings on goodreads. But if i did, this one would get all 5 stars.
I'm not a poetry guy but I like Ray Carver. His poems read like his short stories. Not a lot of detail in the words but deep in to the personalities of the people he writes about.
Section 3 is my favorite. I like a lot from the beginning too, but he's more depressed and bitter in the beginning.
Transcendent. Carver's voice is singular, sure, and a little rough from wear. These poems go with me always.
I would love to read this to you
sometime.
sometime.
why i write. Carver is superb.
Never gets old.
I keep picking this book up and flipping to favorite poems: "The Possible," "Son," "The Jungle," "The Meadow," "Limits," just to name a few. I've loved Carver's fiction for a while, but his poetry is great when it's good.
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Carver was born into a poverty-stricken family at the tail-end of the Depression. The son of a violent alcoholic, he married at 19, started a series of menial jobs and his own career of 'full-time drinking as a serious pursuit'. A career that would eventually kill him. Constantly struggling to support his wife and family Carver enrolled in a writing programme under author John Gardner in 1958 and ...more
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“there isn't enough of anything
as long as we live. But at intervals
a sweetness appears and, given a chance
prevails. ”
—
27 people liked it
More quotes…
as long as we live. But at intervals
a sweetness appears and, given a chance
prevails. ”
