Erin's review of Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories
Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver
Yeah, so I guess it's impossible to read Carver and not have a certain amount of respect, for his brevity, his style, his subtlety. But in the end, I do so HATE his characters. It's wonderful to be honest and all, but what a fucking pity party. I guess Carver didn't believe in redemption. Or if he did I am a dolt because I missed it. These are extremely subtle stories that tend to highlight conflicts/problems, but I don't usually get the feeling the character might evolve and thereby find any solutions. The best they might do is to leave somebody or realize they never loved someone--speaking broadly here. So I'm going on record to say Carver is just way too depressing and I will not be prioritizing his books for a good long while. I don't believe pessimism is synonymous with quality, though he is quality and I admit this is a matter of taste.
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raymond carver is like the lars von trier of books. they're so great at showing us how shitty people can be but have no desire to offer a solution or possibility of redemption. where's the pathos? also, for me, his brevity was a sign of his laziness.
Well it's interesting about his brevity. Tess Ghallager, his former wife, is pushing to get his original versions published because his editor Gordon Lish truncated his style. I am really curious to see how "expansive" his original stuff could possibly be. Somehow I doubt he was a Faulkner to begin with. It brings up some interesting ethics of editing, though. Maybe his brevity was a sign of his editor's insecurity and artistic repression!
