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edders's review
5.0
Unique to my knowledge. Would recommend to anyone, especially with interest in American culture. Incredibly short, terse description which makes you slow down. Very human in nature, great storytelling. No bias towards romanticism - it feels very real in human failing. A hair's breadth away from being gloomy.
I think Carver's precision - which gradually lessens as we move through anthologies 1, 2 and 3 - makes him less human as storyteller. These stories feel so direct but they also feel objective. A human narrator would use more words. A human perspective does not have that clarity. The lens Carver has us look through is precise and clear.
Just as clear are the plots. There is only one turning point. Men cheat; couples divorce; children fight. The unemployed despair. It seems to me that progressing through the stories there is a brightening. Stories are not always as dark, and the style becomes less curt. Eventually Carver comes closer to the midline, to characters that we believe still have hope, that can still change.
I have seen lots of comparisons to the artwork of Edward Hopper - simplicity and 'K-mart realism' are terms bandied around by those examining this work. Banal and humdrum lives exposed to the air, for all of us to see.
I think Carver's precision - which gradually lessens as we move through anthologies 1, 2 and 3 - makes him less human as storyteller. These stories feel so direct but they also feel objective. A human narrator would use more words. A human perspective does not have that clarity. The lens Carver has us look through is precise and clear.
Just as clear are the plots. There is only one turning point. Men cheat; couples divorce; children fight. The unemployed despair. It seems to me that progressing through the stories there is a brightening. Stories are not always as dark, and the style becomes less curt. Eventually Carver comes closer to the midline, to characters that we believe still have hope, that can still change.
I have seen lots of comparisons to the artwork of Edward Hopper - simplicity and 'K-mart realism' are terms bandied around by those examining this work. Banal and humdrum lives exposed to the air, for all of us to see.
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