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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Carver is owed a debt the US can never repay for his ability to turn the American Northwest into an iconic backdrop for the simplest stories that tell so much with so little. It's incredible that every story takes 10 minutes to read and then a couple of hours to digest. The naive prose covers so much deep meaning, and every tale is memorable in its harsh realism.
Revelation, understanding and disagreement are some of the predominant themes that take hold of each story. From the explorations of more brutal forms of love in the title story and A Serious Talk, to the far more subtle unspoken heartaches of Why Don't You Dance? Carver manages to turn a simple story into a deeply thoughtful question, and reminds us that there is after all a very unique culture belonging to the United States of the 20th century that bursts forth from a very short word count.
An incredibly important collection.
Revelation, understanding and disagreement are some of the predominant themes that take hold of each story. From the explorations of more brutal forms of love in the title story and A Serious Talk, to the far more subtle unspoken heartaches of Why Don't You Dance? Carver manages to turn a simple story into a deeply thoughtful question, and reminds us that there is after all a very unique culture belonging to the United States of the 20th century that bursts forth from a very short word count.
An incredibly important collection.
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i've never been able to finish a book of short stories before, but this was wonderful and beautiful.
there weren't as many quotes in this book for me to drop below that really made me think, because short stories make you think anyway as they're so bite-sized.
but here are a bunch of lines that i think would work well as phoebe bridgers song lyrics:
"there was this funny thing of anything could happen now that we realised everything had"
"i look at the word Love and then i underline it. then i see the word backyard. is it one word or two?"
"maxine said it was another tragedy in a long line of low-rent tragedies"
"he said, 'i just want to say one more thing.' but then he could not think what it could possibly be."
my favourite three were
"why don't you dance"
"tell the women we're going"
&
"the bath"
read those if you have time, i loved them
there weren't as many quotes in this book for me to drop below that really made me think, because short stories make you think anyway as they're so bite-sized.
but here are a bunch of lines that i think would work well as phoebe bridgers song lyrics:
"there was this funny thing of anything could happen now that we realised everything had"
"i look at the word Love and then i underline it. then i see the word backyard. is it one word or two?"
"maxine said it was another tragedy in a long line of low-rent tragedies"
"he said, 'i just want to say one more thing.' but then he could not think what it could possibly be."
my favourite three were
"why don't you dance"
"tell the women we're going"
&
"the bath"
read those if you have time, i loved them
i loved carver's fleetingly ephemeral writing. i can't recall stories or plots off the top of my head, but the dysfunctional characters of the stories resonated with me well.
the stories were beautiful, in way that the mundane becomes profoundly lasting. carver was a true literary genius of his time because of how much he manages to convey with so little.
the stories were beautiful, in way that the mundane becomes profoundly lasting. carver was a true literary genius of his time because of how much he manages to convey with so little.