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A review by aicilalane
What We Talk about When We Talk about Love by Raymond Carver
5.0
A review by Michael Wood on the back cover of my edition of What We Talk About When We Talk About Love does a much better job than I could at conveying the uncomfortable authenticity/realism of this collection of stories: "[Carver] has invented a country of his own, like no other except that very world... is the world to all of us."
This was not a pleasant reading experience; Carver removes any semblance of rose-colored glasses we might have for our lives and our humanity and paints a rather bleak picture of our world. There are moments of beauty; there are moments that struck me to my core as Carver deftly put into words a piece of my identity I wouldn't have been able to describe (specifically, the final paragraph of Why Don't You Dance). Most of the stories are rather disheartening. It is a side to humanity that we prefer not to acknowledge.
Raymond Carver is a masterful writer. These stories are deft daggers where others might have used broad sweeps to convey the same sentiment. If you don't expect to be comforted by this book, you will be able to fully appreciate his craft and his insight.
This was not a pleasant reading experience; Carver removes any semblance of rose-colored glasses we might have for our lives and our humanity and paints a rather bleak picture of our world. There are moments of beauty; there are moments that struck me to my core as Carver deftly put into words a piece of my identity I wouldn't have been able to describe (specifically, the final paragraph of Why Don't You Dance). Most of the stories are rather disheartening. It is a side to humanity that we prefer not to acknowledge.
Raymond Carver is a masterful writer. These stories are deft daggers where others might have used broad sweeps to convey the same sentiment. If you don't expect to be comforted by this book, you will be able to fully appreciate his craft and his insight.