Raymond Carver: Collected Stories (Loa #195): Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? / What We Talk about When We Talk about Love / Cathedral / Stories fro

Reading Raymond Carver leads one to think "I can write this well." Really? Carver is the master of the quick and telling sentence. Best left to professionals. Amateurs should not attempt this in the dark of night in the cloister of the home study.

I'm a fan of horror stories. I'm also a fan of literary short fiction though I must admit to rarely being able to figure out what I'm supposed to glean from most stories of this kind. I reckon it's like someone who enjoys crossword puzzles or word games, the joy of decoding the secret meaning. About two years ago, I came across Ray Carver, his name meaning nothing to me up to that point. The more I read about him, the more intrigued I became. Here was a guy that was considered literary, but spoke in the language of the working class. So, I picked up a used copy of Where I'm Calling which set me on what I believe will be a life long fascination w/ this man's work. After 2 years, I can't admit to understanding everything Ray's written, but I know that at the end of each story, I will feel something that no other writer can make me feel: a sense of fear in the oddity and horror that man can display; and in many of Carver's later stories, a feeling of warmth when man can overcome his true nature and stumble upon moments of true understanding. The first Carver story I read was called "Dummy", which depending on the collection you read, is also called "The Third Thing That Killed My Father Off". It was like a literary murder mystery. Now I know there've been other murder mysteries displaying a vast technical skill, but there was something about Carver's presentation that struck a chord w/ me. There are few writers who's words bring clearer images to my mind. There's an old writer's proverb "show, don't tell" and to my mind, there's no one who adhered more to this creed. Even stories who's underlying meaning may be nestled away in uncomplicated prose, the literal action of the story could not be easier to picture. Another favorite which I read early on is called "Neighbors". In it, a couple charged w/ feeding the neighbors' pet and watering their plants while they're away, slowly begin to usurp the neighbors' lives and apartment. What ensues is nothing short of brilliant. Carver's insight into the human mind is better than anyone I've ever read. No matter how odd his characters act, everything is totally believable, and when you consider that you yourself are probably in one of these stories somewhere, doing something you yourself probably don't even notice you do, well, therein lies the horror. The more I studied Carver's writing the more I found the influence of one of his earliest proponents, Gordon Lish. Lish was the fiction editor at Esquire magazine from the late 60's to the mid 70's and was responsible for bringing Ray's work to the attention of a wider audience. Early in their relationship Ray deferred all the editing responsibility to Lish, basically, I feel, because Lish had given him his biggest break. As time went on and Carver became more sure of himself as a writer, he and Lish would often clash on how Carver's story should be presented. While Ray is known as THE Minimalist, his work, though short, was often much longer than the gen

Raymond Carver has been called a "writer's writer," presumably because he has never had great commercial success, and because his stories are so unusual. They seem to end abruptly, leaving the reader wondering exactly what happened. But that is Carver's skill: he doesn't spell everything out, preferring to let the reader understand what was not said -- the undercurrents in people's lives that lead them to act as they do. Carver's stories are unlike any others you've ever read. And here, a thank you to the Library of America for publishing important writers, and for producing such well made books. It's a pleasure to hold them in one's hand and to turn the pages.

Collected Stories of Raymond Carver is the comprehensive book for all readers of Carver, not to mention any lover of short stories. This collection encompasses his entire career, from his early days to those stories published after his death, and all are excellent in depth and nature. Reading this book is a journey into the heart and soul of Raymond Carver, and this will be a collection for the ages.

Raymond Carver managed to capture, in his short stories, the power in the mundane: the extraordinary circumstances hidden within the subtleties of reality. COLLECTED STORIES showcases his immense talent. It collects his three volumes of fiction: "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?", "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love," and "Cathedral," as well as the miscellaneous stories not gathered in those three volumes. The collection even offers an "alternate" version of the "What We Talk About" collection: the stories BEFORE they were heavily edited. The end result is a compelling, powerful look at one of fiction's greatest writers. This is bound to become a standard textbook in English courses (as has been the fate of other "Library of America" books; I am currently enrolled in a graduate course that is using their Emerson collection). Don't let the formality fool you, however; Carver is an accessible writer, enjoyed by both literary and casual readers alike. (One of my very good friends is a "non-reader;" he hardly ever cracks a book, and yet he will go on for hours about the eloquence of Raymond Carver.) COLLECTED STORIES is, essentially, a must-have volume of literature for anyone who has ever professed to love reading. While it is hardly a complete overview of Carver's career (it includes only three essays, and completely ignores his poetry, which is equally brilliant), it is an essential stepping-stone to understanding one of 20th century literature's greatest contributors.