Can you be quiet please

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Jun 09, ISBN Add to Cart. Buy from Other Retailers:. May 25, ISBN Paperback —. Also in Vintage Contemporaries. Also by Raymond Carver. See all books by Raymond Carver. Product Details. Inspired by Your Browsing History. The Stories of John Cheever. John Cheever. Five-Carat Soul. James McBride. Sweet Thursday. John Steinbeck. Collected Stories. William Faulkner. Sixty Stories. Donald Barthelme. The Complete Stories. Truman Capote. Oct 19, Maru Kun rated it it was amazing Shelves: 20th-century-lit , review-or-reviewed , c-usa , books-dave-might-like.

I wonder what women do? As well as being full of acute observations about male stomach hair and other aspects of human behavior these stories are full of the psychology of things unsaid or understandings not shared. As well as mastering natural dialogue Carver has mastered the spaces between that dialogue, a space full of misdirection or of motivations not explained or only half understood, of powerful emotions left un-expressed. Many stories communicate a failure to communicate; characters often seem to end a story lonely but unable to quite pinpoint where this loneliness comes from — surely a common human experience and a reason why the stories are often easy to relate to.

I am embarrassed to say I only realized it was based on Raymond Carver stories after finishing this. So far, I love Raymond Carver. He reminds me of Ray Bradbury in a strange way, though Bradbury was a much kindler, gentler version of Carver. Carver is more about what life is actually likely to serve you up, versus what is ideal. View all 5 comments. Due back to the library today, they only have one copy and it's a big library system with many branches, I once read that Carver is one of the authers whose's books are most stolen, maybe that is why they only have one.

The librarian wouldn't give the address or even a name of the person who requested it. I can't fathom why, all I would do was contact whoever it was and say to them , "You read Carver and so do I, What's your most favorite one and hey let's get coffee, cause us readers have to st Due back to the library today, they only have one copy and it's a big library system with many branches, I once read that Carver is one of the authers whose's books are most stolen, maybe that is why they only have one.

I can't fathom why, all I would do was contact whoever it was and say to them , "You read Carver and so do I, What's your most favorite one and hey let's get coffee, cause us readers have to stick together because there is so few of us left, especially people who read books made of paper. Why did Raymond Carver have to die so young, each book got better, just think if he was still alive.

Got this book back form the library the other day, getting to the stories I didn't get to the first time. In one story a cat brings a dead mouse into a house as two couples smoke weed out of a bong, they think the cat is high! Feb 19, Nick Pageant rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorite-rereadable , gen-fic. Thanks to Maya and Sofia for the BR. This is a tricky collection of stories. All are very subtle and simple. I loved it.

View all 8 comments. Apr 20, Cbj rated it really liked it. This is a collection of strange and disturbing short stories with weird titles, elusive meanings and rather abrupt endings. Raymond Carver has a unique way of offering us a glimpse into the inner lives of his characters. He uses their physical actions and bursts of short conversation but very little actual description of what the character is going through. It is all about the way the stories make you feel.

Most of the stories involved a random happening in the life of an individual or a couple This is a collection of strange and disturbing short stories with weird titles, elusive meanings and rather abrupt endings. Most of the stories involved a random happening in the life of an individual or a couple and their feelings about it.

Think about a short break from your work when you're standing in the corridor smoking a cigarette, wondering about things. Or a visit to the bar where you sit alone at a table drinking a beer, thinking to yourself. Or you just lay in bed on a morning and stare at the fan and let the thoughts run through your mind. Those short gaps in our busy lives when we take a moment to sit back and ponder. That's what these stories are about. The characters are mostly working class or middle class people and Carver pierces into the innards of their soul.

Some of the stories are really brutal and there is a certain cruelty with which Carver describes the problems of the characters. The following stories stood out for me: "Fat" - a young woman narrates the gluttonous behavior of a fat patron at the restaurant she works, to her friend.

Her boyfriend's reactions to the fat patron and how it affects her life are also part of the short story. A man returns home after his work is cancelled. His wife tries to have sex with him. But his mind is elsewhere. During their rambling conversations, the main character Jack sees his wife hugging the other man. The story had a creepy ending. He then tries to make her shed weight. Great stories with superb characterisation. I especially loved the dialogues—they were utterly brilliant!

The reason why I could not give this wonderful collection a higher rating was because they were too many cliffhangers. Open-ended stories are lovely but when there are too many of them, it makes the reader feel impatient Aug 11, Sofia rated it really liked it Shelves: eagerly-read , , br , shorts-anthologies.

Reading such stories about the everyday minutae of American life without the political or Hollywood hype sometimes makes me sad. It does make me compare my life which is far away from America and see what's the same and the differences. Basically though I see the universal realities, basic human needs remain the same, basic human insecurities remain the same, different culturals then jump in to add more difficulty, like different perceptions of how to live a good life, priorities etc.

I like exp Reading such stories about the everyday minutae of American life without the political or Hollywood hype sometimes makes me sad. I like exploring these nuances and with Carver these come in gallons. Carver says very much in a few words. His characters are unadorned, sometimes in all their sleazy glory.

He gives them to us as is, no holds barred. I suspect that his worldview comes out in his characters. Some of the stories made me laugh. Others sad or afraid. Some I didn't get, maybe I come from a too different culture to get those.

Still at the end I'd say I got a slice of humaness reading this book. Read with Maya and Nick 6th Feb - great talking with you about these. Discussing these with you made some of the stories more accessible to me. It was good to come to this book cold, knowing very little about Carver or his reputation and life story. Two initial impressions from the twenty-two stories in this collection. First is about period — I felt they transcended a particular period and as a result I found it hard to place them in a particular age.

First published in the s they could easily date back to the s. It also means they It was good to come to this book cold, knowing very little about Carver or his reputation and life story. You left some of the stories not knowing where they would reach their natural conclusion.

Will their marriage survive, can they both bear to live with the whole truth? We will never know. This may link to period, but I could see a number of Edward Hopper paintings as I read the stories, especially those with a lone figure looking out of a window or away from the painter.

Looking into the distance, waiting for something to happen. And I love Hopper, so enjoyed the effect. A late night phone call to an unlisted number. A man picks up, expecting it to be his wife who is frequently away. Instead it is another woman. She is lonely and she asks him to visit.

She says it is urgent. Against his better judgement he does. Nothing seems to happen on the visit. The only urgency is her loneliness and the brief connection over the phone line. Appalled at himself, knowing he would despise himself for it, he stood and put his arms clumsily around her waist.

She let herself be kissed, fluttering and closing her eyelids briefly. Now facing bankruptcy, they have to sell the car for cash, or have it repossessed. Leo worries the lots will close. But Toni takes her time dressing. She puts on a new white blouse, wide lacy cuffs, the new two-piece suit, new heels. She transfers the stuff from her straw purse into the new patent-leather handbag.

She studies the lizard makeup pouch and puts that in too. Toni has been two hours on her hair and face. Leo stands in the bedroom doorway and taps his lips with his knuckles, watching… He follows her through the house, a tall woman with a small high bust, broad hips and thighs.

He scratches a pimple on his neck. All this time talking about how Toni is dressed, the preparation to go out looking good and sell the car. The only mention Leo gets is about the pimple. Leo and Toni had furniture and Toni and the kids had clothes. These things were exempt. What else? The portable air-conditioner and the appliances, new washer and dryer, trucks came for those things weeks ago. What else did they have?

This and that, nothing mainly, stuff that wore out or fell to pieces long ago. But there were some big parties back there, some fine travel. To Reno and Tahoe, at eighty with the top down and the radio playing. Food, that was one of the big items. They gorged on food. He figures thousands on luxury items alone.

Toni would go to the grocery and put in everything she saw. She joins all the book clubs. They enroll in the record clubs for something to play on the new stereo.

They sign up for it all. Even a pedigree terrier named Ginger. He paid two hundred and found her run over in the street a week later. They buy what they want. They sign up. All the back story you need, the lavish life, the waste, and now the poverty, needing the six hundred they might get for the car, going to court on Monday. The story of Ralph and Marian. Their college days, their love, success and their marriage.

And in the story of their honeymoon in Mexico, a small hint of disquiet. But one vision we would always remember and which disturbed him most of all had nothing to do with Mexico. It was late afternoon, almost evening, and Marian was leaning motionless on her arms on the ironwork balustrade if their rented casita as Ralph came up the dusty road below.

Her hair was long and hung down in front over her shoulders, and she was looking away from him, staring at something in the distance. She wore a white blouse with a bright red scarf at her throat, and he could see her breasts pushing against the white cloth.

He had a bottle of dark, unlabeled wine under his arm, and the whole incident put Ralph in mind of something from a film, an intensely dramatic moment into which Marian could be fitted but he could not. There will be more Carver for me.

Some of the stories deserve a hundred stars The Stories of John Cheever is a prized possession in my bookcase. They are a revelation to me; despite their brevity, the poetic force and lyricism is sometimes more than I can find in a single novel. But enough about Cheever. Carver is quite a different proposition. His stories are minimalist slow-burners, full of seemingly superfluous details that nevertheless reward the sensitive reader once they sink in.

Why, Honey? What Is It? A gut-tightening, unnerving look at the strangulating effect that the death of the American Dream has on a couple. And finally, the title story: A man discovers the liberation that comes from forgiving. I will admit that it took me a while to get into this book, but the irony is that once I did, the pages were rapidly running out.

When I reached the end, I was left wanting more, wanting to read everything that Carver has written and inhabit again the worlds that he creates which - although they are so raw, and at times so bleak - are yet so uncompromisingly real and therefore make me feel alive, and gives me refuge to the deep and obscure thoughts within me that I feared would never find validation, until now. Perfectly lovely stories, just not my thing. I buddy read this with Richard Reads based on his recommendation and I have to say, buddy reading short stories might be my new favorite.

It was interesting to see how differently and similarly! There were some about the tension in relationships based around work, money, and boredom. There were some about how families interact and how neighborhoods function in the work I buddy read this with Richard Reads based on his recommendation and I have to say, buddy reading short stories might be my new favorite. There were some about how families interact and how neighborhoods function in the working classes.

I was able to see myself and some of my experiences in these stories, and especially things people in my town have faced. The stories felt genuine and real. My only faults with this is that at times they were a little too detailed with insignificant things at times, and a lot of them would take a confusing turn that didn't seem to fit the story to me.

This could be changed on further analysis by me, but as an enjoyable reading experience it was just confusing.

Some of these stories felt like they had little meaning too and had repeating themes, so they were tiresome in a collection. Jan 29, Brendan Monroe rated it really liked it Shelves: america , shorts , american-lit , essential , words. I've been on a real kick lately of reading books about nothing.

It is so much more impressive for a writer to draw you in using nothing more than words than it is for them to spin a magnificently plotted yarn. But Carver's short stories only SEEM to be about nothing, or at least, they did to me on my first reading. I started this collection two months ago now, thinking that I'd be able to bulldoze my way I've been on a real kick lately of reading books about nothing.

I started this collection two months ago now, thinking that I'd be able to bulldoze my way through its pages by Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving came and went. Christmas came and went.

January came and is nearly gone and I have only, just now, finished this. I don't know. I could have pushed myself to get through these stories faster, but I felt I needed to take a break after each one.