Photo by Mr Xerty on Unsplash Hello friends— First some news. I was profiled in Publisher’s Weekly about Filthy Animals. An excerpt ran in The Sewanee Review, and was reprinted at Lit Hub. Christian Lorentzen wrote an incredibly moving piece on the late, great Giancarlo DiTrapano, one of contemporary publishing’s most vital, electric forces, gone far too soon.
"To read Carver is to face down that most worrisome of quandaries: what are we to do with the lives that are not remarkable, those lives that everyone else ends up living?" - I am crying.
I love what you write about the 70s/80s damp-carpet purgatorial feel of Carver. I wonder if for a lot of old-millennial writers/readers from working class families, this aspect means Carver hits a little too close to home. I feel so uncomfortable reading him; he resonates with something from so early in my childhood I can barely articulate or even remember it -- my parents' inability to connect with their older sick relatives, my sense they didn't have enough hours in the day to take care of me and be happy in their own lives, etc.
You could say that about a lot of periods in literature, ofc, but the specific feel of 80s precarity really brings it home to me.
Excellent, interesting, and right on time. Carver’s stories make me homesick too. Maybe that’s why I keep reading them. One line in Gazebo never leaves me: “But maybe I should be looking at the floor.”
I think the political novel discourse makes sense if you think of it as an offshoot of the publishing industry's marketing. A lot of adults don't read and then I think the majority who do read only read 1-3 books per year, so trying to sell something as "important" to the times we're living in or whatever makes more sense from that angle. People are maybe just looking at the bestsellers list for a beach-read or maybe something to make them feel like they're keeping up with the times. The people who read a lot, and those more likely to pay attention to "the discourse," I would think, are actually a minority and are maybe (likely?) not the people the industry are really targeting to sell to (because of course they would try to sell to the majority) but in a way I think they set the tone for how downstream discourse might happen... even if the people who actually read book reviews and author interviews, etc., are likely the ones who read a lot and could do with better, more sophisticated discourse? I don't really know but that makes sense to me anyway... I listen to audiobooks when at I'm work and can go through a book a day basically, and whenever book discourse sounds silly to me, I think it's because I forget a lot of people only read a couple books a year and then when I remember that, it makes more sense.
I’ve also been re-reading Carver. Just finished Cathedral. He describes those stories as “opening” more. It made me wonder what might have happened to his style and form if he had more time (dying so young, at 50). All great points. You might find this interview interesting, in which he says staying sober (above everything) was his greatest accomplishment: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3059/the-art-of-fiction-no-76-raymond-carver
This line: To read Carver is to face down that most worrisome of quandaries: what are we to do with the lives that are not remarkable, those lives that everyone else ends up living?
This is what I've been trying to explore (in a rom-com, eesh) and your piece tells me that I must start by re-reading Carver.
"To read Carver is to face down that most worrisome of quandaries: what are we to do with the lives that are not remarkable, those lives that everyone else ends up living?" - I am crying.
I love what you write about the 70s/80s damp-carpet purgatorial feel of Carver. I wonder if for a lot of old-millennial writers/readers from working class families, this aspect means Carver hits a little too close to home. I feel so uncomfortable reading him; he resonates with something from so early in my childhood I can barely articulate or even remember it -- my parents' inability to connect with their older sick relatives, my sense they didn't have enough hours in the day to take care of me and be happy in their own lives, etc.
You could say that about a lot of periods in literature, ofc, but the specific feel of 80s precarity really brings it home to me.
Excellent, interesting, and right on time. Carver’s stories make me homesick too. Maybe that’s why I keep reading them. One line in Gazebo never leaves me: “But maybe I should be looking at the floor.”
I really liked this. You described Carver so beautifully.
I liked Cathedral. Why's everybody hating on Cathedral these days?
Absolutely brilliant, loved this. Going to go read some Carver now!
He is a discovery.
This post has convinced me to read Carver. I agree with you on the “political” novel discourse. I find it a bit exhausting tbh.
"I wished I believed in anything the way Carver believes in dialogue." YEP.
I think the political novel discourse makes sense if you think of it as an offshoot of the publishing industry's marketing. A lot of adults don't read and then I think the majority who do read only read 1-3 books per year, so trying to sell something as "important" to the times we're living in or whatever makes more sense from that angle. People are maybe just looking at the bestsellers list for a beach-read or maybe something to make them feel like they're keeping up with the times. The people who read a lot, and those more likely to pay attention to "the discourse," I would think, are actually a minority and are maybe (likely?) not the people the industry are really targeting to sell to (because of course they would try to sell to the majority) but in a way I think they set the tone for how downstream discourse might happen... even if the people who actually read book reviews and author interviews, etc., are likely the ones who read a lot and could do with better, more sophisticated discourse? I don't really know but that makes sense to me anyway... I listen to audiobooks when at I'm work and can go through a book a day basically, and whenever book discourse sounds silly to me, I think it's because I forget a lot of people only read a couple books a year and then when I remember that, it makes more sense.
I’ve also been re-reading Carver. Just finished Cathedral. He describes those stories as “opening” more. It made me wonder what might have happened to his style and form if he had more time (dying so young, at 50). All great points. You might find this interview interesting, in which he says staying sober (above everything) was his greatest accomplishment: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3059/the-art-of-fiction-no-76-raymond-carver
Discussion over at Metafilter: https://www.metafilter.com/191084/that-carver-boy-be-spitting
This line: To read Carver is to face down that most worrisome of quandaries: what are we to do with the lives that are not remarkable, those lives that everyone else ends up living?
This is what I've been trying to explore (in a rom-com, eesh) and your piece tells me that I must start by re-reading Carver.
(Thanks for this so much, for so many reasons.)
I have always loved Carver, and many other writers who are out of fashion. Thanks for a brilliant deep dive into Carver and his writing.