Author Spotlight
“He came in one day kinda late. He didn’t step out or anything like that but, yet, uh—I was so mad, I picked up that colander. That pushes the tomatoes down in the basket. And I hit him with that. Ha. It bled. Of course like scared the boys to death. And, uh. He got all right.”
Disclaimer: I don’t care about minimalism or reputation or Gordon Lish—talk about talked to death. I just like this documentary about Raymond Carver because it reminds me of where I grew up and the people there, and the sort of particular collars-up, wake up with half your tongue in the Pacfic, rattle all the way from Arkansas and sit down and eat an orange or an avocado and kick a bucket of fog over and say welp, I guess that’s pretty much it sort of thing that Raymond Carver wrote about and that is, really, his great accomplishment. Lish or not, Carver wrote about a tiredness that comes at the Western edge of an experiment. And the people of that tiredness. Good on Lish for tarting the gab, but the people were Carver’s. And he’s been imitated until we all want to take a nap, okay. But Carver wrote about a certain carefulness of breathing that, still, revisiting the stories, gets me where the air gets made. Maybe all Carver will shake down as is a really great regional author. Okay. Fine. But region is mood. Mood is light. And Carver’s got his mirror at an angle that brings into awful focus a few basic marine and meteorological facts. First, the Pacific is the big one. Second, it’s where the sun ends.
Tags: raymond carver
“Old people are boring. They babble and you can’t tell them to shut up. They are useless. Simple machines that serve no purpose.”
Felix Dominguez, Book of Silence, 1976
“Old people are boring. They babble and you can’t tell them to shut up. They are useless. Simple machines that serve no purpose.”
Felix Dominguez, Book of Silence, 1976
Carver’s literary estate is for the birds. They just should have shut their mouths and work with the image they were given, which was one of the best. They are trying to declaim that image and erect another and the new one has not been built with the best intentions.
Carver’s literary estate is for the birds. They just should have shut their mouths and work with the image they were given, which was one of the best. They are trying to declaim that image and erect another and the new one has not been built with the best intentions.
Very well written here, Mike. A poem all by itself.
Very well written here, Mike. A poem all by itself.
what would you say is the new image versus the old one? and you are talking about tess gallagher and company, right?
what would you say is the new image versus the old one? and you are talking about tess gallagher and company, right?
thanks dude—i didn’t mean to write so much—i have been rereading carver lately after not reading him for probably 2 or 3 years
thanks dude—i didn’t mean to write so much—i have been rereading carver lately after not reading him for probably 2 or 3 years
That’s the thing. I’m not quite sure what their trying to do with the idea of Ray Carver. But I don’t like it.
That’s the thing. I’m not quite sure what their trying to do with the idea of Ray Carver. But I don’t like it.
nice poem mike
nice poem mike
some good words on r.c.
finished cathedral recently (post-lish, i think, or pre-lish, no-lish — ‘lish-less’). some of the stories lag in parts (i get that that’s part of the wearied aesthetic or whatever) but when he hits on it it’s with a penetrating directness as good as any writer, ever really.
some good words on r.c.
finished cathedral recently (post-lish, i think, or pre-lish, no-lish — ‘lish-less’). some of the stories lag in parts (i get that that’s part of the wearied aesthetic or whatever) but when he hits on it it’s with a penetrating directness as good as any writer, ever really.
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“I just like this documentary about Raymond Carver because it reminds me of where I grew up and the people there.”
me too. thx for sharing.
“I just like this documentary about Raymond Carver because it reminds me of where I grew up and the people there.”
me too. thx for sharing.