some more carver

"James Dickey wrote: 'Carver’s stories have tremendous force, the power of a connecting left hook when the fist is filled with a roll of coins. Such an impact cannot be shaken off.' The surprise is that Carver achieves this impact with indirect minimalism -- he refuses to budge beyond the construction of a conversation or the description of two strangers in a quiet room. His stories carry no obvious symbolic, philosophical, or psychoanalytic subtexts; they are as "real" as the mattress beneath an aching back. In a way, Carver merely paints the painful silence that is the backdrop for most significant human interaction. He trusts that the graveyard of memory will accurately fill in the emotional details." --artandculture.com

Maybe that's why Carver is so intriguing, and his stories so effective with adolescents--he trusts and respects his readers...


I haven't read the entire thing yet, but this
Salon article discusses a possible act of plagiarism by Carver--could lead to an interesting discussion in a classroom.

Some Poems

Some poems by Carver:
I found some poems by Carver, which seem to be really relevant to the stories we have read.

Drinking While Driving by Raymond Carver
It's August and I have not
Read a book in six months except something called The Retreat from Moscow
by Caulaincourt
Nevertheless, I am happy
Riding in a car with my brother
and drinking from a pint of Old Crow.
We do not have any place in mind to go,
we are just driving.
If I closed my eyes for a minute
I would be lost, yet
I could gladly lie down and sleep forever
beside this road
My brother nudges me.
Any minute now, something will happen.

The Current by Raymond Carver
These fish have no eyes
these silver fish that come to me in dreams,
scattering their roe and milt
in the pockets of my brain.
But there's one that comes--
heavy, scarred, silent like the rest,
that simply holds against the current,
closing its dark mouth against
the current, closing and opening
as it holds to the current.

Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year by Raymond Carver
October. Here in this dank, unfamiliar kitchen
I study my father's embarrassed young man's face.
Sheepish grin, he holds in one hand a string
of spiny yellow perch, in the other
a bottle of Carlsbad Beer.
In jeans and denim shirt, he leans
against the front fender of a 1934 Ford.
He would like to pose bluff and hearty for his posterity,
Wear his old hat cocked over his ear.
All his life my father wanted to be bold.
But the eyes give him away, and the hands
that limply offer the string of dead perch
and the bottle of beer. Father, I love you,
yet how can I say thank you, I who can't hold my liquor either,
and don't even know the places to fish?

Tell it like it is

I've been thinking a lot about Raymond Carver and this blog and I think we are sort of missing out on a good experience here. I think we are (myself included) kind of stuck in this "we have homework" mentality and not putting all that we have in this blog. Our reflections are due on Thursday, which means that we have wasted a lot of time. Our reader responses have been really good, but now we have got to focus our attentions on teaching Carver. So I think we should take the next couple of days and really put everything that we can into the blog. I added a picture and I am going to poke around a little more tonight - see what I can find.

Anyone up for it?

I'll start things off by quoting from the NCTE book, something that I found particularly interesting.. Rubenstein writes:
In an often quoted line from his poem "Epilogue," Robert Lowell remarked, "Yet why not say what happened?" Critics frequently connect this line to the maxim of minimalism: Tell it like it is. To say what happened, what really happened, is essential to minimalist fiction and certainly to Carver's work. Though his fiction blends "a little autobiography and a lot of imagination" (Simpson and Buzbee 41), it strives to paint a realistic picture of a corner of our contemporary world. But the question is, through whose eyes is that picture seen? And how does truth depend on perspective? (75)

I am the type of person who likes to have things packaged neatly for me. I don't like clutter in my life, but strangely enough I do like clutter in my reading. What I mean by that is I truly enjoy having books and stories end like Carver's do. It gives me the feelings that I have contributed to the story, not just been passive reader. I've actually had to think about what I've read and the possible endings for that story. However, I anticipate that our students will dislike this initially. I've noticed that our students expect the author or the teacher to tell them what something is about.

So the questions that I am going to pose are: How can we teach our students to enjoy the clutter in their reading? How can we encourage speculation, natural prediction, and active imagination while reading stories like those Carver writes? How can we ease the uncomfortable tension that may arise from unhappy endings? What about no endings at all?


Finally - I found the trailer for Short Cuts, which is the film inspired by the writings of Raymond Carver. I'll include it below. Take a look at the cast, info, and awarm nominations by clicking here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108122/. It was nominated for an Oscar and has a great cast. None of the Blockbusters in the area carry the title, but I think you can get it on Netflix. It was $30 on Amazon, just in case anyone is interested.

Vitamins

In the spirit of St. Patty's Day I thought I would do my post in green. Isn't that multimodal of me?

Anyways.. sorry I haven't posted too much - but I have been reading! I have read a couple more stories, but there's one that I wanted to write about now. It is called "Vitamins" and it was... interesting. It was about this woman who was a struggling vitamin saleswoman and her cheating husband. Alcohol played a big role in this story.. in fact, I don't think there was a page that didn't describe some kind of drink or drunken encounter. The husband gets jealous when his wife's female employee hits on her, even though he is trying to seduce another woman (who is also working for his wife).

Eventually the husband succeeds and he and this woman go to a "spade place" for a couple drinks where they meet this black man who has just returned from Vietnam and has an ear as a trophy, which he shows to everyone. Because of this man the woman has second thoughts about what she is doing and decides to quit her job and move to Portland, because "there must be something in Portland. Portland's on everybody's mind these days. Portland's a drawing card. Portland this, Portland that. Portland's as good a place as any. It's all the same" (262). The last lines of the story are: "I knocked some stuff out of the medicine chest. Things rolled into the sink. 'Where's the aspirin?' I said. I knocked down some more things. I didn't care. Things kept falling" (263).

I think this goes along with the feelings of despair that the wife in "So Much Water" often felt. She talked about nothing mattering anymore. I get this vibe in a couple of the stories that I have read. I think that this is definitely something that could lead to a thoughtful discussion: what makes people give up? What makes people stop caring?

This is the statue mentioned in the NCTE book

I think this would be pretty nifty to use in class.

alicia:

can you make it so that we all have access to edit the layout? i want to put a picture of the book and of carver on the blog but i think you probably are the only one with access...

connecting other texts

I like the Josh brought up Jack London. I saw the movie "Gone Baby Gone" last week, and after reading "So Much Water So Close To Home," I started brainstorming how to pair other works with each story in this collection.

I don't know if you've seen the movie, so I don't want to ruin the ending. The essence of the conclusion, though, revolves around a moral/ethical decision so important to a couple that when they realize they don't see the issue in the same way, they realize they must separate. The couple in SMWSCTH is battling the same issue. It'd be interesting to see where a discussion in the classroom would go if the story was assigned the night before and then the end of this movie was shown at the beginning of class.

Which would, of course, most likely lead to a grand discussion dealing with themes of gender and relationships--two things that repeatedly came up when we discussed the work of Carver as a group.

So I'm curious if anyone has any ideas for texts to pair with other stories that they've read in the collection...? And Alicia--I'm not sure what story/ies and/or themes we're going to work with for our paired teaching lesson, but I'm thinking anything including gender and/or relationships will work.

Also, I submit this picture to counter Josh's for the cutest pet on the blog award:

Where I'm Calling From (?)

I'm not real familiar with the works of Jack London, but as the narrator explained the short story he had read in high school, I also remembered reading "To Build a Fire." Any time one author mentions another in one's work, I immediately wonder why that author was selected. To me the short story seems to parallel the narrators life. I read it comparing his struggles with alcoholism to the lighting of the fire. His first stint in rehab probably worked for a while, but eventually the alcohol covered him, much like the snow on the extinguished fire. The big question for me is, who is he talking to in the last line?

Random things that stuck out to me(kind of stream of consciousness):
"Like the rest of us, JP is first and foremost a drunk." - this is what defines them

Narrator waiting to break into seizures after it happens to Tiny- "So every time a little flitter starts up anywhere, I draw some breath and wait to find myself on my back, looking up, somebody's fingers in my mouth." - helplessness, outside forces we cannot control?

JP's story of falling down the well- "everything about his life was different for him at the bottom of that well." - Comparison to "rock bottom" at rehab?

Narrator asking JP's wife for a kiss for good luck?

The juxtaposition of the happy bedroom scene with his wife again the realities of what his life had become?

Cathedral (Once you read the ending, it actually makes sense)

While I was reading the story "Cathedral" I was slightly confused. The story really didn't seem to have a plot. It was just a work about a guy who wasn't real happy that his wife's blind friend would be visiting them for a few days. However, much like "So Much Water Close to Home" (excluding the strange trying a dead lady to a tree story line) the ending of the story really brought everything together for me. The scene in which the blind man and the husband are drawing the picture together, the husband with his eyes closed, shows a connection between them. For the first time ever, the husband was forced to deal with his fears and insecurities about the blind man. He is now able to empathize with him. "It was like nothing else in my life up to now... I had my eyes closed. I thought I'd keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to do. 'It's really something." I think this part of the story is extremely powerful because the husband and the blind man are having a shared experience, one that really seems to give the husband some real perspective on life.


This pictures doesn't really have anything to do with the story, but that's cool.

Symbolism

I bought a used copy of Where I'm Calling From and it's interesting to see what parts the previous owner had underlined. In the very first story in the compilation, there's a note in the margin asking what the fish symbolizes. Now, while the English major part of me would love to start pinning on meanings to that fish, I feel like that's the sort of question that would shut kids down. I'm just wondering how to talk about symbolism without instantly alienating students. I wouldn't use this particular story in class, so this is a more general question, but what do y'all think?

"So Much Water Close to Home"

I read another story and I'm in the process of reading another, which I will post about later (hopefully). The story I read was called "So Much Water Close to Home." Let me just say, it was strange to say the least. It was about this guy and his friend who go on a fishing trip and discover a girl floating in the water with no clothes on, dead. They had hiked to get to this spot and didn't want to leave, so they ended up staying for 3 days before returning to report the girl's death. He goes home after calling the police, has sex with his wife, and goes to bed without telling her what has happened. Then, the next day there is a story published in the paper about the men who didn't immediately report the body and they start receiving menacing phone calls.
The wife is distraught that her husband did nothing and it starts to overwhelm her. Carver goes into the details of their relationship and the wife's mental state.

I think it could be a story that we could use in a unit on minimalism... though I still think we should try to come up with a thematic unit - which we can't do until we have read more of the stories. It seems very straight forward in nature. While reading it appears to be telling what has happened, providing details, and asking for little interpretation. However, something about it left me thinking all weekend. There is a lot more to it than first appears. It got me thinking about what the wife really though happened. Or, what did really happen? It is told from the perspective of the wife, Claire, so we are receiving all of this information second-hand. We only know what Claire knows. I kept thinking about how I would feel if I were her. I think it would really intrigue students too. It is a question of morality. He writes, "Two things are certain: 1) people no longer care what happens to other people; 2) nothing makes any real difference any longer" (222). Those are really thought-provoking statements. I think students would have a lot to say about them.

Two quick things I wanted to add. I did a search on this story and I found out that there was actually a movie based on it. It is called “Jindabyne,” directed by Ray Lawrence and starring Laura Linney. I had never heard of it, but it might be an interesting way to get students into it. Or, perhaps just showing them the movie trailer as a preview and then reading the text. Also, I read a story last semester in Methods from the Flash Fiction book and I don't remember what it is called but it is about the deterioration of a marriage, which might also be a good supplment, especially since the 1st paragraph of the text ends with the sentence: "Something has come between us though he would like me to believe otherwise" (213).

The ending is very ambiguous and ends " 'I love you,' he says. He says something else and I listen and nod slowly. I feel sleepy. Then I wake up and say, 'For God's sake, Stuart, she was only a child' " (237). That really threw me off to be honest. I'm not sure if Stuart admitted to doing something or if that is how Claire takes it. Maybe if someone else reads it they can help me out (but I think that would also be a discussion starter in the classroom).

yes to minimalism

i haven't really looked at the NCTE book, but i'm glad you (and it) brought up the idea of minimalism. i actually think this could be a problematic concept for our students, especially since most writing instruction involves adding verbage, not minimizing it.

this story in particular could serve many lessons well. minimalism, foreshadowing, socioeconomic issues...

i really enjoyed reading carver; it was my first time. i was struck by the overwhelming feeling of loss. and, i admit, the story struck me to the core in a way that it might not for students unless they've experienced a great loss. all i could think about was how it felt when my son was in the hospital, before any prognosis could be given. i identified with all those strange feelings that ann and howard go through: wanting to reach out and share with strangers, spending time debating the logic (or lack thereof) of whether going home might help scotty to wake up.

whew...okay. so i agree we should focus lessons or a greater unit on minimalism. but what is the greater question guiding our unit on carver? what's the theme that would unite this story with any other texts we decide to bring into the lessons?

minimalism / "dirty" realism

The NCTE took talks a lot about the minimalist writing style that Carver is famous for. I think we really need to explore this. The book talks about the appeal of minimalist fiction and says, "precisely because it seems so slim and slight, it compels readers to become deeply involved" (17). His style allows reader to fill the the gaps and forces them to "bring to the story their own experiences" (17).

I feel that we should find a good selection of works that highlight Carver's minimalist style and explore what he was trying to accomplish in those pieces.

Additional Resources

I was trying to think of a few different way we could attack this Raymond Carver thing and I decided to look up a few articles.. So here they are:

Connections: Writing about Family
Jane P. Krebs
The English Journal, Vol. 76, No. 6. (Oct., 1987), pp. 58-60.

Two Interviews with Raymond Carver: http://titan.iwu.edu/~jplath/carver.html

Lesson Plans suggested by NCTE: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/author_detail.asp?authorid=165

A short story entitled "Raymond Carver": http://smokelong.com/flash/6448.asp

An interesting article from NY Times (1989): http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6DD1530F935A3575BC0A96F948260

I don't know if we would want to use any of these, but I figured I'd post them and see where it got us!

Shared Experiences

It's funny that you bring up the "Negro family" in the waiting room of the hospital. When I first read the story this was one of those things that stuck out to me as important, but, like you, couldn't really figure out why. When I went back and reread the story, I began to see a theme emerging: shared experiences. Twice in the story, Carver points out the idea that the mother sees a connection with another human being. During the opening scene in the bakery, carver write about how Ann is made to feel uncomfortable by the actions of the baker; while the baker was not curt, he was very direct. In regards to the baker's demeanor, Carver states, "She was a mother and thirty-three years old, and it seemed to her that everyone, especially someone the baker's age would have children who'd gone through the special time of cake and birthday parties. There must be that between them, she thought" (280). In this scene, Ann is making an assumption about the baker (one that is ultimately incorrect), but she is trying to identify something that they have in common; something that these two different people share.

It was also with this lens that I read the scene with the "Negro family" in the waiting room of the hospital. In this scene, Ann sees that these two families with seemingly nothing in common do have something that binds them. (As a aside, I oddly enough pictured the Ann, Howard, and Scotty as African- American until this point in the story. It was not until the "Negro family" mistook Ann for a doctor that I began to view them as white.) Through the African-American woman's response to Ann as she enters the waiting room, the reader can tell the despair and pain she and her family were in. Ann felt compelled to talk to the family, and they exchanged stories about their sons. "She [Ann] wanted to talk more with these people who were in the same kind of waiting she was in. She was afraid, and they were afraid. They had that in common" (291). In this instant, Ann seems to find some comfort in their commiseration over their shared experiences of tragedy. Ann wanted to tell these strangers more about her son and the accident, about his birthday, and that he was still unconscious. The connections that she found with these people she didn't know seemed to be a very important piece of the story.

"Abrupt" and when it is too late

So I started reading this and realized that I had already read this story - but I couldn't remember what happened. I did remember, however, that I ended up feeling sympathetic for the baker. As I read the first portion of the text in the bakery I thought about how many casual encounters we have with people each day and how, very often, they are meaningless to us. Is this contact meaningless to the other party? I think that we often assume it is, but perhaps we are mistaken. It appeared to Ann that the baker was looking to move her along and get back to work; he made it clear he did not want to engage in a conversation with her. As Ann thought about who he was or what he did in his life it seemed like she felt as though she was superior to this man. She considers if "he'd ever done anything else with his life besides be a baker" (377). Immediately following that thought she thinks of all she has done in her life.

I was intrigued by the baker throughout my reading, probably because I knew he played a more important role later in the story. Because of this I found myself juxtaposing the baker to every other character in the story. Ann used the word "abrupt" to describe the baker's dismissal of her. That description was constant in many of the characters in the text, especially those that were male. The man who hit Scotty was abrupt in his decision to leave the scene of the accident. He seemed like he had so many other things to do that he couldn't be bothered with this child, even though his actions were life-altering - actually like ending. Dr. Francis was continually short and dismissive with Ann and Howard. Perhaps if he had paid closer attention to Scotty they would have been able to see the real situation.

Because this is how I was thinking I kept finding similarities and differences between these two characters. The baker had "coarse features" while Dr. Francis was described as "handsome." The baker was listening to country music; Dr. Francis looked like "he had just come from a concert." They were anxiously waiting for Dr. Francis' diagnosis and opinion, but the baker was so unmemorable that he wasn't recognized until after days of contact. The baker was known as "the baker," while Dr. Francis was immediately given a name. Ultimately, however, Dr. Francis was more dismissive and escorted the grieving parents to the hospital's exit so that he could get back to work. The baker stopped doing his work, was sorrowful and brutally honest. He gave all that he could give to Ann and Howard: compassion and cinnamon buns. "A Small, Good Thing."

What do you think about the "Negro family" in the waiting room? That entire scene was one I had a hard time wrapping my mind around. It seemed a bit out of place for me, but I feel like I am on the verge of having some great epiphany. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction!