"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.
3 comments:
That article from Salon is really interesting. The NCTE book talks about the real inspiration for Cathedral and even talks about Tess Gallagher's alternative writing of the story. I wrote about it somewhere on this blog.
I would still have students read this, however. I would have them read the The Blind Man and then ask: What do you think?
I think the question I would focus on most is: Does it matter? If Carver had borrowed ideas from another story, does it take away from his story? Students would probably have a lot to say on this topic.
That was an interesting article. I don't know what I would do with this in the classroom though. The story was based on an actual incident, and the power of touch between two people, and understanding "the other" are powerful, common, themes. I think I would want to go more with the idea that some common (or perhaps not so common in this case) experiences have inspired diverse works in every genre.
I like that the word "paint" is used in your post. Reading some of Carver's work reminds me of looking at a piece of art. I don't really know how to read art, and that's pretty much how I feel with Carver's works. He doesn't provide any of the more direct literary elements that other authors do. Carver presents very straight forward stories, basically challenging the read to fill the gaps and make the connections. In a way, this is better, because his works might be more open to interpetation than others'.
Post a Comment