Collections of stories that don't have a definite conclusion and the classic storytelling style. Now I don't know exactly what this genre is called, but what was important to me was that the book was enjoyable and that although you knew the stories were actually just short excerpts from people's lives, you wanted to follow and not put the book down. I also deducted one star because I didn't quite understand what one or two of the stories were about. I don't think the translation was a problem either, because in my opinion, the translation of the book was excellent.

This type of literature offers a unique reading experience. It allows the readers to engage with the characters and their lives in a more immersive way, as they are not presented with a neatly wrapped-up ending. Instead, they are left to draw their own conclusions and interpretations.

The fact that the stories are short excerpts also adds to their charm. They offer a snapshot of a particular moment or situation in a person's life, which can be both thought-provoking and emotional.

Overall, I would recommend this collection of stories to anyone who enjoys reading and is looking for something a little different. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who appreciate this style of writing, it can be a truly rewarding experience.

One of the remarkable aspects of New Year's is that a night of extraordinary revelry gives me the perfect excuse to spend an entire day cocooned with a book and a pile of blankets. And boy, did I strike gold with this short-story collection.

Among the countless joys in these rather bleak snapshots - and I rank this above the masterful use of understatement, which usually delights me the most in well-written prose - is the seamless way Carver's writing style aligns with his subject matter. The two complement each other in a truly awe-inspiring and humbling manner. It infuses every word with so much unspoken value that I'm astonished writing teachers don't universally hold Carver up as the ideal for all aspiring writers. Perhaps it's to avoid overwhelming a group of already notoriously insecure individuals.

I don't typically favor collections that adhere to a theme, but it's executed flawlessly here. The theme of love, in all its flavors, stages, disguises, and warped manifestations, and its concise portrayal in each piece (even the more light-hearted and less hopeless ones) makes each tale feel richly populated with a full range of genuinely evocative and empathetic human emotions. Carver makes me care about every single character, even when I'm not supposed to. It has the added benefit of making these stories seem like they could be unfolding next door. The believability and raw honesty expertly woven into every word in this regrettably small collection make every little moment so palpable, a feat few writers can hope to achieve.

Is all of Carver's work like this? If so, it's not an exaggeration to say that I'll be revisiting his writing soon. I have at least one "why didn't I read this guy sooner" moment every year, and it seems this year's instance couldn't wait to make its appearance.

The first thing that comes to my mind to say about this treasure:

You who are reading me, if you can, read it…

Surrender to it and you will have a fabulous literary experience!

They are small stories - episodes of daily life - that talk about love, of all forms of love – and a lot about the lack of it -, fraternal love, lover's love, conjugal love, lost love, reencountered love, love as friendship,…; and of lovelessness, a lot of lovelessness…

They are small accounts of love, of desire, of death, of selfishness, of cruelty and that leave us limp, restless and thinking, far beyond reading the last line.

Each mini-story appears out of nowhere, as if by magic, exposing us to the soul of beings like us - even if we don't want to recognize it - and in the same way that they start, they end, leaving us disconcerted; without an end, or an easy-to-understand end, or one that we want to understand…

We have to create an end for it ourselves, for this we want to read it again, to reunite the characters and texts, in order to make consistent what surrounds the words that we will spell and that remains, floating loose, in our minds. And, then yes, we think we understand…

Here, nothing is ordinary and banal, normal or expected. Everything is surprising and as unpredictable as our own life…where, at all times, we are surprised and we surprise ourselves and nothing happens as we planned and predicted;

How does a husband react when he catches his wife in the act of adultery? Does he hit her, kill them? No! He simply cries…;

What happens when love ends…how is what was built together divided - if it is divisible - …the children…;

Sexual love as a way to exorcise grief and death…

...

I am not a lover of short stories…

My first encounter with Carver, who is unanimously regarded as one of the best short story writers in the United States, was truly remarkable. It is difficult to dispute such a claim. With his incredible talent, Carver has the ability to condense the entire complexity of life, its meandering nature, and its power to lead a person to places he would never have believed he could go or had not anticipated going, all within just a few pages.

His endings are truly memorable. Those few sentences seem to explain stories that are otherwise quite ordinary, yet manage to summarize their meaning in a flow of contradictions, confusion, and surprise. It is as if he has the gift of distilling the essence of life's experiences and presenting them in a way that leaves the reader both enlightened and amazed.

Carver's writing style is unique and captivating. His use of simple language and straightforward叙述 belies the depth and complexity of the themes he explores. Each story is a journey into the human psyche, a exploration of the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears, that make up our lives.

Overall, my first encounter with Carver's work has left a lasting impression on me. I look forward to reading more of his stories and continuing to explore the rich and fascinating world he has created.

A collection of slice-of-life short stories awaits the reader. These stories often seem to meander aimlessly and end in an ambiguous fashion. Yet, for some mysterious reason, I found myself deeply drawn to them.

Carver has a knack for extracting interest from the most ordinary of situations. Yard sales, photographers offering their services, accidental death, a night of bingo, the act of doing things and doing nothing, and people talking yet saying nothing - all these become the fodder for his stories.

As a reader, I sometimes felt frustrated when a story seemed to lead nowhere. I had expected grand conclusions, a sense of finality. Instead, I was left with images like dudes driving away from confrontations, holding ashtrays. But then, there would be those moments when the subtleties of human nature would be revealed. True insights into our unnecessarily complicated lives would surface, taking my breath away.

I read this collection over 20 years ago, and I'm afraid that some of the specific details have escaped my memory. However, what I'll not soon forget is the quiet desperation that Carver managed to convey. He made me feel for the everyday people whose lives had taken an unexpected turn. I was in college at the time, full of life and enthusiasm. Middle-aged regret was not something that kids of that age could fully comprehend. Yet, Carver's writing made me experience that horrid indecision and that deep-seated pain. These emotions, although uncomfortable, are well worth enduring for the sake of reading this beautiful prose.

I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone's heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.

What do we talk about when we talk about love? This book, contrary to its title, is not very forthcoming on the subject. It is rather a collection of all the things we don't talk about when we talk about love. You know, the loneliness, the miscommunication, the hurt, the regret. All the terrible things that lurk in the shadows while we focus on the light.

There is something almost grotesquely normal about Carver's stories, something oddly realistic. It's as if you're looking at something you can't believe you actually believe. For instance, someone puts up all their furniture for sale in the yard, not just haphazardly but carefully arranging everything so it looks the way it did inside, even connecting the lights. Who in the world would do that? In real life, perhaps no one, or quite possibly all of us under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

This is a collection of stories about ordinary people who have reached the end of their rope in one way or another. It's middle-class people looking back at middle-class lives through a lens of alcohol, cigarettes, and regret. It's an obsession with the present to avoid confronting a bleak, disappointing past and possible future.

Carver is precise and razor-sharp in his language and observations. He cuts to the core of human relationships, especially the failed kind. He serves up dish after dish of disenchanted characters and story after story of middle-age regret and failure. Yet it remains vivid and fresh, with not a dull story in the bunch. There is an air of unpredictability, like you can never be sure where a story will go. Sometimes it does what you expect, sometimes it doesn't, and you're never certain of anything. It's an atmosphere of unease, as if something is constantly on the verge of snapping, could be your neck or a twig, you don't know.

What puzzles me the most is that it didn't make me sad. Maybe it's because I can't really identify with anyone in it. It's all very recognizable, but like something I've seen in a movie or in other people, never myself. I'm still young, with years ahead to make mistakes that I can look back on with bitter regret and longing, but for now, I'm still hopeful.

Carver presents something that is both familiar and strange. There is something terrifyingly normal in all of it that makes you wonder, "Could this be me?" And yet, at the same time, you know it isn't you. It's too staged to be real, which makes you believe in it even more.

It's honestly about all the things we do when we've given up and that are somewhat abnormal but don't seem that way. They're just what we need to do, regardless of how odd it looks to those outside the experience. Carver makes unreasonable human behavior seem reasonable and the insensible sensible. I don't know how he does it, but it just happens.

Here's a comparison that some might find distasteful, but it's a bit like if Kurt Vonnegut and Charles Bukowski had a lovechild while piss drunk. A very eloquent, but ultimately hopeless lovechild.

I don't know. I'm not great with short story collections. But I liked this one, I liked it a lot.

"There was this funny thing of anything could happen now that we realized everything had."

He makes it seem effortlessly simple. In this short story collection, he almost makes it appear too uncomplicated, as if there is little more than concise language and an even more concise \\"plot\\".

However, that's not the case. The stories may seem deceptively diminutive, but there is a profound authenticity within these fragmented explosions. Each of these stories, which explore the fleeting nature of love and the various ways we damage or completely destroy it, has a hard, dark core.

* 'I Could See the Smallest Things' presents a woman who, in the middle of the night, contemplates slugs as she gazes at her husband, a new perspective on their marriage emerging.

* 'So Much Water So Close to Home' is a tale of men on a camping trip who encounter a woman's lifeless body. The manner in which they handle it disturbs their female counterparts and everyone who knows them.

* 'Tell the Women We're Going' reveals how senseless violence erupts from men who feel confined within their suburban families.

* 'Popular Mechanics', a story about the bitter division of a couple's assets, compelled me to toss the book aside as if it were a venomous snake. The vivid image it evoked was simply too overwhelming to dwell upon.

* 'Everything Stuck to Him' delves into the pressures of early parenthood, offering a retrospective on a challenging yet sweet period when a relationship still retained its tenderness.

The other stories are equally memorable, with themes of infidelity and excessive alcohol consumption coursing through them. They are not uplifting, that much is certain. But there is a truth here, a sense of humanity, and a shared pain that make them worthy of being read.

As I previously mentioned, these stories are deceiving. They are understated and undoubtedly underwritten. The power of Carver's writing surfaces later, in nauseating waves, when you grasp the implications of what you have just read.

Apparently, this particular collection has been heavily edited. After his passing, Carver's widow fought to have his original, unedited stories published under the title Beginners. I haven't perused those lengthier versions, but I will assert that these concise, abrupt jolts to the heart worked extremely well for me.

Carver greatly surprised and impressed me.

His small "big" heroes are so vivid and real that they manage to transform a reading experience into a complete immersion of all the senses.

They are there with you, full of life.

You see them, you hear them, you touch them.

Carver's writing has a unique charm that draws the reader in and makes them feel as if they are part of the story.

The characters he creates are complex and multi-dimensional, with their own hopes, dreams, fears, and flaws.

Through his words, Carver is able to bring these characters to life and make them unforgettable.

His stories are not just about the events that occur, but about the people who experience them and the emotions that they feel.

Reading Carver's work is like taking a journey into the hearts and minds of his characters, and it is an experience that I will never forget.

My first experience with Kafka was when I bought the book after learning that Murakami quoted the title of his book ("What I Talk About When I Talk About Running") from Kafka's title, and I was told that Murakami was influenced by this writer. These two reasons were enough for me to explore his works.

At first, it was difficult to understand Kafka from the first two stories. Indeed, it was not easy, but as I continued reading, I was able to grasp his narrative style. He writes details that seem unimportant to you, but at the end, you feel the importance of every word in the text, and there is no superfluous line. Kafka's works are astonishingly well-crafted!

Kafka focuses in this collection of short stories on human relationships. If you look for love, you will find it in different places through the eyes of different people, depending on their nature, ideas, and roles in the story. Kafka takes you to the dark sides of love, friendship, and life, and he especially focuses on the complications that arise from any human relationship.

Things like doubt, betrayal, deception, and the corruption of souls filled with evil... Also, love in Kafka's works is not the romantic kind we see in novels of the handsome athlete, the charming heroine, and the exotic setting. It is full of complications and contradictions, which are clearly shown in his philosophy in the story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" or in the strange and skillful story that brought about a huge revolution in one of his main characters in the story to reveal the evils of human beings hidden behind the guise of family and responsibility. The story with the sudden ending "Tell the women we're going"

Every story of Kafka seems like a scene cut from life. Kafka's protagonists are ordinary people, sometimes unimportant or different, and in most of Kafka's stories, the ending is ambiguous. You may see something or you may not... The most important thing is that he leaves you with a sense of unease and discomfort... And this makes you think about the story and wish you could find a friend to share your thoughts with, which is in itself a wonderful thing... There is no doubt that I was not satisfied with Kafka and this book is only the first step.

Hace unos años, I delved into reading Carver. The first time I read this collection of short stories, I remember thinking it was sterile, offering nothing new or valuable. However, after reading "Catedral" and getting a better understanding of Carver's style, everything changed. He became one of my favorite short story writers. On this second reading, it's a completely different experience. The first time was just a mere opinion, but now it has become a reason to keep reading. I will try to analyze each story I like in this anthology in my own way. Carver, like his characters, requires time to be read and understood, to uncover the hidden depths beneath the simple appearance.

The edition I have is supposed to be the one edited by his editor. As I understand it, a lot of Carver's stories were heavily cut. Nevertheless, I'll see how it goes. Although I think I'll come across stories that seem to lack a proper ending. To this day, it's not known how much the editor meddled with Carver's stories, but something definitely happened. According to what I know, "Beginners," which is like the uncut version of Carver, makes much more sense, is more complete, and does justice to his work in all its glory.

I think the book "Beginners" is out of print, so I consider it a pity that we're left with this version. But that's the way it is.

Well, I think some of Carver's books are out of print, or at least that's the impression I've had. It's a shame to lose the original editions of this writer. In fact, I'm reading this in the "Compendium" published by Anagrama, and it was quite a struggle to get my hands on it. The same goes for John Fante, another of my favorite writers. To get his books in the secondary market, you have to deal with exorbitant and completely unreasonable prices.

Why Don't You Dance?

The main character is an alcoholic. Nothing is known about his past. He seems to just float through the story, present but not really seen.

He makes the decision, in my opinion, impulsively and driven by the desperation of alcoholism, to sell all the objects in his house. He gets to the point where he ends up giving them away. There's an uncomfortable stillness lurking in every word of the story. The reader tries to piece together the clues, the reason why the character sells everything. It's not certain if it's out of impulse, because he's hit rock bottom, or simply because he wants to leave. Although the story leaves room for metaphor. The fact is that a couple approaches, interested in the objects he's selling. They end up getting drunk and one of them falls asleep. She dances with the protagonist in the middle of the street. It leaves an open ending where we don't know if they just danced or did something more. Although the past, present, and apparent future of the character converge at the exact moment when the story takes place. The magic of Carver is on full display.

Belverde.

In this story, two characters are trapped, both figuratively and physically. In this story, the love between the two protagonists is conceived with a kind of independence, where alcohol and hidden reasons set the rhythm. The husband of the other protagonist discovers new fetishes. Something very common in Carver's world is strange sexual behavior, but he never defines it directly. In this case, that device is used to fill the void of the character, although the story suggests that both were already empty before being trapped. There's an accusation, which in turn triggers a conversation, along with a specific situation. These two elements combine to create an uncomfortable, almost inhospitable atmosphere. The place where they are is simply the void that separates them. There's no way for them to come together or be redeemed. It's an empty shell that can no longer be filled. The initial sentence of the story is terrifyingly forceful and already sets the tone for what's about to happen. The titles, almost form an essential part of the context of the plot, or several plots within one, as Carver has accustomed us to.

“In the morning he drinks Teacher's and chugs it down in little sips. And that same afternoon he tries to jump out the window.”

Mr. “Coffee” and Mr. “Fix-It”

Carver, as I was saying in the previous story, treats sexuality in a strange way. Unlike Bukowski, who also had a somewhat strange conception of sex, Carver only gives us clues about what might be happening. As is the clear example in this story.

A man realizes, when he enters his house, that his mother is on the sofa with a man he doesn't know. His mother is an older woman, a widow. This causes an irreparable shock to our protagonist, but in the same story, a husband accepts that his wife has a lover. The curious thing about these two stories is not the fact itself, but that we are presented with two sides of the same coin. The same forcefulness.

The Bath

A mother orders a cake for her son's birthday. That's how the story begins, with a simple and everyday event that can initially bring happiness. But on that same day, the boy, on his way home from school, is hit by a car. He lies on the curb suffering while his friend, who saw it happen, just stands there watching and eating chips. It's one of the cruelest and coldest moments in the story, and with this, we get a sense of the tone the story will have.

The fact is that he ends up in the hospital, and the doctors don't reveal his real condition. The mother isn't convinced by the explanation they give her, so her worry increases.

In this part, I felt especially uncomfortable. If you've ever been in a hospital with a seriously ill person, you know how uncomfortable it is when nothing is clear, when they do tests without really explaining the reason. Carver, in this chaos, knows how to play perfectly with this fact.

The fact is that the woman doesn't want to go home in case, at any moment, they reveal her son's condition, whether it's better or worse.

Days pass and nothing is clarified. Finally, due to the exhaustion of the situation and staying up for days, she decides to go home and take a shower.

At that moment, she gets a call. It's quite clear that it's from the hospital and that her son's condition isn't going to improve. The fact speaks for itself. Although at first it seems that the call is about the order of her son's birthday cake, it's not. The way the story plays with the plot is masterful. It not only plays tricks but also plays with the emotions the characters generate throughout the story. Brutal realism, without compassion, with a brutal and grotesque juggling of a seemingly simple situation.

Tell the Women We're Going

A couple of childhood friends decide to spend a few days away from home. Both are married and want to somehow remember the old days when they did everything together. They have good jobs and, on the surface, seem to have a happy marriage. So far, so good. At one point, one of them asks if something is wrong, and it's at that moment that the story juggles between the past and present of the characters. In my opinion, I think the following event takes place in the past of the characters, but it's not completely clear.

Both are in the same car, as they share it, or so the beginning of the story leads us to believe. They come across two girls on the road, on bicycles, and start harassing them. When one of them doesn't get what he wants, he decides to chase them. The story ends with the sound of a stone, then another, and silence. Clearly, they have killed them. What we don't know for sure is if both participated or not, and there's no reason given for such an act. But it could be what separated them for years. A very cruel way of playing with the characters' time. In fact, so far, it's the coldest story I've come across in this anthology.

So Much Water So Close to Home

The story starts with an everyday event, as Carver has accustomed us to. Only this time, it's about another homicide, similar to the previous story, but with indifference.

It's not the homicide itself that Carver shows us, but everything that surrounds it, the cover-up of a cruel and repugnant act. Several friends decide to go fishing to a place where they don't usually fish. They decide to spend a few days, and from the first day, they find the body of a woman on the shore. They ignore it and do nothing until, after a few days, they leave the place and decide to call the police. This fact generates the repudiation of the whole town towards the four friends who were there. It's here that Claire, the wife of one of them, comes into play. She can't maintain appearances in the face of such an act of cruelty and blames her husband for not calling the police earlier. She feels guilty but decides to try to move on, although she can't get those thoughts out of her mind and continues to blame him.

Carver, through Claire, downplays the seriousness of the events by letting the matter pass until everything is resolved in an unexpected, cold, and unscrupulous way. It ends with an everyday event, something related to love rather than the guilt of having done what they did. The word "chilling" would be appropriate. It's an absolute masterclass in narrative in this story. The simplicity and the intentional cover-up are masterful on Carver's part.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

“I think we're all just beginners when it comes to love.”

“And that should make us ashamed when we talk as if we know what we're talking about when we talk about love.”

“I could hear my heart beating. I could hear the hearts of the others. I could hear the human noise we made there, sitting still, not even moving a little bit, not even when the kitchen went dark.”

There are two couples, both drinking gin without mercy. A question about love arises at the table, and each person defines what love means to them from a different perspective. The wife of one of them tells how her ex-husband was a violent person, even threatening to kill her current partner. The story leads us to believe that they were lovers when she was still married to him, and when he saw what was happening, he became especially violent. In the end, he ended up in the hospital with a gunshot to the head. For her, it was love. Although the story strongly suggests that it was anything but that. A kind of silent violence takes over the table after this anecdote. The rest is just rambling in a conversation, and you can sense the state of the participants in the discussion.

Personally, I think the title is very apt. Not only because of the story and the title that defines the book, but also because of the power the phrase holds. For me, it's an enigmatic power that doesn't have a clear answer. Sometimes there are no answers because love doesn't define everything, although I think most decisions are made out of love. Whether it's self-love, love for a family member, or love for other people around us. A title with an enigmatic answer, just like Carver's story.

Overall, I loved it. The stories are powerful and, as I was saying before, very well thought out. I'll definitely come back to these pages again, probably many more times. I just have to thank the coincidence of coming across this great author, who has given me a new limit as a reader and as an aspiring writer. Carver is a legend, they say.

I could hear my heart beating faintly.

I could hear the hearts of everyone.

I could hear the human noise that we were making there, without any of us moving, not even when the room darkened.

It was a strange and almost eerie experience.

The silence was broken only by the soft sounds of our breathing and the occasional rustle of clothing.

As I listened, I felt a sense of connection to the people around me, as if we were all sharing in this moment of stillness and quiet.

It was a moment that I would never forget, a moment when I truly understood the power of silence and the beauty that can be found in the simplest of things.

Even now, when I think back on that moment, I can still hear the faint beating of my heart and the soft sounds of the people around me.

It is a memory that will stay with me always.

My encounter with Carver begins with this collection of short stories. It is a collection that seems like a photo album, where each story is a snapshot of life in its daily routine and of Carver's world.

The characters in the collection are autistic, artists, salespeople. They are outcasts, characters who prefer to live a life on the margins of society rather than being its protagonists. A life in which not only alcohol is the protagonist, but also, and above all, love as the title states. A visceral, passionate love, a love that leaves a mark, that leaves deep and clearly visible scars.

Carver's prose is simple, straightforward. It is a prose that reaches the heart, that has reached mine, leading me to know this writer better and of whom I will surely read more.

Overall, this collection offers a unique and poignant perspective on the human condition, filled with characters and stories that stay with you long after you've turned the last page. It makes me eager to explore more of Carver's works and discover the depth and breadth of his literary talent.