To understand the atmosphere one breathes in the twelve stories of "Cathedral", it is enough to search for Edward Hopper on Google, and voilà, the game is done!

I had already talked about the palpable "Hopperian" atmosphere in another American novel, but in Carver, the thing really jumps out at the eye.

I am a lover of illustrated editions. I love illustrations to the point of going crazy because they make me consider things from another point of view. They do not influence my version of the characters and the environments that I have already created from the descriptions, but rather, they offer me a way to look at them with other eyes.

Let's say that Hopper could be a very good illustrator of Carver.

While reading, I had fun associating stories and paintings in my mind, putting them in front of me as real backgrounds while reading.

And here are the pairings that came out:

"Penne" - "Cape Cod Evening"

"La casa di Chef" - "House at Dusk"

"Conservazione" - "Room in New York"

"Lo scompartimento" - "Compartment C, Car 293"

"Una piccola, buona cosa" - "City Sunlight"

"Vitamine" - "Nighthawks"

"Stare Attenti" - "Office in a Small City"

"Da dove sto chiamando" - "People in the Sun"

"Il treno per John Cheever" - "Hotel Lobby"

"Febbre" - "Conference at Night"

"La briglia" - "Western Motel"

"Cattedrale" - "House by the Railroad / Gas Station"

It has often been said that Hopper painted loneliness, and in the case of Carver, he writes about loneliness in a masterful way.

They could not but be associated in my mind.

Although many of Hopper's paintings are set in the 1920s/1930s of the twentieth century, and Carver's works are some years later, we see that in America, not much has really changed.

If the man and the woman in "Nighthawks" in 1942 already showed a profound loneliness, some years later, it is possible to find them under other guises that look at us from the counter of other bars within the pages of Carver, always surrounded by their aura of inaccessibility, because Carver is very clear in making us understand that although we can listen to them, they can only save themselves on their own.

These "Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (plus one)", to quote the title of another beautiful collection of stories by Richard Yates, continue to dance in front of my eyes even 24 hours after finishing the book, and I believe they will accompany me for a while longer.

P.S. The story "Una piccola, buona cosa" is the revised and expanded version of a story already present in Carver's previous collection, "Di cosa parliamo quando parliamo d'amore", only that in the latter it was called "Il bagno", and it ended with a sense of suspension that did not clarify the ending.

In "Cathedral", the story is taken up, some details are added (such as the name of the dog), and it is continued until the final existences. Although I prefer the suspended ending, especially in stories, for this kind of ending, even if on the one hand disappointed by the epilogue of a matter, I feel like thanking the baker and those two extra pages that can make something so sad into a sweetness difficult to erase (whoever reads it will understand me better).

Raymond Carver, an American author (1938 - 1988), is a master of the short-story. This collection features a dozen of his stories as part of the 1980s Vintage Contemporaries series. While others have reviewed all twelve, I'll focus on "Cathedral," a story I love.
The blind man, a friend of the narrator's wife, comes for a visit. The narrator, whom I sense is named Al, has a narrow view of blindness shaped by movies. Al's wife writes poems, which he dismisses. He also shows little emotion when discussing his wife's past.
Al's attitude towards life is bitter. He demeans his wife's tapes with the blind man and shows his self-centeredness when his name is mentioned by the stranger. The blind man's situation, having lost his wife and being left with little, is seen as pathetic by Al, but ironically, it is Al's cynicism that is truly pathetic.
As the story progresses, Al's behavior towards the blind man is often rude and sarcastic. However, something changes when they engage in a creative act together. While watching a TV program about cathedrals, they decide to draw one. During this process, the narrator has a profound experience. He closes his eyes and feels something new, something beyond his usual self-preoccupation and cynicism. This moment of awareness is like a breakthrough for him, a glimpse into a different side of life.

On Christmas Eve, 1989, as the snow gently fell outside, I sat alone in my room. I was just 20 years old. That night, something extraordinary happened. I picked up a book and read it cover-to-cover. I didn't plan to do so. Raymond Carver's unique voice and his vivid characters simply seized me and refused to let go. It was one of the very few books that I had ever read in a single sitting.

These characters, I discovered, were not like the fictional creations from most other books I had read up until that time. They felt real, like my friends, neighbors, and coworkers. And to a certain extent, they even resembled me.

After finishing "Cathedral", I was certain of three things. Firstly, I had a burning desire to be a writer. Secondly, I realized that one could be a writer and still be a blue-collar person, just like Carver. It didn't require being a glow-in-the-dark genius lounging in an ivory tower. Thirdly, I knew that I wanted to read every single word that Carver had written.

Eighteen years later, I have achieved the third goal. I have read all of Carver's works. However, I am still working on the first one. But whenever my inspiration wanes, I return to "Cathedral", and it always manages to recharge my writer's batteries.

This book is truly a modern classic. By all means, check it out! Raymond Carver was indeed "America's Chekhov". His stories have the power to touch our hearts and minds, and they will continue to do so for generations to come.

At times I believe I give too much importance to what I read. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not sure I can explain exactly what I mean: in my life I have very few certainties, but one of the few certainties, one of the few things I have never doubted is precisely the importance that literature has for me, and I don't think I want to change this fact. What I mean is something that probably I won't be able to say, so I take a step back and try to start again from another perspective. I have always had a particular relationship with short stories: I thought I didn't like them, I thought they were just the second choice of a novel, something smaller and more easily negligible. Then Richard Yates came, with his "Eleven Kinds of Loneliness", and I understood how superficial and naive I had been to think such a thing. And precisely in the period when I was still amazed by the epiphany generated by Yates, several people warmly advised me to throw myself into Carver, because if I had loved Yates I would have literally gone crazy for Carver; if I had appreciated the minimalism and realism of Yates I would have adored that of Carver; if I had felt a great loneliness and pain reading the characters of Yates, I would surely have been annihilated by those of Carver. Well, I thought that the encounter with such a great author, an author who seemed to have all the cards in order to become one of my favorite authors, couldn't happen like that, in any moment, without importance, without everything being in its place. And so I postponed, and postponed, and I read other authors, I read other short stories, always thinking that I wasn't ready for Carver.

A few weeks ago, without too many expectations, I was overwhelmed by Salinger's "Nine Stories", and on the same day I finished that last story, I reserved "Cathedral" in the library. I decided not to experience it in a bulimic way, as I always do with short story collections, but to savor its reading, to read slowly, to immerse myself deeply in each story, without immediately moving on to another story. And I tried, I desperately tried to let myself be carried away by Carver. Here, I gave too much importance to what I was reading - I tried to give too much importance to what I was reading - and something broke. There I was, reading every sentence slowly, stopping to think about the skill inherent in a construction (and it's no coincidence to talk about construction in "Cathedral"), there I was, repeating to myself how good Carver was, how well he knew how to make fictional characters real, how the stories talked about loneliness and desolation, but there wasn't much else. When I wrote my comment on Salinger's "Nine Stories" I talked about broken barriers, here I can only talk about constructions: Carver is a builder (and maybe here I should stop and make an irony, since the story of Yates that I liked the most was precisely "Builders"), he builds with an undeniable skill and mastery simple, linear buildings that resemble in every way "real life" - this phantom entity -, he builds strange buildings full of a desolation, a loneliness, an intrinsic destruction that leaves very little hope, very little light (precisely that light that, instead, Yates knew how to filter from the imprecisions of his story), but looking closely they are still constructions. Solid, cold, realistic constructions, but when something is realistic it can't be real. And then maybe I would have preferred something less solid and well-cared-for, something that would make me fear that everything could crumble at a too vigorous touch, because being overwhelmed and submerged, at least in literature - at least in my experience of literature - is always better than the quiet admiration when you stay to look.

I must say that there were moments when, for a moment, I stopped thinking about the construction, and I felt that sense of loss of consciousness and rationality that accompanies me during the reading of the books I like the most, but it was only moments: "A Small, Good Thing", "So Much Water So Close to Home" and "Feathers". Then the admiration (and attention, it's still admiration after all, so it's natural that I'm only talking about my personal and subjective way of enjoying a literary work) for the construction came back to prevail, putting up a barrier that, despite all my efforts - and there have been many - I haven't been able to break down.

Carver really surprised me with "Would you please do me a favor and shut up?". That's why I didn't hesitate to get this collection of short stories titled after the last one, Cathedral. I can't say it surprised me as much as the previous one; it's very difficult without that element of surprise from the first times. But it hasn't disappointed me either, and that's saying a lot.

Cathedral brings together 12 short stories in which I have once again found miserable, unfortunate, and vulgar characters struggling to get ahead. Characters with conventional lives, those that have always attracted me but that seem even more attractive when accompanied by a direct, truthful, and artless style like the one this author exudes.

It may seem silly, but Cathedral and Train have无疑 been my favorites. The first one has as its protagonist a mother who orders a cake for her son's birthday and who, due to dramatic circumstances, can't go to pick it up in time. The second one portrays the encounter of two men when the first one, a blind man, visits a friend of his, the wife of the second. I haven't read anything more beautiful than that final scene between the two, and that's why I'm not going to tell you anything about it.

I said it didn't surprise me as much, but the truth is that Carver still surprises me with his ability to bring beautiful scenes, moments, and seconds out of the shadows.

Cathedral (Stories), Raymond Carver

Cathedral is the third major-press collection of short stories by the renowned American writer Raymond Carver, released in 1983.

This collection features a diverse range of stories. "Feathers" likely delves into some aspect of human nature or relationships. "Chef's House" might offer a peek into the world of a chef or a particular household. "Preservation" perhaps explores themes related to maintaining something valuable. "The Compartment" could take the reader on a journey within a confined space. "A Small, Good Thing" is an extended version of his earlier short story "The Bath", which might have added depth and complexity to the original narrative. "Vitamins" might touch on the importance of certain elements in our lives. "Careful" could imply a need for caution or mindfulness. "Where I'm Calling From" might give insights into the narrator's location and state of mind. "The Train" could be about a journey or a significant event that occurs during a train ride. "Fever" might explore the physical and emotional effects of an illness. "The Bridle" could have symbolic meaning related to control or restraint.

The story "Cathedral" is particularly notable. It is narrated by a man whose wife has been old friends with a blind man. The husband/narrator initially shows distaste for the blind man who is coming to visit them for a few days. At times, it seems as if he is jealous of the blind man's closeness to his wife, while at other times, it appears that he is disgusted by the man's blindness. However, through their communication about what a cathedral looks like, they ultimately bond in an unexpected way.

Raymond Carver's stories often depict the ordinary lives of people, filled with the struggles and nuances of human existence. His writing style is known for its simplicity and directness, yet it manages to convey deep emotions and profound insights. The collection Cathedral is a testament to his talent as a storyteller and his ability to capture the essence of the human experience.

These comments specifically pertain to the short story “Cathedral” and not the entire collection.

Carver’s portrayal of the bitter and mean-spirited husband is truly remarkable. Since the husband is the narrator, we have access to all the demeaning and jealous thoughts that cross his mind. His wife is tired of him but is excited about a friend’s visit. The husband obsesses over the fact that the friend is blind.

I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me.

The husband has numerous insulting and belittling thoughts about the blind man.

As he contemplates the blind man’s recent widow, he thinks, I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led. Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was in the eyes of her loved one. A woman who could go on day after day and never receive the smallest compliment from her beloved.

Of course, the reader can easily see the illogic in the narrator’s thoughts.

When the friend arrives, there is a remarkable ease between the two friends. The husband watches, surely jealous of their connection.

I waited in vain to hear my name on my wife’s sweet lips.

This is my favorite aspect of the story – the husband’s inner thoughts. I instinctively counter his illogical thoughts with rational ones. He is so well-developed that I engage in a mental debate with him.

However, we are building up to the significant event – the blind man asks the friend to describe a cathedral. Admittedly, I think this is a difficult request. There are many simpler things to describe. (But every word in a story holds meaning.) And to my surprise, the husband, who always puts others down to boost his own ego, agrees to try an experiment to help the blind man understand the feel of a cathedral. During this experiment, the husband experiences a spiritual or epiphanous moment.

We are all guilty of simply looking at something or someone rather than truly seeing them, and of believing that we cannot connect with those who we initially perceive as very different from us.

Very few writers are capable of writing so simply. Each time I read this book, different aspects of it appeal to me. Carver is truly a great writer.

His works have a unique charm that attracts readers. The simplicity of his language does not mean lack of depth. On the contrary, it allows the readers to focus more on the essence of the story and the emotions of the characters.

Every time I pick up this book, I am drawn into a world created by Carver. I can feel the joy, sadness, and confusion of the characters as if they were real people. His writing style is so vivid and engaging that it makes me want to read more and more.

In conclusion, Carver's book is a masterpiece that deserves to be read and appreciated by everyone. His ability to write simply and yet powerfully is a rare talent that makes him stand out among other writers.

I like to believe that it wasn't by chance that this year I discovered Carver, after Salinger and Cheever, thus completing my own holy trinity of American short prose. The favorite stories from the volume are: "Pens", "Preservation", "The Compartment", "Fever", "Cathedral" and "A Small, Good Thing". This last one, I don't know if it makes sense to say anymore, but it broke everything that was left to be broken in my soul.

Carver's stories have a unique charm. They are simple on the surface, but beneath that simplicity lies a profound exploration of human nature and the human condition. His characters are ordinary people facing ordinary problems, but through his masterful storytelling, he makes us see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Each story is like a snapshot of a moment in time, capturing the essence of a relationship, a feeling, or a situation.

The story "A Small, Good Thing" is particularly powerful. It tells the story of a couple whose child is in the hospital and the events that unfold after the child's death. The story is both heartbreaking and uplifting, showing how even in the face of tragedy, there can be small, good things that bring comfort and hope. Carver's writing is spare and economical, but every word counts, and his ability to convey complex emotions with just a few sentences is truly remarkable.

Vite di chi deve ripartire

In this collection of stories, we are presented with snapshots of life observed through a window. Carver's simple yet refined language allows us to experience the daily lives of his characters with a sense of both tenderness and harshness.

The essence of life is revealed in every small gesture and in every nuance. Each character, whether they have already faced tragedy or are waiting for the inevitable, is drawn with a moving honesty. There is no shame in failing or in feeling dissatisfied and unable to give substance to our dreams. Carver restores dignity to all of us, reminding us that as humans, we are fallible and far from perfect.

However, as humans, we are also capable, in our own small way, of changing the lives of others with simple acts. The stories in this collection range from the poignant "Una piccola, buona cosa" to the powerful "Febbre" and "Cattedrale". Each one leaves a lasting impression and invites us to reflect on our own lives and the choices we make.

Overall, this is a collection of stories that is both thought-provoking and emotionally engaging. It is a must-read for anyone who enjoys literature that delves deep into the human condition.

If I held a book's ID and read it without knowing the author's name, I would guess that it was from Bukowski!

Modern stories, neutral and sometimes failed characters, lives on the verge of collapse, and desolate spaces...

If I want to clarify or give an example, I turn to Murakami. Because I have read most of his short stories.

Murakami has many short stories, and most of them are desolate, but with the difference that in Murakami's stories, there is always a glimmer of hope! There is always a light in the stories or it appears! In such a way that at the end of the stories, usually a smile is on the reader's lip or a good and warm feeling is left in his heart. But the stories in this book are so desolate that sometimes the end of a story is the bitterest and darkest part of that story!

The book has a good translation, excellent printing quality and is very readable, but it has been censored. Of course, it is not difficult to guess the censored parts!

I recommend you to read it. If you like modern short stories, be sure to read it.

Carver is one of the most influential writers of the present century. His writings are short, precise, vivid, and highly thought-provoking.

The Complete Stories is an excellent and beautiful collection of Carver's short works. He writes these stories in such a way that they challenge the human mind for a long time.

And this is the great magic of Carver!

Carver's stories often explore the ordinary lives of people,揭示 the hidden emotions and conflicts within them. His simple yet powerful language makes the readers easily connect with the characters and their experiences.

Through his works, Carver shows us that even in the most mundane situations, there can be moments of profound significance and beauty.

His stories have the ability to make us think about our own lives, our relationships, and the choices we make.

In conclusion, Carver's contributions to literature are significant, and his works will continue to be read and studied for years to come.