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Title: Short Cuts : Selected Stories by Raymond Carver, Robert Altman ISBN: 0-679-74864-4 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 14 September, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Edge of my seat
Comment: I was truly on the edge of my seat during these stories. They are beautifully written. I plan on re-reading these stories for years to come.
Rating: 4
Summary: worth reading, though I don't love every story
Comment: Though these stories together tend to leave one rather depressed, they are still worth reading for the glimpses of the characters' lives they offer. Furthermore, some, especially "A Small, Good Thing" are less depressing and, in my mind, actually very good.
Don't assume you know these stories because you've seen the film of the same name directed by Robert Altman. He said himself (in the book's intro, actually) that he took liberties with them, and believe you me, he REALLY did. You may even appreciate the stories more after seeing the film. I did, but that might be just me.
Do take a look at these stories regardless, though!
Rating: 5
Summary: Raymond Carver is an exceptional short story writer
Comment: Robert Altman made a wonderful film in the 90s based on 9 short stories published by famous American short story writer Raymond Carver. The film was entitled "Short Cuts" and this publication brings together these 9 stories (including a poem) which were culled from several original Carver publications. The book opens with an introduction by Altman who confesses to taking small liberties with Carver's stories and its characters but without compromising their integrity. Those who have seen the movie will concede that the changes in fact give the entity a coherence that would otherwise be missing. But as a collection of short stories. they can and should be read as standalones. Carver is a master of social commentary, using anecdotes of casual human behaviour to capture the absurdity of modern American life. These candid snapshots may not conform with the dictates of conventional fictional writing in that they may lack a beginning, distinct plot development and a neat ending. Often it isn't even the events that trigger off the response of the characters that are significant but the fact that they respond in a certain way that is interesting from the view point of understanding human behaviour. Carver seems to be saying that sometimes the strange things that happen to us are all due to chance and that like it or not, we need to factor chance into the equation of living. As a short story writer, Carver is exceptional. He has that rare ability to communicate some essential truth about the human condition without using melodrama or any of the other techniques frequently used by lesser writers to captivate and sustain our interest. The 9 stories in this collection are individually separate entities which exist in their own right. No character appears anywhere but in the story he originates from. The situations they capture are also pretty diverse. Yet, they don't seem disjointed when you read them in sequence. They are thematically bound together by Carver's magic which may be hard to define but there all the same. I found every one of them absorbing and captivating. Read this first before you watch the movie. You'll enjoy both better.
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Title: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love : Stories by Raymond Carver ISBN: 0679723056 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 18 June, 1989 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Where I'm Calling From : Selected Stories by Raymond Carver ISBN: 0679722319 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 18 June, 1989 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Cathedral by Raymond Carver ISBN: 0679723692 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 18 June, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? : Stories by Raymond Carver ISBN: 0679735690 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 09 June, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Fires : Essays, Poems, Stories by Raymond Carver ISBN: 0679722394 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 18 June, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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