"Tell The Women We're Going"

Not the best place for a bike ride.

Another Carver story that left me speechless, "Tell The Women We're Going" deals with the relationship between two friends named Bill and Jerry. Bill and Jerry are inseparable growing up until college when Jerry drops out and gets married to a woman named Carol. Bill becomes a third wheel and whenever he goes to hang out with Jerry, he feels awkward because Jerry and Carol will start making out in front of him. Bill eventually gets married to a woman named Linda. The two couples then start hanging out regularly.

Carver reveals that Jerry and Carol have had two kids and Carol is pregnant with a third. Life has sped up quickly for Jerry who has found himself tied down in his early twenties. Meanwhile Bill seems to have his shit together compared to Jerry. Bill marries later and finishes college. One afternoon Bill and Jerry are relaxing drinking beer when they decide to go for a drive. Each has about five beers playing pool. At this point I realized that both Bill and Jerry are unlikable characters. They're on their way back home when they spot two women on bicycles and Jerry tells Bill to turn around the car so they can talk to them. Bill starts up some small talk but the girls don't really seem interested in what Bill has to offer. They follow the girls who ditch their bikes and start walking on trail. Bill and Jerry follow. Bill doesn't seem interested in following but Jerry urges him to keep up.

During this part of the story, there's a sense that something bad is about to happen. That moment happens when Jerry uses a rock to kill both of the women.    Bill says that he only wanted to have sex and would have been fine if that didn't happen but he's still an accessory to murder. The murder is a gut punch to the reader because nothing in the story suggests that Jerry is a murderer. Jerry's actions are irrational so one can assume that he's a psychopath. This story is appealing in its simplicity and bizarre turn of events. It sticks out more than Carver's other stories because of its violent ending.

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"The Bath" By Raymond Carver

All of Raymond Carver's stories are difficult to figure out. Most of the time the information I get feels inconsequential and the real questions I have are never fully answered. The stories do tend to draw me in but as soon as I'm engaged, the story ends and I'm left wondering what the hell happened.

Carver's writing process

"The Bath" is one such story. The basic storyline is quite clear. A Boy gets hit by car on his birthday, falls into a coma, and gets taken to the hospital. Boy's father and mother wait at his bedside while doctors attempt to figure out the problem. The mother is very worried and refuses to leave until she realizes its pointless to stay in the hospital when there's nothing she can do. She goes home with the intention of feeding the dog and taking a bath. 

Taking a bath. It's a key element of the story. The title is "The Bath". I know that the title of the story was later revised to "A Small, Good Thing" which may or may not reveal more about Carver's intentions. Perhaps the bath is important because it is a small good thing and small good things tend to help people during tough times. Once the woman arrives home, she receives a phone call about her son Scotty. Of course this is where the story ends and the dialogue is intentionally vague so that one has no idea who's calling. It might be the baker, the school, or the hospital. 

Lack of communication is a theme throughout this story. There's enough communication between characters to peak my interest, but not enough to understand what's going on. That's just it. The characters and their actions are interesting but communication never succeeds in stirring the same interest. Communication is an integral part of everyday life. People don't realize how important communication is until it disappears. Communication doesn't completely disappear in "The Bath" but certain kinds of communication are conspicuously absent. For example the baker in the beginning only wants to know what is absolutely necessary. He talks like a robot. Such communication is easily forgotten by people because it is boring. People like to be pleasant and respond well to positive emotions and appreciate a smile here and there. None of this positive energy exists in "The Bath". 

Anyways, I'm going to sleep. Here's a link to today's story so all five of the people who read this post have easy access to it. 

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Colleges/College%20of%20Humanities%20and%20Social%20Sciences/EMS/Readings/139.105/Additional/The%20Bath%20-%20Raymond%20Carver.pdf

In the comment section post whatever you want. Your reaction to the story, my blog, helpful comments about my writing or whatever you want. The world is your oyster. Thanks for reading and please share and +1 my blog. It really helps me out. Goodnight

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Related Posts:

• Fat
• Why Don't You Dance?
• Tell the Women We're Going

Why Don't You Dance?

I recently checked out a collection of stories by Raymond Carver from the library. Carver is one of those writers who was required reading for me in high school but I has not re-entered my life until now. He has a distinct style using few words and creating characters that reflect his own life experiences. The characters i've encountered so far all seem peculiar.

In "Why Don't You Dance?" the story begins from a man's perspective as he sits drinking whiskey and staring at the furniture in his front yard. For whatever reason, the man has set up his furniture outdoors in a public setting and has even connected the tv to an electricity source indoors. We get very little information about who this man is or why he has decided to do this with his furniture. One can make assumptions about this man based on his actions but nothing definitive can be known about his life based on the story.

A boy and a girl stumble upon this man's furniture and are open-minded enough to interact with another person's belongings because they think it might be a yard sale. I was curious about the ages of the boy and girl because they are old enough to be furnishing an apartment but are still referred to as "the boy" and "the girl" for most of the story.

When the man shows up and finds the girl lying on his bed, no one seems surprised and the boy, girl, and man start haggling with each other. The story seems unrealistic due to a lack of emotion present in the characters. The strange  interactions between the characters made me even more curious about the setting and context of the story. Where do these characters live? Why do they seem so comfortable with each other? These are just a couple of my questions regarding this story.

After the boy and girl have purchased what they want, the man decides that its time for a drink. Once again, the boy and girl do not question what's happening and drink whiskey in this stranger's front yard. When everyone is adequately hammered, the boy and girl begin dancing in the driveway. Eventually the boy stumbles away and is replaced by the man, now dancing with the girl who is likely much younger than him. While this event doesn't seem inappropriate, the girl rests her head on the man's shoulder and the act of dancing itself is an intimate experience. The story ends on a strange note. Later on, the girl describes this experience to everyone she can. She wants to talk about it and feels like she her experience with the man was extraordinary in some way, yet she can't put her finger on what makes it that way. The ending makes me think that something must have happened between the man and the woman in the story that wasn't revealed by the narrator.

This is only one of several Carver stories I have read so far and will post another recap of my favorite story in the collection. Despite the weirdness of "Why Don't You Dance?" I recommend it mainly because of Carver's reputation as a master of short fiction. The story can be found here: http://typistspen.com/why-dont-you-dance-raymond-carver/

If you have time, read it and let me know what you think of it. I'd love to hear some other reactions to this story possibly as a comment to this post. See you tomorrow.

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Afterworld by Anthony Doerr

Anthony Doerr's collection of stories, Memory Wall, is incredible writing. Although some stories are obvious stand-outs, each one is an example of fiction at its strongest. The true test of any short story is how long it lingers in readers' minds after being consumed. Stories such as "Memory Wall", "Afterworld" and "Village 113" will stay with me for a long time.

"Afterworld" deals with the life of an epileptic woman named Esther Gramm who grows up in Germany during the rise of the Nazis and lives out her days in a rural Ohio town. The story cycles rhythmically between Esther's childhood and old age in a way that feels natural. As with all of Doerr's stories, the pace is graceful and structured while never feeling forced. It's hard to describe the tempo of Doerr's stories so I recommend you find these stories for yourself either online or in a hard copy. I wish I could provide a link to an online version.

Esther experiences seizures that speak to her and allow her to experience her own past and what seems to be the memories of other people such as her parents. Even after her memory has deteriorated, Esther's epileptic fits allow her to go back in time to the orphanage in Germany where she grew up. The world wants to classify Esther's epilepsy as a medical problem but she thinks of it as a gift. Esther is truly one in a million. Her epilepsy connects her to the doctor who eventually saves her by taking her away from Germany. The seizures let her see images that fuel her imagination and influence her career as a children's book illustrator. Esther's grandson Robert interviews her to get material for his thesis on World War Two. The seizures may interfere with her moods and make her do strange things, but the story makes a compelling case that they are more good than bad. Without them, Esther is just another girl. In many ways Esther's epilepsy is a crucial aspect of the story.

"Afterworld" is the kind of story that affects you mentally and emotionally. Esther and the girls living in their orphanage are innocent and really have no idea that death is right around the corner. Thankfully, the story omits any portion of the girls' lives post-orphanage. Memories live in our minds until our minds grow old. It's important that some memories become immortalized in some way or another because humanity can lose important lessons. Doerr's Memory Wall is a compelling examination of how memory works.

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"Sticks"

My second post is about the story "Sticks" the second story in Saunders' Tenth of December. This story is less than two pages long making it the shortest story in the collection by far. The story centers on the narrator's father who erects a metal cross in his family's front yard and decorates the cross in strange ways. At first, the father decorates the cross to fit different holidays. By the end, he strings sticks to the cross and hangs all kinds of weird things from the six strings. These sticks give the story its title and represent six offspring, leading me to conclude that the each stick represents a child and the large metal cross represents the father.

It's a weird premise for a story but Saunders makes it interesting. With no explanation for why the father builds the crucifix, I was left to assume that the father is an eccentric, the kind of person who does weird things because it makes him happy. The story reveals that the father is somewhat of a helicopter parent who limits how much ketchup his children eat and shrieks at one of his children for wasting an apple slice. What a freak.

I can't help but wonder where Saunders got his inspiration for this story. Why did he choose to write a story about this weird father who obsesses over a crucifix in his yard? It reminds me a little of my own father who gets a kick out of wearing weird clothes and being eccentric because it shocks other people. I got the impression that my own father is similar to the father in "Sticks". While the father does weird stuff, it seems like its always in the interest of his children. In only two pages, Saunders gave me a character who reminds me of my own father. I feel like I know this character on a personal level even though I don't know much about him. This story was enjoyable in spite of its short length which made it easy to re-read. I probably read it at least eight times. 

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Victory Lap by George Saunders

I recently picked up George Saunders' new short story collection, "Tenth of December". I was so impressed by his story "Sea Oak" that I decided to check his most recent collection of stories. If you've never read "Sea Oak" you should. It's awesome.

The first story in Saunders' new book is "Victory Lap", a story told from three different perspectives. "Victory Lap" is obviously a story written by the Saunders. The language, sense of humor, and general style is unmistakably Saunders. I was immediately drawn in by Saunders' vocabulary and fascinating characters. While both "Victory Lap" and "Sea Oak" feature third person narration, "Victory Lap" has much more interiority with its characters. The voice of the story feels like it comes directly from the mind of its characters. Saunders does this convincingly making each character's segment feel unique with all kinds of different details bubbling beneath the surface alluding to each character's past. Ok, that's enough about fancy stylistic stuff.

"Victory Lap" is a crazy story. The characters are hilarious and fascinating but it doesn't feel like anythings really happening until wham! One of the characters Allison is kidnapped by some guy named Melvin and taken into his van to be raped and killed.  Its a weird gut punch in the middle of a story that doesn't feel like it should involve rape, murder, or kidnapping. The story does end on a happy note though (happy for me at least).

As much as this story weirded me out and made me feel like I barely understood its three characters, I still enjoyed reading it. Saunders keeps things interesting and proves that he knows how to make readers unsure whether they should be laughing or crying.

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