Short Cuts: Selected Stories

I'd never read Carver before and probably won't read more even though I admired and liked his pithy "just-telling-what-happened" style. Most of these stories are slices of life: drinking men's dark nights of the soul, the unhappy women in their lives (even if the narrator is a woman), male violence, and the ultimate futility of existence. But then there was one story called "A Small Good Thing" about the death of a child, and it knocked the wind out of me. It was dark as well, but a lot more—w [...]

Finally got round to reading some Raymond Carver. I didn’t realise initially that this compilation was taken from various collections, selected by a filmmaker who made a movie out of these stories woven loosely together. I would have preferred to read a collection of stories as originally intended by the author himself, so that I can try to make sense of the connections between the stories myself, rather than through the intermediary of a movie director. Oh well.Anyway, I did enjoy these stori [...]

If I could give this book ten stars, I would. I LOVE Ray Carver's book(s) so freaking much. I remember reading stories from this collection before I really decided to become an author, and his scope of storytelling made me write in my journal, even as an undergrad: I wish I wrote that sentence. About 100 times! I can't even remember how many times I have read just this one book of his, let alone other Carver books, also. If you ever think you might not be a writer, or might not want to be in thi [...]

3,5,

Stories about ordinary lives and ordinary people, where an extraordinary thing happens, or something not so extraordinary, but it becomes so by the action of the characters. I liked them all, I like Carver's style of writing (reminding me of Richard Yates, John Williams, even Richard Ford a bit) - matter of fact. But what is striking is how these stories end. They all finish at odd, but perfect points, as if the story isn't quite ended, but it is ended enough, as though Carver has allowed the re [...]

هیچ وقت برا ی خودم مشخص نشده که چرا نمی تونم اون همراهی و همذات پنداری ای رو که باید با کارهای امریکایی داشته باشم. اما با این حال برای بار چندم تصمیم گرفتم که یه بار دیگه امتحان کنم و انتخاب این بار من شد مجموعه گزیده داستان های راه های میانبر از ریموند کارور. به دو دلیل: اول به د [...]

This has been sitting on my DVD shelf for a few years now as the Criterion companion to the movie. While I really enjoy the movie, I think I ended up buying it just because there was a book included in the packaging. And thank goodnessCarver might have continued to go undetected by me as--for the most part--all I've ever heard him discussed is a one sentence nod of approval in passing. Not that I could have predicted it, but I'm glad I've waited to read his work because I might not have apprecia [...]

At my birthday party, I mentioned to someone that I had recently read these stories, and two other people, seperate from each other and from me, started raving about how good Carver is. It's true. All I want to do after reading this guy's stories is drink and beat my wife. Except beautifully.Sample quote, from "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?":"For their honeymoon they drove to Guadalajara, and while they both enjoyed visiting the decayed churches and the poorly lighted museums and the afterno [...]

One horrific character after another. The darkness within these men is written with mind-blowing simplicity. The American Dream gone bad. Love this collection!

Ο Ρέιμοντ Κάρβερ, ένας από τους μαιτρ του "βρόμικου ρεαλισμού" αλλά και της μικρής φόρμας, έγραψε δεκάδες διηγήματα που μπορεί να βρει κανείς σε διάφορες συλλογές. Τα περισσότερα από αυτά έχουν μεταφραστεί και στα ελληνικά (από τις εκδόσεις Μεταίχμιο κυκλοφορεί πλέον ένας σ [...]

‬‭‭Short cuts: selected stories, Raymond Carver (1938 - 1988)عنوان: راه های میان بر؛ نویسنده: ریموند کارور؛ مترجم: اسدالله امرایی؛ مشخصات نشر: تهران، نقش و نگار، 1383، در 318 ص، فروست: هنر و ادبیات، شابک: 9646235743؛ موضوع: داستانهای کوتاه آمریکایی قرن 20 مدر این مجموعه بیست و یک داستان کوتاه، از ریموند کارور ن� [...]

Non deve sorprenderci il fatto che Raymond Carver non abbia mai scritto romanzi: è troppo felice l’incontro fra la narrazione breve e la miseria di un’umanità semplice, di periferia, quasi sempre derelitta, fotografata nel suo tentativo di restare in piedi nonostante tutto, la cui vita è priva degli avvenimenti straordinari e dei complessi intrecci che meglio si adattano ai grandi romanzi.Continua a leggere: temperamente/contempora

Me estoy aficionando a este estilo amargo.

I think I had probably read most of the stories before in other collections and also seen the Altman movie based on the stories. Carver's a brilliant writer, though very dark.

The big duh: Raymond Carver is one of the masters of the contemporary short story. The really great thing about Carver is that his stories are so easy -- you can blaze through them like a pop novel without missing a beat, and yet come out on the other end knowing you've read something tremendous. They are SIMPLE, but far from SIMPLISTIC.This collection is actually a movie-to-book edition. In the 90s, Robert Altman (director of M*A*S*H and Nashville) created a film that put together 9 of Carver's [...]

Oddly enough I didn't like this collection of stories too much at first. I thought them abrupt & lacking & the dialogue silly & unrealistic & a bit clumsy. Somewhere in the middle, after a few stories, Carver's style just insisted on being appreciated & by the end of the book I was happily left wanting more. Quite a turn around! For every story it's as though you're just picked up & plunked in the middle of these character's lives for a short period of time, just enough t [...]

My introduction to Carver; a Greatest Hits album of sorts. Going in I expected something similar to Bukowski - drunks and affairs and domestic violence. It certainly contained all of those things, but it had something Bukowski lacks - a humanity. A tenderness and an eye for life's little moments that can mean more than is expressible in words. Grieving parents sitting in a bakery eating cinnabuns or a woman attending a funeral of a girl she's never met.That's not to say Carver is in anyway sappy [...]

Avevo già letto "Cattedrale", e in quest'altra raccolta di racconti (scelti da Robert Altman, che vi si è ispirato per il film America Oggi) ho ritrovato il Carver che ricordavo. Pennellate di crudeltà, di quotidianità, di vite di estranei così umani e verosimili che potrebbero essere i nostri vicini di casa, o noi stessi.In realtà lo stile asciutto di Carver e soprattutto i finali tronchi, taglienti e amari che lo caratterizzano sono in gran parte dovuti alla mano pesante del suo editor. [...]

It's interesting to read what a filmmaker chose from Carver's stories. These are the most dramatic Carver stories I know, full of death, adultery, bar fights, rape, murder, abandoned dogs. Nobody, say, sits around a table getting drunk for a really long time and talking about love. But they're great. And it's been long enough since I've seen the movie that I didn't recall who played which character, or get frustrated with liberties that were taken. A hint, perhaps, of Lyle Lovett in the baker wh [...]

Carver can take the everyday and charge it with the profound. He's got the knack for taking normal life and tearing it up into ragged pieces. There is drama and nuance, and MENACE. And he does it all in this fantastic minimalist voice. If you like him, check out Andre Dubus.

Bello bello bello. Tra i miei preferiti "Vuoi star zitta, per favore?" e "Con tanta di quell'acqua a due passi da casa". Un uso delle sensazioni e delle persone incredibile.

"y recuerda cuando la vida era dulce y ya no puede encarar dulcemente lo que le queda de vida."

I came across the film 1CShort Cuts 1D and made a bee-line to the Raymond Carver books I have on my shelves. Famous film director Robert Altman had chosen from a handful of his short stories to weave a story of woe and despair in 1980 19s Los Angeles. That 19s it 13 the land of sun, sand, limosines, and a lot of drugs and alcohol - Altman goes to the heart of Carver 19s stories and brings us all home. Often, I suppose because Carver 19s stories are non-traditional, most people who have read him [...]

My typical reaction when I finished reading any one of these stories in Short Cuts was to put the book down, puff my cheeks out, stare ahead into silence for a few moments, and let the story sink in. In the case of Tell the Women We're Going, my reaction was more shock than deep contemplation. Carver writes some of the beautiful, powerful closing lines. His prose doesn't contain any fireworks. Each sentence is weighted carefully with a poetic grace. His writing is simple, spare, elegant and with [...]

I know I'm *supposed* to give this five stars, and it's just mind-boggling I've never read any Raymond Carver before this (except So Much Water So Close to Home, but without knowing how "important" it was or being able to remember why I felt like I'd seen the story take place right before my eyes -- which was because it was in the movie Short Cuts I finally realized when I saw this book at the library).I've been given lots of quiet hints to read Raymond Carver and only recently picked up on them [...]

I grabbed this collection because my library didn't have "What we talk about" available. I didn't know about the film, either, and I didn't remember Carver being so unrelentingly brutal as these collected stories are. I'd like to reread some of the original collections soon because I am curious about whether the emotional atmosphere is always this gruelling.Someone said once that misogyny is domestic terrorism & the stories in this collection illustrate that to a degree that made me nauseous [...]

I read Short Cuts after reading What We Talk About and it's simply nowhere near as strong a collection, which seems fitting as it was compiled by Robert Altman and not Carver himself. About the highlights that don't completely overlap: "A Small Good Thing" is one of the highlights here, a more elaborate version of "The Bath" from What We Talk About with names, emotions, and even a resolution(!) provided this time around. "They're Not Your Husband" is just about as Carver as anything he's ever wr [...]

So there are some stories in this collection that are altered versions of stories fromWhat We Talk about When We Talk About Love. I was having difficulty with the chronology, though I believeWhat We Talk About(pub'd in 19981) came first.He also apparently rewrotesome of the stories inShort Cutswhen he wroteWhere I'm Calling From . The initial rewrites that I referred to (a.k.a. the ones I've actually read) include details and motives that contrast starkly with the spare characterizations from hi [...]

I saw Short Cuts when it first came out in the theater in the early 90's(3 hours is too long to sit in a theater). I had just discovered Raymond Carver and I loved to see how Altman weaved together the stories. Got the movie and this book from the library last weekend. It didn't take me much longer to read the book than it took to watch the movie (did I mention 3 hrs!) I enjoyed the movie - some really amazing acting throughout - but not as much as I enjoyed reading the original stories. Carver' [...]

My first Carver, and definitely won't be my last.I love the simplicity in his writing, the kind of simplicity that can very well elucidate complicated things. How is that, I'm not sure. It's like gliding smoothly until you hit a massive wall.Short Cuts tackled lives of people in marriage or has a family of their own (although I wasn't sure about that one story)It's a basic topic, to be honest. But witnessing how vivid the horror and heartbreak were executed in the book, it kind of stretched my d [...]