Cathedral (short story collection)

Cathedral
First edition cover, 1983
Author Raymond Carver
Country United States
Language English
Genre Short story
Publisher Knopf
Publication date
 1983
Media type Print
Pages 228

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

Reception

Cathedral was enthusiastically received by critics. In The New York Times book Review, critic Irving Howe wrote:

Mr. Carver has been mostly a writer of strong but limited effects - the sort of writer who shapes and twists his material to a high point of stylization. In his newest collection of stories, Cathedral, there are a few that suggest he is moving toward a greater ease of manner and generosity of feeling; but in most of his work it's his own presence, the hard grip of his will, that is the strongest force. It's not that he imposes moral or political judgments; in that respect, he's quite self-effacing. It's that his abrupt rhythms and compressions come to be utterly decisive."[1]

The stories

The collection contains the following stories:

  • "Feathers"
  • "Chef's House"
  • "Preservation"
  • "The Compartment"
  • "A Small, Good Thing" - An extended version of his earlier short story "The Bath".
  • "Vitamins"
  • "Careful"
  • "Where I'm Calling From"
  • "The Train"
  • "Fever"
  • "The Bridle"
  • "Cathedral" - Narrated by a man whose wife is old friends with a blind man, the story shows the husband/narrator's distaste for the blind man who is coming to visit him and his wife for a few days. At times it seems that the man is jealous of the blind man for being so close to his wife; at other times it seems that the husband is disgusted by the man's blindness. In the end they bond in a way through the communication they share about what a cathedral looks like.

References

  • Carver, Raymond. Cathedral New York: Knopf (1983); London: Collins (1984)
  1. ↑ Irving Howe, "Stories of Our Loneliness," The New York Times Book Review, September 11, 1983.


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