Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love"
Commentary by Karen Bernardo
Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" takes place in one sitting, or more precisely, one pre-dinner drinking bout. It is told in first person, with one of the four characters referring to himself as "I," but ironically this is the character about whom w...
Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love"
Commentary by Karen Bernardo
Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" takes place in one sitting, or more precisely, one pre-dinner drinking bout. It is told in first person, with one of the four characters referring to himself as "I," but ironically this is the character about whom we know the least; he is merely the mouthpiece for the action, and all we know about him is that his name is Nick and he is married to Laura. His friend Mel is a cardiologist, married to Terri, and initiates the conversation of what love means. This conversation provides the central focus of the story.
Mel, Nick tells us, thinks "real love [is] nothing less than spiritual love." He cannot comprehend that his wife's abusive ex-husband, Ed, could possibly have loved her while he was dragging her around the room by her ankles. "That's not love, and you know it," Mel says. "I don't know what you'd call it, but I sure know you wouldn't call it love."
Terri, on the other hand, insists that it was. She has led a much less sheltered life and is also much less self-righteous than Mel; she understands that while objectively Ed could be regarded as sadistic, dangerous, and pathological, he operated out of a reservoir of strong emotion that was simply incapable of channeling itself in socially-acceptable ways. This strong emotion, when turned toward other human beings, erupted in violence. This is why he beat his wife and eventually committed suicide.
Ed, in fact, functions as a pivotal character in the story even though he is dead by the time the action occurs. He stands out in stark contrast to the little group drinking around the table, for, crazy as he was, he had life in him. Terri seems to look back to her days with Ed with a kind of nostalgia, because for all his crackling violence, she thinks he is more man than Mel will ever be.
Mel, for his part, presents the story's central question -- what is love -- because like the rest of the group he is imbued with a sense of loss, of regret, of unutterable sadness, for reasons he can not quite describe. He feels instinctively that it has something to do with love, and he's right in a way; it has everything to do with passion. The little group sees in alcohol a way to inflame the passion they once felt for living, or the passion they think they should feel. Mel notes that as much as they love each other, if they were all married to someone else, it would make no difference in their lives; one empty person is as good as another.
In fact there is in fact no passion in these people; the alcohol makes it worse, and at the end, when Mel says the gin is gone, Nick concludes the story with the words: "I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark." They can't move because they suddenly realize the fact that none of them have ever moved; their lives have always been, and will always be, empty and dark, and they no longer have gin to cover this up.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love的创作者
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Raymond Carver was a man of few words. Often characterized by an economy that bordered on austerity, Carver’s stories were short and plainly written, and his terse prose lent itself perfectly to his favorite subject: working-class America. Aside from poetry, which was written in the same no-frills style, Carver devoted himself exclusively to short stories. What r...
Raymond Carver was a man of few words. Often characterized by an economy that bordered on austerity, Carver’s stories were short and plainly written, and his terse prose lent itself perfectly to his favorite subject: working-class America. Aside from poetry, which was written in the same no-frills style, Carver devoted himself exclusively to short stories. What really set Carver apart from other authors, however, was his exploration of the dark side of Americana. In the simple lives of small town folk, Carver uncovered the violence, rage, and loneliness lurking just beneath the surface. Like many writers, his posthumous reputation has grown exponentially, and it is impossible to imagine any serious study of the short story that does not include the extraordinary work of Raymond Carver.
So glad that I didn't give up this book (since I didn't find joy reading it until 1/4). Minuscule, detailed, mundane yet heart-punching. 見微知著，relatable又平淡的細節可以有強烈的共情。
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0 有用 004471 2010-12-28 12:38:23
没想到他还在我们学校教过课…… 全都是很有画面感的故事。只是看到后面就习惯了所有的主人公的类似的无奈的一面。Love the title story best.
0 有用 reneryu 2017-07-12 18:32:24
是present simple...下了个版本全书只有标题篇和beginner。。一度以为自己在看彗星来的那一夜。简介深刻。。
0 有用 公園仔 2008-02-26 16:15:10
200801
0 有用 哩哩哩 2012-08-05 23:14:44
Environment dipiction and details are fantastic.
0 有用 Baristina 2011-05-09 20:50:47
一个个小故事各种留白各种让读者想象·其实还有点意境的··但我真的觉得满眼是无病呻吟的无聊··何苦把日子搞得那么悲伤呢
0 有用 Fall 2019-06-16 12:22:59
随便找一本来标记了。两个版本对比起来看到的话后面一个版本的文笔真的进步极大，而且是寥寥几笔就能让人从一些细微的设定展开浮想，把许许多多引人深思的问题轻巧地糅合在看似简单的故事里真的很了不起。不过为什么后来要给角色换名字！
0 有用 reneryu 2017-07-12 18:32:24
是present simple...下了个版本全书只有标题篇和beginner。。一度以为自己在看彗星来的那一夜。简介深刻。。
0 有用 zeetyz 2017-07-04 01:43:45
So glad that I didn't give up this book (since I didn't find joy reading it until 1/4). Minuscule, detailed, mundane yet heart-punching. 見微知著，relatable又平淡的細節可以有強烈的共情。
0 有用 像功夫熊猫的猫 2014-03-17 08:51:57
这种风格，字面上，很容易读。
0 有用 桥一四 2014-02-24 23:03:51
其实跟爱情没什么太大关系