Cathedral

Written by Raymond Carver

Narrated by Norman Dietz

This is Raymond Carver's third collection of stories, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, including the canonical titular story about blindness and learning to enter the very different world of another. The twelve stories in Cathedral mark a turning point in Carver's work and "overflow with the danger, excitement, mystery and possibility of life. . . . Carver is a writer of astonishing compassion and honesty . . . his eye set only on describing and revealing the world as he sees it. His eye is so clear, it almost breaks your heart" (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: May 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781515984542

Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver (1938-1988), narrador y poeta, es uno de los maestros del cuento contemporáneo. En Anagrama se han publicado sus seis libros de relatos, ¿Quieres hacer el favor de callarte, por favor?, De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de amor, Catedral, Tres rosas amarillas, Si me necesitas, llámame y Principiantes, además de la antología Short Cuts (Vidas cruzadas). Asimismo se ha publicado Carver Country, que contiene textos del autor (cuentos, poemas y cartas inéditas) y fotografías de Bob Adelman, el volumen Todos los cuentos, que incluye los primeros cinco libros del autor, y Todos nosotros, que recoge su poesía completa.

Reviews for Cathedral

[ameliaaa333 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Do not like this narration at all. Good Carver collection that everyone should read a few stories from

[teralab · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This would be a great listen but the narration is awful.

[hagelstein_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The stories in Cathedral are muscular and powerful, made more so by Carver’s clean and unvarnished writing. “They were into something now, something hard.”In some, there’s a sense that hope is over and done – nothing else good is going to happen to these characters after the story is over (Chef’s House, Preservation). Paradoxically, other stories that ought to finish with no hope, offer a glimmer, or a glimpse of a glimmer. In the title story, a blind man opens the eyes, or mind, of a cynical man. In A Small, Good Thing, the death of a child near his birthday and an ugly episode with the baker that made his cake ends up with a moment of grace between the baker and the grieving parents. In all, loose ends are not neatly wrapped, very little is resolved. Life continues.

[deldevries · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting set of short stories. Some better than others. A tad bit strange, but some gems as well.

[VictorMCT · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is a beautiful book, where we encounter all of Carver's nature as a storyteller. With memorable characters and transcendent stories within American and world literature, it is one of the most important short story collections in contemporary narrative. (Translated from Spanish)

[andy5185 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I never realized that Altman's Short Cuts was a rip on Carver's stories. Had I known that earlier I would've been less impressed with Altman!

[José Antonio Lopera Vilchez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A book that, through its prose, describes a gloomy and marginal atmosphere. Its main characters are people who have lost their jobs, drinkers, marginal individuals seeking a place in life, diving through human relationships. The endings of each story leave us with a bittersweet taste, feelings of misunderstanding, surprise, open conclusions, and above all, a sudden closure where the solution must be sought by ourselves. This has come to be known as "dirty realism," although it is truly a reflection of deep America filled with losers. The language is direct, limited to describing the facts. It is unembellished, a style referred to as "minimalist," similar to Ernest Hemingway. Among the 12 stories, I would highlight: "From Where I Call" A couple, whose wife separates from her husband due to his alcoholism and abuse. "The Compartment" The protagonist’s journey on a train to meet his son. During this trip, his wallet is stolen, which becomes an excuse to hide the fears about their reunion. "It's a Nonsense" The accident of a son that leaves him in a coma until his death is the plot for this enigmatic and suspenseful tale. "Fever" A story that narrates the life of a father with his two children, whom his wife and mother have left behind. The difficulties in finding a nanny are the central theme that reveals the intricacies of personal relationships. "Cathedral." The reunion of a blind man with his former assistant, many years later. It describes the relationships between the two of them and her husband, and how their relationship changes over time. "Care" The protagonist, who has been kicked out of his home by his partner due to alcohol issues, and his wife are projecting the present of their relationship while cleaning a wax plug. "Vitamins" Economic crisis, struggle for civil rights, for blacks and women, sexual liberation, and a romantic relationship that is crumbling, interwoven through various stories. "Conservation" A story about a man who has just lost his job and is glued to the sofa. "The Bridle," A married couple, with their two children, stay in a hotel after the husband loses his job and has almost no money. After an incident, they leave again, leaving behind the bridle of a horse. "Feathers" How the life of a couple changes after having dinner with friends who have a child, described in the story as "very ugly." (Translated from Spanish)

[sergiomanoukian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book of short stories that are read quickly. Simple prose. Very engaging stories. (Translated from Spanish)

[browner56 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In Cathedral, Raymond Carver offers the reader a powerful set of stories of people who are experiencing the worst things in their lives: divorce or abandonment, alcoholism, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, feeling isolated and trapped in a relationship, and so on. In each of the dozen tales comprising the volume, we are dropped into the middle of a situation in which an otherwise unexceptional person faces some sort of crisis or cathartic event and struggles to deal with the situation. Whether these characters ever find their way out of their respective messes is something we never really learn, as the stories are left largely unresolved in the end. In fact, the real genius that the author brings to bear in this compelling collection is that he takes his protagonists as he finds them and is content to just tell a piece of their stories in a tender, if unflinching, manner. If there is a recurring theme connecting this fiction it is the slow and heartbreaking destruction that alcoholism can have on everyone connected to the one doing the drinking.

While there is not a weak story in the entire book, there were some that stood out well above the others. The title tale ‘Cathedral’ is a masterful look at both the regret that can sometimes overwhelm a marriage as well as having to confront long-held prejudices in surprising ways. ‘A Small, Good Thing’ is an ironic look at how a simple miscommunication can spiral out of control when conflated with a truly harrowing personal tragedy. ‘Where I’m Calling From’ probably comes the closest to being optimistic storytelling, despite its setting in a rehabilitation facility populated by people who have been there on multiple occasions. ‘Chef’s House’ is a very intimate portrait of the fragility involved in trying to confront one’s demons and get sober. To be sure, these are not happy stories or stories in which the characters are redeemed at the end of a long, fraught struggle. Apparently, the author himself suffered as a recovering alcoholic and, if that is true, he definitely wrote the life that he knew. That he was able to write it so very well was his lasting gift to all of us.

[felipegnacio1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author: Raymond Carver
Publication Date: 1983
Publisher: Anagrama
Pages: 211

"Catedral" is a collection of 12 stories written by American Raymond Carver, who is considered one of the great masters of contemporary short stories and one of the main exponents of what is called "dirty realism." This movement is characterized by its tendency toward sobriety in storytelling and the use of vulgar characters leading extremely ordinary lives.

The selection of stories in "Catedral" seemed quite imbalanced to me, as it includes very well-developed and captivating tales alongside others that fail to make any impact by the end of the reading, leaving you completely indifferent. It is important to highlight the style with which the author writes; he manages to generate an unsettling atmosphere, giving the impression that something will happen at any moment. However, this resource is not utilized in all the stories. The characters are drawn from the lower-middle social strata of the U.S., and themes such as family breakdown, alcoholism, unemployment, and the frustration of life expectations are addressed. I particularly noted the following stories: "The Compartment," "Vitamins," "Seems Like Nonsense," "The Fever," and "Catedral."

In summary, "Catedral" is a selection of stories with notable highs and lows, where very good tales coexist with others that are half-finished and forgettable. I was struck by Carver’s writing style; it is in this aspect that he reveals his talent, despite certain inconsequential endings. It gives the impression that the author, in his eagerness to narrate the lives of ordinary people, forgets the importance that the breaks in these lives should have to create a real impact on the reader. I recommend the highlighted stories. (Translated from Spanish)

[Maribel Calle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My second encounter with Carver.
Although each collection is different, I know that with this author I will find very well-written, direct, simple yet profound stories that are excellent stops along the way between readings.

Some estimate that Carver's stories are too simple. It is true that they are not characterized by suspense, horror, or much action, but rather by showing life from its most real side with some type of conflict, which is why his style has been known as "dirty realism."

In Cathedral, there are scenes, photographs of everyday situations, where the protagonists encounter some surprising situation or novel visit that takes them out of their routine.

My favorite from this series is precisely the last one, the one that gives the book its name. In fact, it was the first one I read because it inspired a novel by Claudia Piñeiro (Cathedrals) and I wanted to know the original story that was the root of the novel. It is as original as it is curious and has a spectacular ending. It is worth reading. That one and the other eleven stories, without a doubt. (Translated from Spanish)

[aridipi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

12 stories where the ending does not seem necessary to be described, the intensity of the plot and the characters manage to create a captivating atmosphere, at times dramatic, at times mysterious. Each character has a deep personality and the narration envelops you from the beginning to the end of each story. (Translated from Spanish)

[Maimo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think it is overrated. It is a series of disconnected short stories. It is written in a direct and biting manner and reflects the everyday life. Almost all the stories left me cold. A book I would not read again. (Translated from Spanish)

[IvnGietz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Carver says much more with what he keeps silent than with what he says. This book led him to build his own literary Cathedral, where he now rests on an altar. (Translated from Spanish)

[Nusk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read it based on the suggestion in the book "Writing Fiction." I must say that short stories are not a style that excites me from the start. I can't say much about Cathedral other than it's pleasant and somewhat uninteresting. Each story left me feeling like something was missing. I expected perhaps a common thread at some point in the book, more than just the frustrations of life itself. Do I recommend it? No. But if you want to read it, go ahead. It’s short and goes by quickly. (Translated from Spanish)

[CristianVD · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

CATHEDRAL (1983) by Raymond Carver is a book that brings together twelve more than interesting pieces from one of the great masters of American short stories.

Each story, like a passage, an instant, and its own universe, seems to be the guideline by which Carver operates. There is no conceptual unity except perhaps the anonymity of the characters. These are common people who cannot even be said to be struggling to escape the gray, abyssal, and dirty mediocrity. Some time ago, I read a note from La Balandra where the author (Parravicini, Lucia) mentioned some of the problems Carver had with his editor Gordon Lish, who often cut endings, changed words, modified titles, and transformed story A into its variant B. This made me wonder (since this is the second book I've read by the author if "I'm really reading Carver") a brief search on the web told me that he had the mediation of another editor. It makes a bit more sense since "Would you please do me the favor of being quiet?" did not have bad stories, and that is something very difficult to achieve.

Now, does Cathedral have bad stories? I wouldn’t dare to say such a thing. But I do dare to say that some ("Feathers"; "Care"; "The Bride") seemed less accomplished or less polished than others ("Chef's House"; "Vitamins" or "From Where I Call"). Of all of them, Cathedral... the one that precisely gives name to the book seemed to me a magnificent story and that ending, oh my!!!!... (Translated from Spanish)

[Piedad · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Short, entertaining, and interesting. (Translated from Spanish)

[Huelmino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Catherine includes 12 stories, each under 25 pages long. These stories are like periods in the lives of ordinary people, without surprises or glamour, where there are rarely unexpected twists or defined outcomes. I found the best ones to be "The Compartment," "It Seems Silly," "The Train," "Fever," and "Cathedral."

Stories that are like those quiet backwaters of a river, where the waters flow calmly, without hurry, with lush vegetation along the banks, but that may hide possible currents, boulders, waterfalls, or some other threat around the bend. Or perhaps the waters will continue to move quietly.
There are common characters, with ordinary lives, who sometimes show heroic responses to adversities, hardships, and disabilities. But always in each story is the insinuation, the latent threat of something that might happen, and often it is up to the reader’s intuition to deduce how everything ends. And perhaps this is what makes Carver different, the originality of a style that also has a hallmark: laconic, concrete, without embellishments.

With simple elements and themes like alcohol, divorces, abandonment, accidents, second marriages, or financial hardships, but without magic, fantasy, mystery, or horror, Carver delivers a calm, serene reading experience, like a backwater. Recommended for those of us who do not shy away from short narrative. I still expected something more spectacular from this author, whom I didn't know. (Translated from Spanish)

[PatoNotaristefano · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Carver without intermediaries or editors intervening without consulting. A collection of beauties for the imagination. (Translated from Spanish)

[Pricarte · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very well-written novel, with a very personal style. Very easy to read. It contains several short stories. Its themes are appealing. It surprises you with the moment the author chooses to end each story. It keeps you completely on edge. (Translated from Spanish)

[smiler69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My first book by Raymond Carver. I admire everything he manages to packs into each story but have always had trouble picking up on symbolism and reading into deeper meanings than what I feel intuitively and have difficulty verbalizing. One recurring theme is the difficulty we have communicating with one another and with understanding ourselves. This is borne out with repeated references to heavy drinkers and alcoholism; how so many people choose this easy escape in a glass to deal with inconvenient feelings and situations.

Not all the stories in this collection involve booze, but miscommunication is a major theme and they are overall rather bleak and depressing, so I took my time reading them bit by bit, not wanting to be dragged down with despair. The title story Cathedral illustrates this perfectly. The narrators wife announces an old blind friend is coming over for a visit after losing his wife to cancer. She and this friend have had a regular correspondence over many years and exchanged many intimate details about their inner lives and their marriages. As for the narrator, he can barely think of a blind person as a fully realized human being and seems to think their lack of sight means they aren’t able to enjoy life. It is soon revealed that while most people are able to look, few take the time to actually see.

With his simple pared down language, Carver invites us to look beyond the surface and to find true meaning. I think that’s what he’s doing in any case. I’ll need to read more articles analyzing his work maybe. But then again, sometimes I think it’s okay to just intuit things without seeking to understand them logically either. Our inner eye sees so much more than we allow for after all.

[marthajeanne · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I got past 50 pages before deciding not to waste more time on this.

I do appreciate that if someone is going to leave his stories hanging it is better that he does this after 10 pages than after 400. But I still don't like it.

[GuilloHerrera · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Carlyle was in trouble. He had been all summer, ever since his wife left him in early June. But until recently, just a few days before classes started at the high school, Carlyle had not needed anyone to take care of the kids. He had taken care of them himself. He had attended to them day and night. He told them their mother was on a long trip.
Debbie, the first babysitter he located, was a chubby nineteen-year-old girl who, she told him, came from a large family. The kids liked her, she assured him. She gave a couple of names as references. She wrote them down in pencil on a piece of notebook paper. Carlyle took it, folded it, and tucked it into his shirt pocket. She told him she had meetings the next day. That she could start working in the morning." (BEGINNING OF THE STORY "FEVER")

Raymond Carver (Clatskanie, Oregon, May 25, 1938 - Port Angeles, Washington, August 2, 1988) is a tremendous writer, with a minimalist narrative in the best of the North American tradition, one of my favorite writers along with John Cheever.

This is probably his best book.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (Translated from Spanish)

[msf59 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“In those olden days, when they built cathedrals, men wanted to be close to God”

This collection of twelve stories, might be my favorite of Carver's work. He writes very well about ordinary lives but favors the messiness of life. Alcohol abuse, infidelities and heartache. The opening story, "Feathers" prominently features a peacock. A homage to O' Connor, perhaps? And the title story, which wraps up the collection, is a stunning look at blindness and religion. A knockout.

[jaredorlando-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is something that only Carver can do: boil down the American short story to something denser, more emotionally striking. He was the absolute master of his craft, with not a single word out of place. Cathedral is just one of his many compilations of masterpieces.

[nmhale_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Raymond Carver is a master of the short story genre, which he uses to depict middle class America and its issues.

[albertgoldfain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quickly devoured this whole collection as well as some other Carver pieces from the New Yorker archive. Great characters with a depth and complexity matching those found in some of the best novels. Carver's reputation as the master of the short story is well deserved.

[jphamilton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've read this collection many times over the years. It never disappoints. Like meeting an old friend or putting on a worn, shapeless, old T-shirt, rereading these very familiar stories was a wonderful gift to myself. The pleasure of rereading a favorite book is a hope I have for every new book I start ... someday I might be able to return to that book and get even more out of it.

[kylekatz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

These stories are about people I don't know and don't think I would like. If someone described them to me I would think, why would I want to read that? About hairdressers and waitresses and lots of alcoholics, people down on their luck, in lousy relationships, getting divorces, growing apart. But these stories are so well written that they are completely engrossing and leave me with a feeling of having seen something amazing nearly every one. Raymond Carver works some kind of magic over ordinary people and situations that leaves an imprint on the brain, an epiphany, almost a feeling of enlightenment. I feel like reading these stories has changed me for the better. I cannot give high enough praise.

[erickibler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the collection where Carver shakes off the label of "minimalist".

His previous editor, Gordon Lish, was known for paring Carver's stories down to the bone. But in this collection, free from Lish's pencil, he is able to be more expansive. The stories still concern average shmoes living clumsy lives, but now Carver gives himself the space for more incident. More emotional nuance. Not only that, but he's funnier, and he was fairly funny to begin with.

I read a volume of his poems recently. Like these stories, those poems were written in the eighties, during Carver's sobriety. Whereas poetry is usually about economy of language, finding that perfect word or phrase, Carver's poems were like listening to a friend who's had a few drinks and is telling you a story. If his audience is laughing, he's not afraid to lay it on. Reiterate certain comic points. Be a little redundant. Rant a bit. Play to the crowd. These stories have a bit of that same flavor.

The best example is of this is in the title story. The protagonist is a husband who's annoyed that his wife has invited an old friend, a blind man, over to spend the night. The character initially feels uncomfortable about the man's blindness, and expresses this to the reader by sarcastically riffing on how put out he feels, and how alien and creepy the man's blindness seems to him. But this is only the setup. The payoff is truly remarkable, emotional, and inspiring. I won't give it away.

Carver's early work was great, but lay in the shadow of his alcoholism, and for that reason was somewhat morbid. The later Carver seems to be poking fun at the morbidity in his past, all the while embracing life and its small wondrous experiences.