Cathedral Carver, Raymond - Joseph G. Knapp (review date 31 December 1983)
Joseph G. Knapp (review date 31 December 1983)
SOURCE: A review of Cathedral, in America, December 31, 1983, p. 438.
[In the following review, Knapp praises Carver's poignancy and emotional depth in Cathedral.]
Rarely, and at unpredictable intervals, a writer of genius appears on the literary scene, who waves a wand over the relentlessly banal events of everyday life and transforms them. Such a master of the short story form is Raymond Carver. His first two collections of stories, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, announced to critics that an extraordinary talent had emerged from the obscure town of Clatskanie, Ore. In this latest collection of stories the author takes to its ultimate fruition Emerson's dictum that "all matter is emblematic of spirit." For Carver, all material events are evocative of the spirit, and each is crafted from a surprising perspective.
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