Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?: Stories (Vintage Contemporaries)

Fantastic book, I enjoy Mr. Carver’s writing and perspectives, he’s so refreshing to my young mind and this book has made me a fan.

This was my first go at Raymond Carver's short stories. They were perfect little segments of the lives of ordinary people. I felt, when starting another one of these short stories, that I was stumbling into the lives of people that I knew or was familiar with ... or that could have been me. Carver is an author that knows people so perfectly. He knows the secret thoughts of people, the wild lust and exuberance, and the darkened black suspicions. Carver's writing style is unorthodox, seemingly a writer that wrote completely on his own terms. And the structure is reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway. I drew many similarities between the two. In short, I can't wait to delve into more of Raymond Carver's work. My favorite stories in this collection are "Will You Please Be Quite, Please?" and "Bicycles, Muscles, Cigarets".

Well written and laid out. I get why Carver is significant in this Minimalist style of story telling. I’m just not a fan of 70’s minimalism, which thanks to Carver, I was able to find that out.

I like and get these types of short stories, they are just about life and the things that happen in it. No-one writes stories like this anymore,and really didn't before him.

I attended college and lived for ten years in the region where these stories take place. It is often sunless and grim, where living can be hard. These stories evoke a bare existentialism common there but just beneath the surface of even sunnier places. Carver is really good at getting to essences of human experience.

Carter has a very distinctive point of view. His stories are very mid-century modern. He somehow captures the uncertainty of times under the shadow of nuclear destruction without directly referencing the struggle against communism. He gave me the feeling of being a voyeur on the private lives of interesting people. I eventually got a little tired of his viewpoint, but undoubtedly a gifted writer.

Richard Carver is a very engaging story teller. His short stories are all a real "slice of life". He is different than any other author I have read, and I enjoy his style. I would recommend this book.

But--it seems his works are not aging well, at least for me. I was, as many were enamored by his works when they were fairly fresh off the press but not so much now. There are a few stories that still really shine but on the whole his work all seems very tired now and oddly anachronistic in a way that, say another writer of his time . Hemingway's do not--perhaps that's a function of those being far enough removed form the present day. I don't know.

Anyone who knows anything, knows what Carver was (and is), what he can be, could be. This book is everything conveyed with next to nothing, it is more, so much more. If Carver were music he would be jazz.Carver's genius lies in his powers of transportation. His ability to paint his subjects in the most transparent of washes, the faintest of brush-strokes and yet still manage to make you imagine them in their fullness and their complexity. Like the Chinese or Japanese masters of 'sumi-e' (ink painting), he lays down the simplest of lines, the simplest of narratives and the simplest language to convey to the viewer (the reader) just what was intended to be conveyed. There is no waste, no excess, no fat to be trimmed here, he stops short of giving too much and just shy of not giving you enough.Carver arguably restored the relationship, the contract between the reader and an author. A contract whereby both parties agree to work for a common goal. The author agrees to give part of the story, if the reader agrees to use their imagination to fill in the blanks. And in agreeing to this contract, they agree to not just use their imagination in some passive, inert sense, but rather agree to draw on their store of experiences and knowledge to deepen one's assimilation to the characters and situations laid down on the page.This short collection is memorable from start to finish and is highly recommended for anyone who likes great story-telling, who is interested in the human condition, or anyone who wants to encounter just what the short story can be.

Arrived quicker than expected securely packaged. The book was in excellent condition as described.I'd never read any of Raymond Carver, so didn't know what to expect.Has an unusual style of writing, focussing on setting the scene rather than the story content. A collection of short stories that mostly end leaving a 'what was that about' thought in your mind. I however enjoyed the writing style. Won't be everyone's choice though.

Great book, fantastic stories....

Carver has a very particular voice. Real , earthy, simple and engaging.Recommended

Evokes the 70's era of small town America and the interactions of the population. Enjoyable & thought provoking with tenuous links or themes between each story.