Carver's novels are called "minimalism" novels. He is a real blue-collar writer, a loser who writes about losers. He has been writing short stories and poems all his life. He chose to write short stories and poems, mainly because he can only write what he can only finish when he sits down. Carver, who always lives in other people's rooms, "is always worried that the chair under him will be moved at any time." "
Carver's soliloquies are taken from a conversation with raymond carver and published as an appendix in his most famous collection of novels, The Cathedral. I am here to share these "my own words" and give some encouragement to those who are determined to write novels.
Carver said this:
? "When I started writing, my expectations were very low. In this country, choosing to be a short story writer or poet is basically equivalent to letting yourself live in the shadow, and no one will notice. "
? "When the children were very young, we had no money. We vomited blood at work, and my wife and I tried our best, but life didn't make any progress. At that time, I had been doing one bullshit job after another. So is my wife. She works as a waitress or sells things door to door. Many years later, she finally taught in high school, but that was many years later. I've worked in sawmills, gas stations, warehouses, janitors and deliverymen-you name it, I've done it. One summer in California, I picked tulips for others during the day to support my family. After the hotel closed at night, I cleaned a drive-in restaurant and the parking lot. There are more important things than writing novels and poems. It pains me to understand this, but I can only accept it. I have to put milk and food on the table and pay the rent. If I have to make a choice, I can only choose to give up writing. "
"When henry miller was writing the Tropic of Cancer in his forties, he once said that he would have to stop writing at any time in the borrowed room, because the chair he was sitting in would also be taken away. Until recently, this has been the norm in my life. As long as I can remember, since I was a teenager, I have been worried that the chair under me will be removed at any time. Year after year, my wife and I ran around all day trying to keep the roof. We have a dream, me and my lover. We thought we could stretch our necks, work hard and do anything we wanted. But we were wrong. "
"I have to say that one of the most influential factors in my life and writing is direct and indirect. I was less than twenty years old when they were born. We lived under the same roof from beginning to end for almost 19 years. In those years, there was no corner in my life that was not affected by their heavy and harmful negative effects. " "Their existence makes me understand that if I want to write something, write something, really finish something, and want to enjoy it after I finish my work, I can only write short stories and poems, and write what I can write as soon as I sit down. Write quickly and finish it."
"For my so-called literary attempt, I need to see the results within reach. So I consciously, of course, must limit myself to writing what I know I can sit down and finish at once, at most twice. "
"For the characters and situations I wrote, it is not only inappropriate to solve difficulties gracefully, but also impossible to some extent. I admit that I envy those novels that develop in a classic mode, with conflicts, solutions and climaxes. But even though I respect those novels, and sometimes I'm even a little jealous, I still can't write them. The author's duty, if any, is not to provide conclusions or answers. If a novel can answer itself and its problems and contradictions can meet its own requirements, that is enough. On the other hand, I just want to ensure that readers will not feel cheated after reading my novel. "
"I don't think there is anything special or unconventional about the characters I wrote. I've known such people all my life. The truth is, I'm one of those people, confused and drunk. I come from these people, and I have worked with them for many years. So I never thought about writing a novel about college life or a story about teachers and students. What impressed me deeply was what I witnessed in my life around me and what I witnessed in my own life. In those lives, no matter day or night, when someone knocks on their door or the phone rings, they really panic. They don't know how to get the rent money or what to do if the refrigerator breaks down. A critic criticized my book Preservation and said,' Well, the refrigerator is broken-why don't you call a repairman to fix it?' This is an ignorant comment. It costs at least sixty dollars to hire someone. Perhaps critics have not noticed this, but some people can't afford to hire someone to repair the refrigerator, just like some people don't go to see a doctor because they don't have medical insurance; Their teeth are broken because they can't afford to go to the dentist. Focusing on these people, I don't think I am really different from other writers. Chekhov began to write about this kind of life a hundred years ago. Short story writers always do this. "