The Life of Raymond Carver documentary with Rare Interview (1989)

ملخص موجز

يقدم هذا النص نظرة ثاقبة على حياة ريموند كارفر وعمله، مع التركيز على صراعاته المبكرة، وتحوله الأدبي، والعلاقات التي شكلت كتاباته. كما يستكشف موضوعات مثل الطبقة العاملة الأمريكية، والإدمان، والزواج، والموت، وكيف انعكست هذه الموضوعات في قصصه وقصائده.

  • يستكشف النص صراعات كارفر المبكرة مع الإدمان والفقر والزواج الفاشل، وكيف أثرت هذه التجارب على كتاباته.
  • يناقش كيف وجد كارفر الخلاص من خلال الكتابة وعلاقته بتيس غالاغر، التي ساعدته على تغيير حياته.
  • يسلط الضوء على أسلوب كارفر الأدبي الفريد، الذي يتميز بالبساطة والواقعية والتركيز على حياة الطبقة العاملة الأمريكية.
  • يستكشف موضوعات مثل الموت والفقدان والذاكرة، وكيف تعامل معها كارفر في كتاباته.
  • يقدم رؤى من الأصدقاء والعائلة والزملاء الذين عرفوا كارفر جيدًا، مما يوفر منظورًا شخصيًا لحياته وعمله.

بداية جديدة: حياة ريموند كارفر وكتاباته

يتناول النص حياة ريموند كارفر، الذي توفي بسبب سرطان الرئة عام 1988، وكيف كان أحد أكثر الكتاب إعجابًا في أمريكا في ذلك الوقت. يوضح كيف كان كارفر قبل عشر سنوات فقط مدمنًا على الكحول ومفلسًا، وزواجه الأول في حالة خراب، وغير متأكد مما إذا كان سيكتب مرة أخرى. يصف كيف استخلص كارفر من هذه التجارب مشهدًا أدبيًا فريدًا، يسكنه حطام الحلم الأمريكي، وكيف يعكس أسلوبه المقتضب الكرب المكبوت تحت سطح أمريكا في المدن الصغيرة.

العودة إلى الماضي: ذكريات وتأملات

تتحدث امرأة عن عملها كنادلة في مطعم على بعد بنايات قليلة، وكيف تعمل في نوبتين منفصلتين، وتلتقي بنفسها ذهابًا وإيابًا. تصف كيف يقضي الأولاد اليوم بأكمله في السباحة بينما يجلس زوجها داخل الشقة. تذكر أنها صففت شعرها ذات مرة وأخبرتها المرأة ببعض الأشياء، مثل أنها عملت كنادلة عندما كانت خارج المدرسة الثانوية وهناك التقت بزوجها عندما قدمت له بعض الفطائر في مكان ما في مينيسوتا. تختتم حديثها بالقول إن المرأة تجلس هناك وتنتظر أن تتغير حياتها وتشعر بذلك.

الاعتراف بالواقع: كتابة عن المهمشين

يتحدث النص عن الأشخاص الذين عرفهم الكاتب عن كثب وكيف تركوا انطباعًا عميقًا على حياته العاطفية، وكيف يجد نفسه يعود إلى ذلك الوقت بغض النظر عن مدى تغير ظروفه. يوضح كيف أنه إذا تناول أي مشروبات، فإن ذلك يجعله يشعر بالارتباط بهؤلاء الأشخاص. يذكر كيف لم يكتب أحد عن هؤلاء الأشخاص من قبل، أو على الأقل لم يكتب أحد في أمريكا منذ سنوات عن هؤلاء الأشخاص الذين يعيشون في متنزهات المقطورات ويشربون الجن على طاولة المطبخ ويعملون كحراس أو حطابين. يصف كيف جعل الكاتب نوعًا من التضاريس الاجتماعية والاقتصادية التي لم تظهر في الخيال منذ سنوات شرعية. يوضح كيف أن هؤلاء الأشخاص يعيشون على الحافة ويحاولون بذل قصارى جهدهم في هذه الحياة، ويتخذون قرارات يأملون أن تكون للأفضل، ولكن في كثير من الأحيان لا يكون الأفضل الذي يمكنهم فعله جيدًا بما فيه الكفاية لسبب أو لآخر، وعليهم إيجاد طريقة للتصالح مع أشياء معينة، مع فنائهم وقيودهم وقيود الآخرين. يختتم حديثه بالقول إنه متعاطف مع هؤلاء الأشخاص، الأشخاص الذين سقط قاعهم كثيرًا، وأنه يعرف ذلك ويتعاطف معهم.

استخدام الماضي: الكتابة كتعبير عن التجربة

يوضح النص كيف يستخدم الكتاب ماضيهم، وكيف يبقى ماضيهم معهم طالما كان لديهم بعض الاستخدام له. يذكر كيف أن الكاتب كان يسجل علاقته بماضيه طوال الوقت، ليس لأنه كتب سيرة ذاتية، ولكن من وقت لآخر كان يرى أشياء أخبره بها أو أشياء يعرفها تظهر في قصة، سطر هنا أو إشارة هناك. يختتم حديثه بالقول إنه استخدم ماضيه مثل جميع الكتاب.

لا أحد قال شيئًا: قصة عن العائلة والصمت

يروي النص قصة بعنوان "لا أحد قال شيئًا"، حيث يسمع الراوي والديه يتجادلان في المطبخ ثم يصمتان وتبدأ والدته في البكاء. يذكر كيف سمع والده يغادر للحاق بحافلته ويصفق الباب الأمامي. تذكر كيف أخبرته والدته من قبل أنه يريد تمزيق العائلة، لكنه لم يرغب في الاستماع. بعد فترة، جاءت والدته لتطلب منهم الذهاب إلى المدرسة، لكن صوتها بدا مضحكًا. يقول إنه قال إنه يشعر بالغثيان في معدته. كانت تلك هي الأسبوع الأول من شهر أكتوبر ولم يغب عن المدرسة بعد. تساءل عما قالته. نظرت إليه ولكن بدا وكأنها تفكر في شيء آخر. هزت رأسها وقالت "حسنًا، لا أعرف، ابق في المنزل إذن، ولكن لا يوجد تلفزيون، تذكر ذلك". عندما بدأت في الاستعداد للعمل، سألها عما إذا كانت ستعد له سريرًا على الأريكة. قال إنه يريد الدراسة على طاولة القهوة. كان لديه كتب إدغار رايس بوروز التي حصل عليها في عيد ميلاده وكتاب الدراسات الاجتماعية الخاص به، لكنه لم يكن يرغب في القراءة. أرادها أن ترحل حتى يتمكن من مشاهدة التلفزيون. قامت بتشغيل المرحاض ولم يستطع الانتظار أكثر من ذلك. قام بتشغيل الصورة بدون صوت. ذهب إلى المطبخ حيث تركت علبة السجائر الخاصة بها وهز ثلاثة منها. وضعهم في الخزانة وعاد إلى الأريكة وبدأ في قراءة "أميرة المريخ". خرجت وألقت نظرة على التلفزيون لكنها لم تقل شيئًا. كان الكتاب مفتوحًا. قامت بتصفيف شعرها أمام المرآة وذهبت إلى المطبخ. نظر مرة أخرى إلى الكتاب عندما خرجت. قال "لقد تأخرت، وداعًا يا حبيبي". لم تكن ستثير موضوع التلفزيون. في الليلة الماضية قالت إنها لن تعرف ماذا يعني الذهاب إلى العمل دون أن تثار. "تناول هذا الدواء يا حبيبي وآمل أن تتحسن معدتك بحلول الليلة. ربما سنشعر جميعًا بتحسن بحلول الليلة". وقفت في المدخل وأدارت المقبض. بدت وكأنها تريد أن تقول شيئًا آخر.

أصول عائلية: الهجرة والعمل في واشنطن

يتحدث النص عن والدة الراوي ووالده اللذين جاءا من أركنساس بحثًا عن عمل، وبعد أن وجد عملًا في سد جراند كولي عام 1936، عاد إلى أركنساس وتزوج والدته وأحضر والدته ووالديه إلى ولاية واشنطن. يوضح كيف أن نصف السكان تقريبًا يأتون من ميسوري وأوكلاهوما وأركنساس، وكيف اجتمعوا جميعًا بحثًا عن عمل في واشنطن في عام 1929، وكيف لم يكن هناك عمل تقريبًا في أركنساس وكان هناك عمل هنا خلال فترة الكساد.

رحلة إلى واشنطن: قصة هجرة خلال فترة الكساد

يروي النص قصة عن تجربة عائلية خلال فترة الكساد، حيث لم يكن لدى كارلودز سينيور زوجة وكان لديه سيارة موديل 26. جاء رجل بسيارة أخرى مع نجمة قديمة موديل 26 وبعض أصدقائنا الذين ركبوا في السيارة معنا. كان لدينا أصغر أبنائنا يبلغ من العمر شهرًا واحدًا عندما غادرنا أركنساس وأرضعته على الوسادة طوال الطريق. كنا في السيارة موديل 26 لمدة 14 يومًا على الطريق. لم يكن لديهم أي رصيف في مكانهم، وكان الرصيف يمر عبر المدينة، وهي مدينة جيدة الحجم، وكان طريقًا ترابيًا.

ذكريات الطفولة: القصص والقراءة

يتحدث النص عن والد الراوي الذي كان يروي لهم بعض القصص الغريبة في بعض الأحيان، مثل ما كان يفعله في الخلف وهو يلعب الكرة. يذكر كيف كانوا يستمتعون برواية القصص وكيف كان يقرأ لهم كثيرًا. كان يذهب إلى الفراش هناك إذا كان يعرف ويقرأ ديري وكان يستلقي هناك ويستمع. يختتم حديثه بالقول إن الأطفال قضوا وقتًا ممتعًا عندما كانوا يكبرون.

العمل الجاد والذكاء: ذكريات عن ريموند كارفر

يتحدث النص عن كيف كان لدى الأطفال وظائف وكيف كانوا يعيشون على ما يرام، لكنهم لم يكن لديهم الكثير من المال. يوضح كيف كانوا يعيشون بالقرب من الجزء الخلفي من بستانهم وكيف كانت ترسله للبقاء بضع ساعات وكانت تضع ملاحظة صغيرة عليه وتخبره متى ترسله إلى المنزل. تذكر أنها عرفت يومًا ما أنه سيصبح ثريًا لأنه كان ذكيًا جدًا.

علاقات عائلية: الحب والدعم والصراع

يتحدث النص عن كيف أن ريجز لم يستطع ذكر والده جيدًا بعد وفاة زوجها لأنه كان يحبه كثيرًا لأنه كان جيدًا جدًا مع الأولاد. يقول إن راي كان ذراعه اليمنى. كان معيلًا جيدًا وعمل كل يوم. في عطلات نهاية الأسبوع كان يحب الصيد، لكن شرب البيرة وما شابه ذلك كان يؤثر على الآخرين. يوضح كيف لم يستطع زوجها تناول كأس من البيرة، لكن زوجها استطاع. تذكر كيف كانت تسكب الخمر وتخففه بالماء وكل شيء من هذا القبيل. كان الأخ يشرب. يمكنها تناول مشروب اجتماعي في بعض الأحيان، لكنها لم تكن تشرب. لم تستطع تحمل ذلك. جاء ذات يوم متأخرًا بعض الشيء. لم يخرج عليها أو أي شيء من هذا القبيل، لكنها كانت غاضبة جدًا لدرجة أنها التقطت مثل مصفاة تدفع الطماطم لأسفل وسلة. لم تضربه بذلك، لكنه نزف بالطبع. لقد أخاف الأولاد حتى الموت.

صورة الأب: تأملات في الماضي

يصف النص صورة لوالده في عامه الثاني والعشرين في أكتوبر في هذا المطبخ المظلم غير المألوف. يدرس وجه والده الشاب المحرج وابتسامته الخجولة. يحمل في يد واحدة سلسلة من سمك الفرخ الأصفر الشائك وفي اليد الأخرى زجاجة من بيرة كارلسباد. يرتدي الجينز وقميصًا من الدنيم ويتكئ على الرفرف الأمامي لسيارة فورد موديل 1934. كان يرغب في أن يبدو جريئًا وقويًا لأجياله القادمة، وقبعته القديمة مائلة فوق أذنه. طوال حياته، أراد والده أن يكون جريئًا، لكن العيون تفضحه والأيدي التي تقدم بفتور سلسلة من سمك الفرخ الميت وزجاجة البيرة. يقول "أبي، أحبك، ومع ذلك كيف يمكنني أن أقول شكرًا لك، أنا الذي لا يستطيع أن يحتمل الخمر أيضًا ولا يعرف حتى أماكن الصيد". عمل في المنشرة طوال حياته ومات عندما عاد إلى المنزل من نوبة عمل في وقت متأخر من الليل وذهب إلى الفراش ولم يستيقظ.

ذكريات المدرسة الثانوية: الأحلام والطموحات

يتحدث النص عن مطعم Wendy's في شارع South 1st في وسط مدينة Yakima وكيف قضى راي والمتحدث الكثير من الوقت هناك خلال سنوات دراستهما الثانوية من 54 إلى 56، ليس فقط في تناول البرغر وشرب البيبسي ولكن أيضًا في لعب آلات الكرة والدبابيس التي أتقناها في ذلك الوقت. يوضح كيف أنهم ربما خسروا ما يكفي لدفع ثمن هذا المبنى مرتين أو ثلاث مرات، لكنهم قضوا وقتًا ممتعًا في المدرسة الثانوية. يذكر كيف لم يكن على علم بأنه أراد ذلك حقًا حتى كان على الأرجح في السنة الثالثة من المدرسة الثانوية وأرسل للحصول على كاتب مشهور، دورة المراسلة الخاصة به أو شيء من هذا القبيل كلف 25 دولارًا أو شيئًا من هذا القبيل. شارك راي إحدى مهامه معه ذات ليلة وكان أحد السطور "كانت البندقية أسخن من كاتم صوت بقيمة سنتين ليلة السبت" وفكر في نفسه "يا إلهي، هذا سيئ، لن ينجح أبدًا". يختتم حديثه بالقول إن كلاهما كان لديه أحلام كبيرة وراي فعل أشياء رائعة وهو فخور جدًا بما فعله.

الصداقة والمسارات المتباعدة: الحياة بعد المدرسة الثانوية

يتحدث النص عن كيف وجد راي ماري آن والمتحدث وجد فتاة تدعى جودي وكيف يبدو أن صداقتهما انقسمت من هناك. يوضح كيف كان من المتوقع أن يعمل في المنشرة حيث عمل والده وكيف كان من المتوقع من زوجته أن تعتني بالأطفال. يذكر كيف كان كلاهما في محيطات مفتوحة.

الالتزام بالكتابة: تحدي التوقعات

يتحدث النص عن العمر الذي قرر فيه الكتابة وكيف كان ملتزمًا في ذلك العمر بأن يكون كاتبًا. يوضح كيف أنه عندما قال ذلك لمعظم الناس في Yakima، سخروا من ذلك وضحكوا لأنهم لم يعرفوا الكثير من الأشخاص الذين تجرأوا على قول "أريد أن أكون كاتبًا". كانوا سيقولون "أريد أن أكون مدرسًا وآمل أن أتمكن من كتابة بعض الأشياء على الجانب" أو أي شيء من هذا القبيل. كان عليهم أن يضيفوا تلك الواقعية. يختتم حديثه بالقول إن راي قال "أريد أن أكون كاتبًا" ولا اعتذار عن ذلك.

الواقعية في الكتابة: تجارب تتجاوز العمر

تتحدث امرأة عن كيف أراها بعض الشعر الذي كتبه قبل أن يريها أي شيء في الواقع وقالت "حسنًا يا ماريان، لا يوجد فتى يبلغ من العمر ستة عشر عامًا كتب ذلك. ليس لديهم هذا النوع من التجارب". توضح كيف أن والديه كانا من أركنساس وكيف عرفت أنهما لم يكونا موجودين. لم يكونوا جزءًا من عالمه الذي نشأ فيه. لم تكن تعتقد أن الأشياء التي كان يكتبها في ذلك الوقت عن العلاقات بين الرجال والنساء في الثلاثينيات والأربعينيات من العمر لم تكن تبدو وكأنها أتت من قلمه. لكنها قالت "حسنًا، لقد فعل ذلك بالتأكيد". ما اكتشفته عن ذلك على مر السنين هو أن كتاباته لم تتغير. كان خالدًا نوعًا ما في ذلك الوقت وبقي على هذا النحو.

الأحلام والواقع: قصة مستشارة المدرسة الثانوية

يروي النص قصة عن مستشارة في المدرسة الثانوية طلبت من الراوي الحضور إلى مكتبها. فعلت ذلك مع جميع الفتيات واحدة تلو الأخرى. سألت "ما هي الأحلام التي لديك؟" سألت هذه المرأة "ماذا ترين نفسك تفعلين في عشر سنوات وعشرين سنة؟" كان عمري 16 أو 17 عامًا. كنت مجرد طفل. لم أستطع التفكير في إجابة. جلست هناك مثل كتلة. كانت هذه المستشارة في عمري الآن. الآن كانت عجوزًا. قالت لنفسها "إنها عجوز". عرفت أن حياتها قد انتهت تقريبًا وشعرت وكأنني أعرف شيئًا لم تعرفه، شيئًا لن تعرفه أبدًا، سرًا لا يفترض بأحد أن يعرفه أو يتحدث عنه أبدًا. لذلك بقيت هادئة وهزت رأسي فقط. لا بد أنها كتبتني كمدمن مخدرات، لكنني لم أستطع قول أي شيء. أعتقد أنني عرفت أشياء لم تستطع تخمينها. إذا سألني أحد هذا السؤال مرة أخرى عن أحلامي وكل شيء، فسأخبرهم بماذا ستخبرهم يا عزيزتي؟ تقول "لدي يدها الأخرى الآن، لكنني لا أضع أظافرها. أنا فقط أمسك بها في انتظار سماعها". تقول "سأقول الأحلام، كما تعلمون، أو ما تستيقظ منه. هذا ما سأقوله". تنعم تنورة حضنها. إذا سأل أحد، هذا ما سأقوله، لكنهم لن يسألوا.

الزواج المبكر والصراعات: البحث عن الأمل في الواقع

يتحدث النص عن زواج الراوي المبكر من زوجته لي عندما كانت تبلغ من العمر 16 عامًا وكان يبلغ من العمر 18 عامًا. بحلول الوقت الذي بلغت فيه 18 عامًا وكان يبلغ من العمر 20 عامًا، كان لديهما طفلان. لم يكن لديهم مهارات ولم يكن لديهم مال. كانت عائلتها في وضع يائس وكانت عائلته في وضع يائس. في بعض الأحيان وجدوا أنفسهم يقدمون لهم الطعام والمأوى حرفيًا. وجدوا أنفسهم يكبرون مع أطفالهم في نفس الوقت. كان يعمل في وظيفة وكانت زوجته تعمل في وظيفة. كان يحاول الذهاب إلى المدرسة للذهاب إلى الكلية. كان يحاول تعلم الكتابة وكان بحاجة إلى البدء في شيء ما والانتهاء منه في جلسة واحدة في أغلب الأحيان. لم يكن لديه وقت للعمل على القصص القصيرة أو كتابة الشعر. أعتقد أنه أراد كتابة روايات، لكن لم يكن لديه وقت للكتابة. لم يستطع رؤية أي شيء هناك في روايات ريغان. لذلك قرأ قصصًا قصيرة. لم يكن الوضع سهلاً أو ممتعًا تمامًا، إلا أنه يجب أن أقول إنه خلال السنوات العشر الأولى أو نحو ذلك كان لديهم الكثير من الأمل والمثالية والكثير من نقاط القوة واعتقدوا أنه إذا عملوا بجد وفعلوا الأشياء الصحيحة، فستحدث الأشياء الصحيحة وستنجح الأمور. هذا ليس مجرد الحلم الأمريكي.

تلاشي الأمل: ضغوط الحياة وتحديات المراهقة

يوضح النص كيف بدأ هذا المسعى والجهد الجامح في إرهاقهم وكيف حدثت الأشياء ثم بدأت الحلقة وبدأ الأطفال في الوصول إلى سن المراهقة ووصلوا إلى ذروتهم. لم يكن الأمر ممتعًا إلى الأبد. حيث لم تتبادل ماري آن وراي أي كلمات متقاطعة حول أهمية ما كان يفعله، كان الأطفال يتحدثون عن ذلك. كانوا يقولون "نحن بحاجة إلى دراجة جديدة أو نحن بحاجة إلى هذا أو أريد مفاتيح السيارة" أو أي شيء من هذا القبيل. كان راي يستطيع التعامل مع هؤلاء الأطفال جيدًا، لكنه لم يستطع التعامل مع هؤلاء المتطفلين الكبار الذين يمكنهم اقتحام منتصف القصة التي كان يحاول إخراجها في اليوم التالي وخلق نوعًا من الأزمة بالنسبة له. كان عمل المراهقة بقدر أي شيء آخر. ثم في حالة من الإحباط، إذا لم يتمكن من الانتهاء منها، فإنه ينطلق في مطاردة أوزة برية لإنقاذ كلب ابنته أو إصلاح دراجة ابنه أو شيء من هذا القبيل. عندما انتهى، كان يحصل على زجاجة ويشرب. لقد أصبح من المستحيل العيش معًا دون حدوث نوع من الفوضى. أعتقد أنهم سئموا من ذلك.

الاعتراف بالإدمان: قصة التعافي

يتحدث النص عن شخص يدعى جيف يعرّف نفسه بأنه مدمن على الكحول. يرحب ديفيد به. يوضح كيف كان الأمر قبل أن يبدأ الشرب في المدرسة الثانوية وكيف ساعده ذلك على التعامل مع صدمة النمو. يذكر كيف كان يعلم أنه مدمن على الكحول منذ وقت مبكر جدًا. يتذكر الجلوس في صالونات في لوس أنجلوس. يتذكر ذات ليلة نشوب شجار معه حوالي الساعة الثانية صباحًا. كانت تلك قصته. كان يحب القتال عندما يشرب. كانت هذه شخصية جيكل. يتذكر أنه استيقظ وكان الجو يضيء وكان ينظر إلى الأعلى وهناك كان مستلقيًا في الطابق السفلي من هذا المبنى شبه المهدم. نظر إلى الأعلى ورأى ألواحًا ملقاة جانبًا. بدا الأمر وكأنه تعرض للقصف أو شيء من هذا القبيل. كانت هناك بئر سلم والسلالم والجدران. استيقظ ولم يعرف في أي مدينة. اعتقد ربما قنبلة تركت مثل ماضيه. لم يكن متأكدًا حتى مما إذا كان في سياتل.

فصل الإبداع عن الإدمان: منظور شخصي

يوضح النص كيف أنه لم يكن أبدًا في خرافات أسطورة الكحول والفنانين على الإطلاق. كان مهتمًا بالكحول نفسه. كان يحب طعمه، لكنه لم يربط هذا أبدًا بحقيقة الرغبة في أن يكون كاتبًا، وحقيقة أن الكحول سيساعده على الكتابة. كان مهتمًا بالشيء نفسه ولم يربط هذا بأسطورة الكاتب. يوضح كيف أنه لفترة طويلة إذا قال "إدمان الكحول" كان كلمة غريبة ورهيبة. كان شيئًا حدث للأشخاص الذين ينامون على مقاعد المتنزهات ويتسكعون في باوري وأشياء من هذا القبيل. لم يهاجم إدمان الكحول الأشخاص الريفيين المحترمين الذين يعملون بجد في المطبخ.

بيع الأثاث: قصة عن الخسارة واليأس

يصف النص رجلاً سكب مشروبًا آخر ونظر إلى غرفة النوم في فناء منزله الأمامي. بدت الأمور كما كانت في غرفة النوم. منضدة بجانب السرير ومصباح قراءة على جانبها وجانبه وجانبها. فكر في هذا وهو يحتسي الويسكي. من حين لآخر كانت سيارة تتباطأ وينظر الناس، لكن لم يتوقف أحد. خطر بباله أنه لن يتوقف أيضًا. "يجب أن يكون بيعًا في الفناء. دعنا نرى ماذا يريدون مقابل هذا السرير. تعال إلى هنا يا جاك".

المساومة والرقص: لقاء غير متوقع

يصف النص حوارًا بين رجل وزوجين شابين حول شراء أثاثه. تقول المرأة "جرب هذا الوعاء، كيف هو؟" يقول الرجل "يبدو مضحكًا بعض الشيء". يقول الرجل "ربما يجب أن أرى ما إذا كان أحد ما رآه. ألن يكون مضحكًا إذا رأيت ما إذا كان أحد في المنزل؟ لا أعتقد أن هناك أحدًا، ولكن إذا كان هناك أحد، فسأرى ما هي أسعار الأشياء. مهما طلبوا، قدم 10 دولارات أقل. إنها دائمًا فكرة جيدة. إلى جانب ذلك، يجب أن يكونوا يائسين أو شيء من هذا القبيل". تقول المرأة "حسنًا، لقد وجدت السرير، هذا جيد. كنا نجربه فقط". يسأل الرجل "كم تريد مقابل السرير؟" تقول المرأة "كنت أفكر ربما 50". يسأل الرجل "هل تأخذ 40؟" تقول المرأة "يمكنني أن آخذ 40". يسأل الرجل "ماذا عن التلفزيون؟" تقول المرأة "25". يسأل الرجل "هل تأخذ 15؟" تقول المرأة "15 لا بأس بها، يمكنني أن آخذ 15". يقول الرجل "أوه يا أطفال، هل تريدون مشروبًا؟ هناك بعض النظارات هناك. سأجلس، اجلسوا على الأريكة". يسأل الرجل "إذن ماذا تريد؟ كم تريد مقابل المكتب؟" نظر إليهم وهم جالسون على الطاولة. كان هناك شيء ما في وجوههم. لم يكن لطيفًا أو سيئًا. لم يكن هناك ما يدل على ذلك. يقول "التلفزيون ومشغل التسجيل رخيصان، قدم لي عرضًا". تقول المرأة "شكرًا لك، أنت لطيف جدًا". يقول الرجل "اختر واحدًا، ماذا عن هذا؟" يقول "أنا أكتب شيكًا". يقول الرجل "بالتأكيد، لماذا لا ترقصون يا أطفال؟" تقول المرأة "لا أعتقد ذلك". يقول الرجل "هيا، إنه فنائي، يمكنك الرقص إذا أردت".

اليأس والرقص: لحظة من الحرية

يصف النص حوارًا بين رجل وامرأة. تقول المرأة "أنت في حالة سكر". يقول الرجل "أنا لست في حالة سكر". تقول المرأة "أنا كذلك". يقول الرجل "لماذا لا ترقص مع الناس هناك؟" يقول الرجل "انتبه، حسنًا، إنه مكاني. إنهم يعتقدون أنهم رأوا كل شيء، لكنهم لم يروا هذا. سعيد، آمل أن يعجبك سريرك. يجب أن أكون يائسًا أو شيء من هذا القبيل".

ذكريات عن لقاء: تفسير مفتوح

يتحدث النص عن كيف قالت الفتيات بعد أسابيع إن الرجل كان في منتصف العمر وكل ممتلكاته كانت هناك في فنائه. يقول "لا أكذب، لقد غضبنا حقًا ورقصنا في الممر. لقد عزف لنا هذه التسجيلات. لقد أعطانا كل هذه التسجيلات التافهة. هل تصدق ذلك؟" استمرت في الحديث. أخبرت الجميع أن هناك المزيد في الأمر وأنها كانت تحاول التحدث عنه. بعد فترة توقفت عن المحاولة.

دائرة الحياة: مصير محتمل

يوضح النص كيف أنه في السطور القليلة الأخيرة من القصة، يتركها مفتوحة للتفسير بأن الزوجين الشابين قد يواجهان بعض الصعوبات نفسها التي واجهها الرجل. تلك الأثاث والبضائع الدنيوية التي يشترونها من الحديقة الأمامية. يقول "إنها تأتي في دائرة كاملة كما ستفعل. لقد وصلت إلى القاع ولم أعتقد أنني أستطيع النزول إلى أي مكان أدنى، لكنني نزلت إلى هناك تحت اللوح الأرضي في مكان ما. كنت ميتًا دماغيًا هناك لفترة طويلة. ثم توقفت عن السباق وتبادلت".

التحول الأدبي: من الصراع إلى النجاح

يوضح النص كيف نشر كافا قصته القصيرة الأولى في أوائل الستينيات. لم يكن الأمر كذلك حتى توقف عن الشرب وهرب من مشاكل زواجه الأول حتى تمكن من تكريس نفسه لكتاباته ونشر أكثر من 12 كتابًا في سنواته العشر المتبقية. سرعان ما تم الإشادة بكارفر من قبل العديد من النقاد باعتباره طقوسًا ذات جودة غير عادية، وخليفة لستاينبك على أي حال. غالبًا ما تم الترحيب به باعتباره منقذ القصة القصيرة الأمريكية.

الحياة الثانية: الحب والإلهام في الشمال الغربي

يوضح النص كيف شعر كارفر بأنه مدين بالكثير من نجاحه في ما أسماه حياته الثانية - الشاعرة تيس غالاغر. انتقلا معًا إلى الشمال الغربي الأصلي واستقرا في بلدة بورت أنجلوس الصغيرة المشابهة جدًا لـ Yakima حيث نشأ كارفر.

أسنان مستقيمة: قصة عن الحب والتحول

يصف النص كيف تحول وجه أولاس إلى اللون الأحمر مرة أخرى. قالت "لدي الكثير من الأشياء لأكون شاكرة لها. أحتفظ بهذه الأسنان لأذكرني بمدى ما أدين به لـ Bud". شربت من مشروبها الجذري ثم خفضت الزجاجة وقالت "لديك أسنان جميلة يا فران. لقد لاحظت ذلك على الفور". تقول "هذه الأسنان الخاصة بي، لقد ظهرت ملتوية عندما كنت طفلة. بنقرة إصبعها، نقرت على اثنين من أسنانها الأمامية. قالت "لم يتمكن والداي من تحمل تكلفة إصلاح الأسنان. هذه الأسنان الخاصة بي ظهرت في أي اتجاه. لم يهتم زوجي الأول بما أبدو عليه. لا، لم يفعل. لم يهتم بأي شيء باستثناء من أين سيأتي مشروبه التالي. كان لديه صديق واحد فقط في هذا العالم وكان ذلك زجاجته". هزت رأسها. ثم جاء Bud وأخرجني من تلك الفوضى. بعد أن كنا معًا، كان أول شيء قاله Bud هو أننا سنقوم بإصلاح هذه الأسنان. تم صنع هذا القالب مباشرة بعد أن التقيت أنا و Bud في مناسبة زيارتي الثانية لطبيب تقويم الأسنان مباشرة قبل وضع الأقواس". بقي وجه أولاس أحمر. نظرت إلى الصورة على الشاشة. شربت من مشروبها الجذري ولم يبدو أنها لديها المزيد لتقوله.

الواقعية في الكتابة: استخدام التجارب الشخصية

يوضح النص كيف قال فران "يجب أن يكون طبيب تقويم الأسنان هذا ساحرًا. في وضعي الخاص، فقدت سنًا في الأمام وأصبح هذا مناسبة لاتخاذ قرار بتقويم أسناني وفي ذلك الوقت تم صنع قالب الجص وفي النهاية لا أعرف، لم أستطع أبدًا التخلص من هذا الشيء. تم تفريغه ووجد طريقه إلى خزانة كتب Ray ثم في النهاية إلى القصة، لكنه لم يكن لديه أي ذنب أو أي وخز ضمير بشأن استخدام الأشياء حتى بشكل مباشر. على سبيل المثال، هناك قصيدة له أعتقد أنه عندما يقرأها شخص ما ويفكر في ابنته، فقد يرتجف حقًا، لكن القصيدة تبدأ بابنة، أنتِ في حالة سكر جميلة. كانت تلك هي الحقيقة الباردة القاسية لما رآه وما قدمه من نفسه في شربه الخاص وعانى منه مرة أخرى من خلال شرب ابنته وكان يحاول إيقاظها في حياتها الخاصة لجلبها إلى نوع من الاهتمام واعتقد أنه سيستخدم اللغة التي كانت مستقيمة وصعبة مثل التجربة. كانت لدينا مناقشة تقريبًا جدال حول استخدامي لكلمة الأرض التي اعتقد أنها يجب أن تكون أرضًا واعتقد أن هناك نوعًا من الفخامة حول الأرض وأن كل ما كنت أقصده حقًا هو تلك المادة البنية الموجودة تحت قدميك وهي الأوساخ أو الأرض وأن تلك هي نوع المناقشات التي أجريناها وجعلني أهتم بما يكفي بكل كلمة في تلك القصة لإعادة التفكير فيها حقًا وبالنظر إلى مخطوطاته الخاصة، فقد مرت بنفس العملية. كان يضعها في الدرج لمدة شهر وكان يسحبها ويضع عليها علامات بالكامل وتبدو تمامًا مثل المخطوطة التي أعيدها إليّ. علامات استفهام وحذف وكل ذلك في تلك الكتابة غير القابلة للفك والتي كانت في الواقع تشبه صوته، يميل إلى الأمام محاولًا سماع مجموعة".

جوهر القصة: التعاون والإلهام

يوضح النص كيف أن الشيء الأكثر أهمية في القصة هو أن القصة مهمة دائمًا. يذكر كيف أنهم كانوا يعملون على بعض القصص التي كانوا على اتصال بشيء آخر ويعرفون أنها قد تحدث فقط في المسودة الرابعة أو الخامسة، لكنهم يحصلون على هذا الاندفاع بمجرد حدوث الكثير من هذا الشعور ويعرفون ذلك أيضًا. يشعرون بهذا عندما تضرب آذانهم أو شيء من هذا القبيل. كان هذا شعورًا جيدًا. كان يعتاد الاتصال بي في الصباح ويسأل عما إذا كنت مستيقظًا. كان يقول "هل تكتب؟ هل ستكتب؟" أو كان يتصل بي في نهاية اليوم وي

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0:01 Raymond Carver's last book a new path to the waterfall is published this month Carver died of lung cancer in 1988 at the time of his death he was one of the most admired writers in America his success was all the more remarkable because only ten years earlier Carver was a burnt-out case alcoholic and bankrupt his first marriage in ruins uncertain in fact that he would ever write again but from these experiences he distilled a singular literary landscape peopled with the debris of the American Dream sparseness of his style echoing the muffled anguish beneath the surface of small-town America [Music]

1:19 she finds a job she starts working as a waitress in a diner a few blocks from here she works a split shift doing lunches and then going home and then back to work again in time for the dinner shift she's meeting herself coming and going the boys swim all day while her husband sits inside the apartment I don't know what he does in there once I did her hair and she told me a few things she told me she did waitressing when she was out of high school and that's where she met her husband she served him some pancakes in the place back in Minnesota she sits there waiting my life is gonna change I feel it she says [Music]

2:10 that life and end those those people whom I knew so so intimately I mean a very large and and profound impression on my emotional life so I still find myself going back to that time no matter how much my circumstances might change I was still to tend to go back to that time if I have any drinks and things that really make a claim my parts infections it is with those people [Music]

2:58 [Applause] [Music] nobody's ever written about these people or at least nobody in years in America has written about these people who lived in trailer parks and drank gin at the kitchen table and worked as janitors or Lumberjacks it was extraordinary the way in which he made legitimate a kind of social and economic terrain that had not been seen in in fiction in years people

3:51 who people who are living on the edge and who are trying to do the best that they possibly can in this life make decisions which they hope will be for the best but oftentimes the best day it can do is not good enough for some reason or another and they have to find a way to come to terms with certain things with their own mortality with their own limitations and the limitations of others my sympathies are with these people people I've had a bottom fall a lot of things I've known it you Thunder up with them I think for writers what you do is

4:37 you use your past up and so for writers your past stays with you as long as you can as long as you have some use for it and I am you know raise ongoing or documented his relationship to his past all the time not that he wrote autobiography because he indeed did not but for those people who know him intimately from time to time you'd see things that he had told you or things that you knew about turn up in a story a line here or a reference there he just used his past like all writers do [Music] this is a story called nobody said anything I could hear them out in the kitchen I couldn't hear what they were saying but they were arguing then it got quiet and she started to cry later I

5:24 heard dad leave to catch his bus he slammed the front door she had told me before he wanted to tear up the family I didn't want to listen after a while she came to call us for school her voice sounded funny I don't know I said I felt sick at my stomach it was the first week in October and I hadn't missed any school yet so what did she say she looked at me but it was like she was thinking of something else all right she shook her head I just don't know stay home then but no TV remember that when she started to get ready for work I asked if she would make a bed for me on the couch I said I wanted to study on the coffee table I had the Edgar Rice Burroughs books I had gotten for my birthday at my social studies book but I didn't feel like

6:09 reading I wanted her to leave so I could watch TV she flushed a toilet I couldn't wait any longer I turned the picture on without the volume I went out to the kitchen where she had left her pack of weeds and shook out three I put them in the cupboard and went back to the couch and started reading the princess of Mars she came out and glanced at the TV but didn't say anything I had the book open she poked out her hair in front of the mirror and went into the kitchen I looked back at the book when she came out I'm late goodbye sweetheart she wasn't going to bring up the TV last night she'd said she wouldn't know what it meant anymore to go to work without being stirred up you take that medicine sweetheart and I hope your stomach feels better by tonight maybe we'll all feel better by tonight she stood in the doorway and

6:56 turned the knob she looked as if she wanted to say something else my mom my father came out from Arkansas looking for work and after he found work on Grand Coulee Dam in 1936 and he went back to Arkansas married when my mother and brought my mother and his parents out to Washington Washington State you know probably half the population comes from Missouri Oklahoma Arkansas we

7:46 all came together looking for work and Washington in the joint is 2029 and there's no work hardly in Arkansas and there was work out here and it was during the Depression so [Music] history carloads experiment senior wasn't married and he had a 26 model for poverty and there was a feller came with this one car with an old star about 26

8:35 model star and some friends of ours that we rode in the car with we had our youngest son was on this month old when we left Arkansas who nursed him on the pillar all the way out and we were in the 26 that's triple a three cars he's 14 days on the road he didn't have any pavement on their place it had pavement would be through the town's good-sized town and it would gravel road you know how they bounced around so that's why we were late about Cummins and Keith yes all I went to work for Bob Coleman lumber come [Music]

9:41 raise father would tell us some weird stories at times just what he used to do in a back playing ball you know it just lots of different thing I just can't think now just a lot of thing and fishing and they do it enjoy storytelling and then I used to read to them a lot I'd go to bed in there if knownin and read DeRay and he had lay there and listen read it again mom kids had quite a time when he was growing that pin oh well they had jobs and and got by alright but I mean they didn't have an awful lot of money they lived death to cut at the back of

10:27 our orchard and she would send him up to stay a few hours and she'd be a little note on him and tell me if when to send him home I knew someday he'd strike it rich because he was too much of a smart boy you know to let his talent get away like that because he was smart from the beginning money is a little fella oh yes yes he did he did for it you know after my husband passed away rages

11:12 couldn't very well mention his father he loved him so much till you know because he was so good to my boys he just loved he said ray were just his right arm he was a good provider and worked every day on weekends he liked it station hunt but his beer drinking and such as that you know kind of well other people he couldn't tell ahead had a a glass of beer but my husband I could and I used to pour liquor out and water it and everything like that brother was a drinker I can have a social drink at times but I'm just not a drinker and I couldn't tolerate it like this so he

11:58 came in one day kind of late he didn't step out on me anything like that but yet I was so mad I picked up like colander that pushes the tomatoes down and a basket not hit him with that it bled of course like scared the boys to death and he could alright photograph of my father in his 22nd year October here in this dank unfamiliar kitchen I study my father's embarrassed young man's face sheepish grin he holds in one hand a string of spiny yellow perch in the other a bottle

12:45 of Carlsbad beer in jeans and denim shirt he leans against the front fender of a 1934 Ford he would like to pose bluff and hardy for his posterity where his old hat cocked over his ear all his life my father wanted to be bold but the eyes give him away and the hands that limply offer the string of dead perch and the bottle of beer father I love you and yet how can I say thank you I who can't hold my liquor either and don't even know the places to fish he worked in the song if you worked in us all of his life and he died when he came home from a shift late at night and went to bed and didn't wake up

13:34 [Music] this is Wendy's on South 1st Street in downtown Yakima and during our high school years from 54 through 56 ray and I spent a lot of time here not only eating cheeseburgers and drinking Pepsi but playing the pinball machines here which we had down to an art form at that particular time I think we probably lost enough to pay for this building two or three times over but we had a good time in high school he wanted it I wasn't

14:19 aware that he really wanted it until he was probably a junior in high school and set away for a famous writer his correspondence course or something that cost $25 or something and Ray shared one of his assignments with me one night and one of the lines was the gun was hotter than a two-bit muffler on a Saturday night and I thought to myself wow that's bad he'll never make it we both had big dreams and Ray did marvelous I'm so proud of what he did finally ray found Mary Ann and I found a girl named Judy and it seems like our friendship sort of split from there I did I was expected I've gotta work in the sava all her my dad worked and somebody else was expected of my wife

15:04 she was expected to they would take care of the children and both of us had open oceans we we were at what age he decided to write but at that age he was committed to be a writer and when he said that to most people in Yakima they scoffed at that and laughed because we didn't know many people that said dared to say I want to be a writer they would have said I want to be a schoolteacher and I hope I get to write a few things on the side or whatever they'd had to toss in that realism you know but Ray said I want to be a writer and no apologies for it and she showed me some poetry he'd written before he showed me anything in fact and I said well Maryanne no

15:52 sixteen-year-old wrote that they just don't have those kinds of experiences you know his folks were from Arkansas I knew they had not been around they weren't you know that just wasn't part of his world he's growing up world I didn't think the things he was writing at that time you know about relationships between men and women in their 30s and 40s and and it just didn't seem to have come from me his pen but she said well he certainly did and what I discovered about that over the years was his writing didn't change he was he was kind of ageless then and he stayed that way

16:37 [Applause] he was laughing so hard and then he told aunty Rosie and then what happened and everybody's like once when I was in high school the counselor asked me to come to her office she did it with all the girls one of us at a time what dreams do you have this woman asked me what do you see yourself doing in ten years twenty years I was 16 or 17 I was just a kid I couldn't think what to answer I just sat there like a lump this counsellor was about the age I am now now that she was old she's old I said to myself I knew her life was half

17:24 over and I felt like I knew something she didn't something she'd never know a secret something nobody's supposed to know or ever talk about so I stayed quiet and I just shook my head she must have written me off as a dope but I couldn't say anything you know what I mean I thought I knew things she couldn't guess at know if anybody asked me that question again about my dreams and all I tell them what would you tell them honey I have her other hand now but I'm not doing her nails I'm just holding that waiting to hear I'd say dreams you know or what you wake up from that's what I'd say she smooths

18:11 the lap of her skirt if anybody asked that's what I'd say but they won't ask my wife Leigh were married early on she was 16 I was 18 by the time she was 18 and I was 20 we had two children we had them no skills we had no money her family was in desperate straits my family was in desperate straits exactly sometimes found ourselves giving them

18:58 food and shelter literally we found ourselves growing up with our children the same time I was working a job my wife was working a job I was trying to go to school to go to college I was trying to learn to write and I needed to start something in finish something most often in one sitting and I didn't have time to work on short stories or wrote poetry I think I wanted to write novels but I didn't have time to write I couldn't see nothing there the Reagan novels so so I read short stories it was not an easy or entirely pleasant situation except that I must say for the first for the 10 years the first 10 years or so we had a lot of hope and

19:46 idealism and a lot of strengths and we thought that though if we worked hard and did the right things the right things would happen things would work out this is this is not just the American Dream is science was all well as it as it turned out we did the best we could and we worked as hard as we possibly could and things did not turn out we wish there was never enough money to go around attendance and finally that camp wild endeavor and effort began to wear

20:34 us down and things happen and then episode and the children began to hit their adolescence and they hit their stride and and it was not exactly eternally present where Mary Ann and Ray had never exchanged any cross words over the importance of what he was doing the kids would speak up about that you know we need a new bicycle or we need this or I want the car keys or whatever and Ray could handle those babies just fine but he couldn't handle these big intruders that could bust right in in the middle of a story and that he was trying to get

21:19 out by the next day and and create some sort of a crisis for him and it was the teenage business as much as anything else then in frustration if he couldn't finish her got off on a wild goose chase rescuing his daughter's dog or you know fixing his son's bike or something when he got through he just get a bottle you know and drink but just you know did get to be impossible to live together without some kind of chaos coming down and I think they were tired of it

22:09 [Music] what's on your balls lane you're in there [Music] my name is Jeff and I'm an alcoholic welcome David yeah what it was like before I started drinking in high school and I helped me to deal with the trauma of growing up and I forgot at school it seemed pretty much juice after company I knew I was an alcoholic from you know

22:55 from very early on I can remember sitting in saloons in Los Angeles no honey I know I remember one night picking a fight with him is about two o'clock in the morning and and that was my story I like to fight when I drank and it was this Jekyll in personality I remember I woke up it was just getting daylight and I looked up in there I was laying on the in the basement of this half torn down building I mean I looked up I saw boards laying side if I had been bombed or something boards laya sideways and they'll stare well there was a stairwell and the stairs and the walls I woke up I didn't

23:40 know what town I thought maybe bomb left like my past I used to like to I wasn't even sure if I was in Seattle I was and you look better look familiar [Music] I was never into them myths of the

24:28 mythos of alcohol and the artists at all I'm just into the alcohol itself I'd like to taste of it but I never I never from the beginning connected this up with this the fact of wanting to be a writer the fact that alcohol would help me right no I was just I was into the thing itself and I didn't connect this up with it was the Missis of the writer is so that's the alcoholic no that's a heavy drinker I should say oh because for such a long time if I said alcoholism was strange and strange and as a horrible word it was something

25:15 happened to people who slept on park benches and hung around in the Bowery and things like this I'll call ISM didn't did not attack did not hit decent hard-working country people in the kitchen he poured another drink and looked at the bedroom suite in his front yard things looked much the same as they had in the bedroom nightstand and reading lab on her side his side her side he considered this as he sipped his

26:02 whiskey now and then a car slowed and people stared but no one stopped it occurred to him that he wouldn't either it must be a yard sale let's see what they want for that bed come here jack try this bowl how is it try it feel kind

26:55 of funny maybe I ought to see if somebody saw wouldn't it be funny if I'll see if anybody's home I don't think there is but if anybody is I'll see what things are going for whatever they ask offer $10 less it's always a good idea besides they must be desperate or something well you found the bed that's good we were just trying it out yeah how much do you want for the bed I was thinking maybe 50 would you

27:44 take 40 I could take 40 how about the TV 25 would you take 15 15 is okay I could take 15 oh you kids you want a drink there's some glasses over there I'm gonna sit down sit down on the sofa so what do you want how much do you want

28:34 for the desk name a figure he looked at them as they sat at the table there was something about their faces it was nice or nasty there was no telling TV the record players going to cheap make me an offer thank you you're very nice here pick one what about this one

29:23 [Music] [Applause] I'm making it out to cash sure hey why don't you kids dance I don't think so go ahead it's my yard you can dance if you want to

30:10 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] - drunk you're not drunk I am - why don't you dance with the people over

31:18 there - watch it okay it's my place that's right they think they've seen everything but they haven't seen this happy I hope you like your bed I must be desperate or something weeks later the girls said the guy was about middle-aged all his things right there in his yard no lie we got real pissed and danced in the

32:03 driveway he played us these records he gave us all these crappy records can you believe it she kept talking she told everyone there was more to it and she was trying to get it talked out after a time she quit trying [Music] in the final few lines of the story I

32:52 leave it open for interpretation that the young couple just may encounter some of the same difficulties that the fellow did those furniture and worldly goods that they're buying off the front lawn it comes full circle as you will I went to the bottom and didn't think I could I could go any lower down uh but I got down there underneath the floorboard someplace you know I was brain dead there for a long well no then I stopped racing in and exchanged [Music]

33:56 kava published his first short story in the early 60s it wasn't until he stopped drinking and escaped the problems of his first marriage that he was able to devote himself to his writing publishing more than 12 books in his 10 remaining years Carver was soon acclaimed by many critics as a rite of extraordinary quality a successor to Steinbeck in anyway he was frequently hailed as a savior of the american short-story [Music] Carver felt that he owed much of his success in what he called his second life - the poet Tess Gallagher together they moved back to his native Northwest and settled in the small town of Port Angeles very similar to Yakima we're Carver grew up [Music]

34:49 ollas face turned red again I've got lots of things to be thankful for she said I keep these teeth around to remind me how much I owe bud she drank from her root beer then she lowered the bottle and said you've got pretty teeth Fran I noticed right away these teeth of mine they came in crooked when I was a kid with her fingernail she tapped a couple of her front teeth she said my folks couldn't afford to fix teeth these teeth of mine came in any which way my first husband didn't care what I look like no he didn't he didn't care about anything except where his next drink was coming from he had one friend only in this world and that was his bottle she shook her head

35:35 then bud come along and got me out of that mess after we were together the first thing bud said was we are going to have them teeth fixed that mold was made right after bud and I met on the occasion of my second visit to the orthodontist right before the braces went on all his face stayed red she looked at the picture on the screen she drank from her root beer and didn't seem to have anything more to say that orthodontist must have been a wiz Fran said my own situation I I lost a tooth in front and this became the occasion for deciding that I would get my teeth straightened and at that time the plaster cast was made and eventually I I

36:20 don't know I never could throw that thing away got unpacked and found its way into Ray's bookcase and then eventually into the story but he never really had any guilt or any compunctions about using things even rather directly for instance there's a poem of his which I think when someone reads it and thinks of their own daughter they might really flinch but the poem begins daughter you're a beautiful drunk that was the hard cold truth of what he saw and what he offered from himself in his own drinking and suffered then again through his daughter's drinking and he was trying to

37:05 wake her up in her own life to bring here to some kind of attention and he thought he would just use the language that was as straight and hard as the experience we had a discussion almost an argument about my use of the word earth which he thought should be ground and he thought that there was some kind of grandiose about earth and and that well all I'm really meant to say was that brown stuff that's underneath your feet which is which is dirt or ground or and that those are the kind of discussions we had and he made me care enough about every word in in that story to to really rethink it and looking at his own

37:50 manuscripts they went through the same process do you put him in the drawer for a month and he pulled him out and he'd mark them all up and they look just like the they look just like the manuscript sitting him back to me question marks deletions all in that indecipherable scrawl of his which was actually a lot like his voice you know leaning forward trying to hear array what I want to rake in a story nothing the rule is so important is that the story and that's always my favorite story know what they're working on some stories you you know you're in touch with something else and you know it may only happen on the fourth or fifth draft but you get dis rush once of a lot of that feeling happens and you know that too you know you feel this this uh when

38:38 buffeting your ears or something that's that's good feeling there used to call me up in the morning and just you'd see if I was awakened he'd say are you writing are you going to write or you call me the end of the day and say did you write and I mean it sounds ran glamorous and that's I guess the point is that for a it was getting black on white it was it was plugging away everyday as he quoted I think Chekov without hope and without they're just going at it like a job and that was one most important things he taught me you know that you could keep reasonable hours and live outside of the

39:24 city have a wife or a girlfriend and eat cereal for breakfast and write great prose Ray had developed a way of life that facilitated the production of that last great burst of fiction that he produced before he died [Music]

40:10 when he moved out here with with tests whatever it was it was a 1989 78 or 80 MJ it was just like having another crack at her to do this fishing anyway like having another crack at his childhood again because up that's so over simplified but it's corresponds to the way he so did it he did it was such a pleasure fish he did all that fishing on the on the Columbia River over there and that all got a sort of pushed back into time and it's like another cracking back honey come out here and do this Oh [Music]

41:09 to get to Bridge Creek you go to the end of our street where you hit 16th Avenue you turn left on 16th and go up the hill past the cemetery and down to Linux where there's a Chinese restaurants from the crossroads there you can see the airport and birch Creek is below the airport the 16th changes to view road at the crossroads you follow you for a little way until you come to the bridge there are orchards on both sides of the road sometimes when you go by the orchards you see pheasants running down the rows but you can't hunt there because you might get shot by a Greek named matzos I guess it is about a 40 minute walk all in all I was halfway down 16th when a woman in a red car pulled onto the shoulder ahead of me all

41:55 right yeah playing hooky yes so she was thin and had little pimples around her mouth but she was sharp enough I tried to think of something to say I'm going fishing well I never would have guessed where are you going quartz Creek yeah I done it again I looked at my camp my uncle had bought it for me in Seattle

42:41 he had gone to watch a hockey game I couldn't think of anything more to say I looked out the window and sucked my cheeks you always see yourself getting picked up by this woman you know you'll fall for each other and that she'll take you home with her and let you screw her all over the house I began to get a boner thinking about it I moved the cap over my lap and closed my eyes and tried to think about baseball I keep saying that one of these days I'll take up fishing you say it's very relaxing I wanted to say are you real busy would you like to start this morning but I was afraid to look at her will this help you I have to turn off here I'm sorry I'm kind of in a hurry this morning that's okay this is fine

43:36 [Applause] [Music] goodbye thanks maybe next summer you mean fishing yeah just sick [Music] she waved with a couple of fingers the way women do I started walking going over what I should have said I could think of a lot of things what was wrong with me I cut the air with the fly rod and hollered two or three times well I

44:22 should have done to start things off was asked if we could have lunch together no one was home at my house suddenly we are in my bedroom under the covers she asked me if she can keep her sweater oh and I say it's okay with me she keeps your pants on too that's all right I say I don't mind the Piper Cub dipped low over at my head as it came in for landing I was a few feet from the bridge I could hear the water running I tried to think where to start I had fished here for three years ever since we had moved dad just to bring George and me in the car and wait for us smoking baiting her hooks tightened up new rigs for us if we sting we always started at the bridge and moved down and we always caught a few once in a while it the first of the season we talked a limit I rigged up and tried a few casts

45:08 under the bridge first [Music] it was intensely lucky he was intensely lucky he had no right to catch me both to the fish you ever caught we would never but then and if he didn't hook one I don't know how he ever got it in there because he got so excited he would just his you could just see his heart leaping in his chest going along and then he caught a big fish fish on the line and he played it and played it and played it and played it and he got the fish right

45:53 up to the boat and that's the really precarious time for the fish because they'll turn on you and he turned on and he got off and you would have thought his grandmother died and left him out of her will you know didn't talking about that one for a week he's good tired of that story oh god I don't understand why that got off I did everything right how do ya no reason in the world so relaxing [Music] it was very important for him to find this house where he could invite friends where he could feel a sense of

46:41 accomplishment as an alcoholic recovering alcoholic you have to come to terms with your feelings that you don't deserve a lot of things and it took him a quite a long while to believe that he even deserved to have something better than he had started out with even though he'd worked very very hard for those things and he could finally afford somewhere besides a cabin or trailer his place he grew up in it was very bad luck that he didn't get to spend more time in the house in fact he was already you know spitting up blood when he was looking for the house I mean nothing was going to stop him

47:27 but he really got to enjoy the view out here check out on the evening of March 22 1897 he went to dinner in Moscow with his friend and confidant alexei silver and the silver and was a very rich newspaper and book publisher a reactionary a self-made man whose father was a private at the Battle of Borodino like Chekhov he was the grandson of a serf they had that in common each had peasants blood in his veins Chekhov was impeccably dressed as always he was relaxed jovial he had just been

48:13 seated across the table from sovereign and suddenly blood began gusting from his mouth raised closeness to Chekhov had been there from probably the start of his writing but of course at the time which ray was writing that story he did not know that he was dying we now think oh yes it's kind of those kind of prescience about it as if he were predicting his own death like Chekhov he tended not to go go into the idea of an oncoming death as as something that that he should just shut

49:00 down everything he really really wanted to be as la alive as he could Chekhov near the end was reading the train schedules away from the spa where he was dying and even though ray knew that things were heavily stacked against him he he really wanted to decide what it was that he needed to do and he wanted to finish this book of poems that was the most important thing to him and we really just threw ourselves into that work dr. shaw pulled on his big mustache and stared at Chekhov the writers cheeks were sunken in gray his complexion of waxen his breath was raspy dr. schwartz without a word without conferring with olga he went over to an alcove where

49:47 there was a telephone on the wall do you read the instructions for using the device if he activated it by hold his finger on a button and turning a handle on the side of the phone he can reach the lower regions of the hotel the kitchen he picked up the receiver held it to his ear and did as instructions told him when someone finally answered doctor sure ordered a bottle of the hotel's best champagne how many glasses he was asked three glasses the doctor shot it into the mouthpiece and hurry do you hear there was one of those rare moments of inspiration that can easily enough be overlooked later on because the action is so entirely appropriate it seems inevitable right right was as long as I knew him the 11 or so years that I

50:34 knew him he was aware of his mortality in the in this way that he knew that this was a great time in his life and he knew it was so exquisite he didn't want it to end and yet as a realist having been through the life he had been through up to those days he knew it would end and he would he was he was aware of his mortality in terms of the fun stopping of the pleasure stopping of his great work having to cease but he wasn't really much thinking of it in philosophical terms Greg was not a an overtly philosophical man he was a he was a literalist he dealt in facts I mean he was quite smart he was not one to transcend the moment I think he

51:21 thought he might miss something if he did he said I really really need to do something to pull us pull ourselves out of this he said let's get married and I said that's a great idea so let's do it and we said let we'll go to Reno we'll fly down to Reno and we'll get married and we'll go gambling and so that's what we did got the tickets and we bought the Rings here we had to send away for his they didn't have the right size and then we took took a plane down there and spent three days gambling we got married in a

52:07 um this is sort of a high tacky way ray called it and this was called little heart of Reno chapel right across from the courthouse and in fact somebody took a Polaroid of us after the with the wedding we went gambling and I I seem to have incredible luck and the day we were getting ready to leave ray had all these flowers and I said to him listen Park all that and come down with me I want you to see this he said I wait for you I don't want to miss this bus now he said you've only got about 10 minutes so I went to the wheel and I put the money all down on number 24 and it came around and but do you know it was 24 and I'm

52:55 running across the casino and out into the Sun I said hey ray I says hey forget that bus I said we're taking a taxi and he just couldn't believe it too so so happy it was really far too soon for him to be looking straight at his own death but one day we were at the sky house and we were sitting out on the deck and he said to me he said well whatever happens now baby said we're out there in history babe we're out there in history so he really had the sense that he had accomplished something and that he had been able to see that accomplishment

53:41 brought together you don't remember friends you don't you don't have in your repository of experience at least I don't single things which contain all of some loved one's self I mean I lived those days and we had those years as friends and

54:27 nothing but doing them all over again would be the same nothing but having those you know days to come would be would be enough so to try to single out something we did single out something that we said doesn't mean it's fine as an anecdote but it doesn't mean to be truthful the truth was just all those years all those days that's the only truth it was yeah a lot I don't I don't think salmon fishing will ever be the same without ray Carver I don't think it'll you know I don't think it could could be yeah I mentioned a steelhead in

55:21 here and a steelhead is is a trout that goes to the oceans into salt water to steelhead its course a man who took 38 steelhead out of this little river last winter his name is Bill's it er last name in the directory told me the rivers changed its course dramatically he would even say erratically since he first moved here he in his life it used to flow yonder where those houses are when salmon crossed that shoal at night they made a noise like water boiling in a cauldron a noise like you were scrubbing something on a washboard it could wake you up from a deep sleep

56:06 now there's no more salmon run and he won't face for steelhead this winter because mrs. litters eaten up with cancer he's needed at home the doctors expect to pass away before the new year right where you're living he goes on that used to be a motorcycle run they'd come from all over the county to race their bikes that tear up that hill and then go down the other side but they were just telling fun young guys not like those gangs today those bad apples I wished him luck shook his hand and went home to my house place they used to race motorcycles later at the table in my room looking out over the water I give some thought to just what it is I'm doing here what it is I'm after in this life it

56:55 doesn't seem like much in the end I remembered what he'd said about the young men and their motorcycles those young men who must be old men though sitter's age or else my age old enough in either case and for a moment I imagine the roar of the engines as they surged up this hill the laughter and shouting as they spill swear get up shake themselves off and walk their bikes to the top where they slap each other on the back and reach in the burlap bag for a beer now I'm then one of them gunning it for all it's worth forcing his way to the top and then going lickety-split down the other side disappearing in a roar and a cloud of dust right outside my window is where all this happened we vanish soon enough soon enough eaten up

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