GENERAL INFORMATION
TITLE: ELEPHANT AND OTHER STORIES
AUTHOR: RAYMOND CARVER
PAGES: 124
PUBLISHER: VINTAGE BOOKS
YEAR: 2003
COVER TYPE: PAPER BACK
GENRE: SHORT FICTION
BLURB FROM THE BACK COVER
These seven stories were the last that Carver wrote. Among them is one of his longest, ‘Errand’, in which he imagines the death of Chekhov, a writer Carver hugely admired and to whose work his own was often compared. This fine story suggests that the greatest of modern short-story writers may, in the year before his untimely death, have been flexing his muscles for a longer work…
REVIEW
Elephant and Other Stories was published after Carver’s death. It contains seven stories: Boxes, Whoever Was Using This Bed, Intimacy, Menudo, Elephant, Blackbird Pie and Errand.
The strongest stories in the collection are Boxes, Menudo and Elephant.
In Boxes, a young man prepares to help his elderly mother move back to California and reflects on his parents odd habit of moving two or three times a year.
Menudo deals with a man’s complicated relationships as he contemplates leaving his wife for his mistress (whose husband’s walked out on her) and reflects on his adult relationships.
In Elephant, a man is driven to the end of his tether by his family who are always taking money from him. He sends his mother a cheque every month because she guilt trips him about being alone and how nobody cares about her etc. He sends his sister a cheque every month because her lover is a layabout slob and she’s afraid she won’t be able to feed the kids. He sends his ex-wife a cheque every month to pay for his children. He sends his wastrel son a cheque every month because he’s off exploring America to ‘find’ himself. He reaches breaking point when his brother starts to borrow money as well.
The other stories are all very good, written in Carver’s unmistakable style, complex stories that peel back the layers of everyday life and experiences written in deceptively simple language.
Elephant and Other Stories is a very strong collection of short stories.
THE OPENING LINE
My mother is packed and ready to move… (BOXES)
FINAL THOUGHTS
I enjoyed Elephant and Other Stories. I wish there had been more stories in it though so I take more time to read it.
RATING
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