Cathedral

Cathedral - Raymond Carver

OK, so the craft and the talent behind these stories is undoubted, but there was very little about them to love.

They were mostly about endings, and people keeping on anyway. Sometimes they had a shred of hope like in the title story or "Where I'm Calling From", but mostly it was about keeping your head down and just accepting the dull current of life.

This is the first time in a long time that I've felt too young to have read something. I can get a bit down and moody on occasion, but the next time I feel miserable I should check this out again. I mean, wow. What unhappy people and so real too.

I'm caught between "Bridle" or "A Small, Good Thing" as my favorite stories (the latter kept trying to be overshadowed by what I remembered from the movie 'Short Cuts', but the original prevailed). They were sad and honest and completely believable. I just felt like I needed a pack of cigarettes, some scotch and water and a failing marriage by the time I was finished.