My other favorite story, “Cathedral,” is amazing in so many ways. Seriously, if you only read one short story out of this whole book, read “A Small, Good Thing.” I went through so many emotions while reading this one, from extreme anger at the callousness of the doctors to extreme happiness by the cathartic joining of humanity late one night at the bakery where the story began. The way the subject of grief is handled is so simplistic, yet gut-wrenching. But I would be amiss if I didn’t talk about my absolute favorite Carver short story, “A Small, Good Thing.” A mother orders a cake for her child’s birthday, only for her son to die in a tragic hit and run. In this case of this book, I rated 11 out of 12 as impactful. When I take notes on a short story collection, I always mark particular ones that I found meaningful. Isolation is a dominant theme that runs through many of these stories, such as a story about an estranged dad visiting his son in “Compartment.” The climax to this little story occurs when the man realizes he is in the wrong compartment on the wrong train, possibly heading in the wrong direction in life. The final sentences as to the outcome of the married couple arrive in the form of an afterthought but actually carries such tremendous emotional weight.

During the evening, the couple encounters an ugly baby and an annoying peacock, two aspects that lead to significant changes in the couple’s marriage. For example, the opening story “Feathers” is about a married couple invited to have dinner at the husband’s friend’s house.

Carver’s magic lies in the fact that you don’t realize you’re invested emotionally until you finish a particular tale. While none of the stories have a complete story arc per se, they do feel like slightly larger windows into the lives of these characters.

However, the works are considerably longer, which allow for more ambitious storytelling. Cathedral (1983) by Raymond Carver, Photo Credit: Natalie GetterĬathedral contains twelve stories, far less than the aforementioned When We Talk About Love.

Cathedral short story collection