Raymond Carver, Cathedral

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

In spite of the difficulties he confronted as he attempted to continue his development as a writer while he struggled to support his family through decades of low-wage jobs, marital discord and alcoholic abuse, Raymond Carver sustained a vision of himself as a member of a company that included Ernest Hemingway, Anton Chekhov, Isaac Babel, Flannery O’Connor, James Joyce, John Cheever and other “wonderful writers I’ve come across in the last year or two”, as he discussed his “literary influences” for

The Paris Review

in 1983 (Simpson, 309). John Updike’s introduction to the 7th series of

Writers At Work

cited “Raymond Carver’s tirelessly polished stories”, and quoted Carver’s comment about the pleasure “…taken in reading something that’s durable and made to last,…

3469 words

Citation: Lewis, Leon. "Cathedral". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 April 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6140, accessed 19 March 2024.]

6140 Cathedral 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.