I see Raymond Carver as one of those writers whose work is periodically deemed the model of good writing. Which isn't to say that his writing wasn't good. But I remember the time of his ascendancy, along with other so-called minimalists like Ann Beattie and Frederick Barthelme, when literary critics and reviewers praised direct, simple language without ornament and faulted writers of a different sylistic sensibility, like John Updike, who, in their view, produced needlessly flowery and indulgent prose. (which obviously got under Updike's skin, because he wrote an essay about it.) But you bring up something else that's been the subject of much debate, and that's how a writer's activities beyond the writing desk should inform his or her reputation. Should you get rid of your Carver books because of his questionable treatment of women? And what about Alice Munro, who is a short story writer I greatly admire, but apparently turned her eyes from her husband's abuse of her daughter? If you're looking for a subject--you probably aren't--this would be a fruitful one.
Thanks! I might add that to the list. I'm not sure there's any consistent reason some authors' biographies turn me off their work whereas others do not. Last year's news about Cormac McCarthy didn't really change my view of his work, but the Alice Munro revelations did. It might be that with Carver and McCarthy, the revelations weren't out of character for how I pictured those authors, whereas Munro shifted my perception of her. Will put more thought into it.
I see Raymond Carver as one of those writers whose work is periodically deemed the model of good writing. Which isn't to say that his writing wasn't good. But I remember the time of his ascendancy, along with other so-called minimalists like Ann Beattie and Frederick Barthelme, when literary critics and reviewers praised direct, simple language without ornament and faulted writers of a different sylistic sensibility, like John Updike, who, in their view, produced needlessly flowery and indulgent prose. (which obviously got under Updike's skin, because he wrote an essay about it.) But you bring up something else that's been the subject of much debate, and that's how a writer's activities beyond the writing desk should inform his or her reputation. Should you get rid of your Carver books because of his questionable treatment of women? And what about Alice Munro, who is a short story writer I greatly admire, but apparently turned her eyes from her husband's abuse of her daughter? If you're looking for a subject--you probably aren't--this would be a fruitful one.
Really enjoying these posts, by the way.
Thanks! I might add that to the list. I'm not sure there's any consistent reason some authors' biographies turn me off their work whereas others do not. Last year's news about Cormac McCarthy didn't really change my view of his work, but the Alice Munro revelations did. It might be that with Carver and McCarthy, the revelations weren't out of character for how I pictured those authors, whereas Munro shifted my perception of her. Will put more thought into it.