|
 David
Guterson
A Small Good Thing, by Raymond Carver, is a
short story of great power for me. In a few brief pages
it explores, with deceptive simplicity, the enormous
sadness of life, and the human aspiration to contend
with it. The inexplicable is rendered; the strength
of compassion is underscored. The ordinary is made extraordinary.
We are reminded that life is made endurable by the sheer
force of love.
From A Small Good Thing, I learned to let the
ordinary speak beyond itself. I learned that power derived
from specificity, and that emotion is heightened when
the author stepped aside. I came to see the power of
small things rendered in a simple poetry. I was confirmed
in my sense that even the briefest story must present
a vision of our universe, must force us to confront
the human condition, and ultimately, ourselves. I was
enriched and deepened as a writer, but more importantly,
as a human being. The two, of course, are inseparable.
We are as writers what we are as people. Who we are
becomes what we write.
David Guterson
|
