Something to Talk About

Having read Carver's "Cathedral" a few years ago, I was already aware of his style of writing that makes readers feel as if they are present in the room while conversations take place. I was not disappointed with this story. Raymond Carver's short story, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" is so deeply packed with meaning that I find it difficult to choose one quote to discuss. Themes of varying kinds of love fill these few pages so thoroughly that one cannot unpack it all in a brief blog.

In this story, Mel, notably a cardiologist, (heart surgeon) shares his views on love with his wife of four years, Terri; the narrator, Nick; and his newlywed wife of over a year, Laura. Their talk takes place over massive amount of alcoholic beverages at Mel's house. "'What do any of us really know about love?' Mel said. It seems to me we're just beginners at love. We say we love each other and we do...I must have loved my first wife too...now I hate her guts...What happened to that love?'"(132-133). For Mel, love is ephemeral and disposable like a razor that gets dull. When it cuts you, you just throw it out and grab a new one. Mel covers the gamut of love in his discourse much the same way we did as we described love in our last class.
According to Mel's wife, Terri, love is obsession, as her ex, Ed tried to kill her and later committed suicide for love. Nick and Laura represent young love, fresh, new and idealistic. Terri and Mel's love is chilly and fading as they are superficially kind to one another, but are seething underneath. Finally, Mel talks about the elderly couple in an accident. The elderly man is devastated because his bandages prevent him from gazing into his wife's eyes. This is the demonstration of love to be emulated, a love that reveres and adores and stands the test of time. This is the love that is missing from the heart of Mel, the heart surgeon who medicates his love deficiency with alcohol, hoping for a cure.