#138 Errand- Raymond Carver
This is a story of homage to one of Carver’s favorite
authors. Anton Chekhov is dying of Tuberculosis. He has little time left to
live. He has been visited by Tolstoy and moved to a care house in Germany to be
kept as comfortable as possible before he dies.
When his time comes, after one final sip of champagne,
things are silent, people are respectful, and time has nearly stood still:
“There were no human voices, no everyday sounds…There was
only beauty, peace, and the grandeur of death.”
A hospital worker set to attend the room, is give an Errand
to run:
“She wanted him to go downstairs…to find the most respected
mortician in the city. Someone reliable, who took great pains in his work and
whose manner was appropriately reserved. A mortician, in short worthy of a
great artist.”
Carver is meticulous and polished as always and this is a
touching ode to a master of the short story.
Notable Passage: “And as far as [Chekhov’s] outlook on life
and writing went, he once told someone that he lacked ‘a political, religious,
and philosophical world view. I change it every month, so I’ll have to limit
myself to the descriptions of how my heroes love, marry, give birth, die, and
how they speak.”
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