Two Short Stories–Adichie and Carver

Suzanna Anderson Creates ♦ January 19, 2012 ♦ Leave a comment

I read “Ceiling” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in “The Best American Short Stories 2011,” ed. by Geraldine Brooks and “Feathers” by Raymond Carver in “Cathedral.”

In “Ceiling” Obinze thinks about the woman he dated before he married Kosi. The way the story moves between the past and present is a good case study of how to do back story effectively. Which could also be said of “Feathers.”

In Carver’s story, one of the things I enjoyed was that Fran brought a loaf of bread to the dinner invitation. Since I make homemade bread too, I wondered what kind of bread she made.

Both stories move in small ways. An email or a dinner that changes lives. Like a pond after a rock starts to ripple the surface.