Read the two stories, "So Much Water So Close To Home," and "Where I'm Calling From" and answer TWO of the questions below:
Q1: In the story, "So Much Water So Close To Home," the narrator, Claire, at one point begins slapping her husband, while at the same time thinking, "This is crazy...We need to lock our fingers together. We need to help one another. This is crazy" (221). Why can't she tell her husband this, or try to talk to him about what happened at the lake? Why does she take this as an unforgiveable betrayal?
Q2: "Where I'm Calling From" is a loosely autobiographical story of Carver's own attempts to get his life back in order at a detox center. It took him several tries over many years to get sober, and in this story, it's the narrator's second trip to Frank Martin's. Does the story make us think he has a chance of beating it this time? Or is he just making a pit stop before the next bender?
Q3: "So Much Water..." has the atmosphere of a horror story, almost like Stephen King or Shirley Jackson, though without the ghosts and vampires. What gives the story its 'gothic' feel, or sense of tense claustrophobia? Why is this a story of the 'normal' world becoming suddenly uncanny or terrifying?
Q4: How might "Where I'm Calling From" echo many of the same sentiments and ideas from "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love?" In other words, how is this a story about love--and love lost--as much as drinking? Or better yet, why people end of drinking so much?
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