What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
by Raymond Carver · first published 1981
38% recommend63% neutral
In his second collection of stories, as in his first, Carver's characters are peripheral people--people without education, insight or prospects, people too unimaginative to even give up. Carver celebrates these men and women.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2007–2026Shōgun
James Clavell
Recommended by 27 · mentioned by 3927 recommend · 39 mention27 recommend · 3927 recommend
2014–2026Echopraxia
Peter Watts
Recommended by 45 · mentioned by 6645 recommend · 66 mention45 recommend · 6645 recommend
2011–2026Roadside Picnic
Arkadii Strugatskii, Boris Strugatskii, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Recommended by 76 · mentioned by 12976 recommend · 129 mention76 recommend · 12976 recommend
2013–2026The Martian
Andy Weir
Recommended by 117 · mentioned by 207117 recommend · 207 mention117 recommend · 207117 recommend
2008–2026Diaspora
Greg Egan
Recommended by 131 · mentioned by 184131 recommend · 184 mention131 recommend · 184131 recommend
2009–2026Blindsight
Peter Watts
Recommended by 214 · mentioned by 294214 recommend · 294 mention214 recommend · 294214 recommend
…standup, it's basically him playing sociologist for 200 pages. Right now I'm going back and forth between Black Hat Python (because I owe it to myself to at least learn a little bit of this stuff) and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Carver. Two totally separate ends of the spectrum, but they're both great.
on “Ask HN: What books are you reading?” ↗Interesting use of Raymond Carver’s short story title “What we talk about when we talk about love”, which was also the background play in Birdman. If you haven’t read any Carver, treat yoself.
on “What we talk about when we talk about System Design” ↗A couple of my favorites from this year, I read a lot (50 to 100 a year) Fiction: - What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver - Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky - A Man with One of Those Faces by Caimh Mcdonnell - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine - Antimatter…
on “Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?” ↗…stories are nothing compared to novels. A friend suggested I check out Raymond Carver which blew my mind. His prose is one of a kind and his stories usually leave me floored. I recommend the collection, "What we talk about when we talk about love" (the title of one story) -- which, by the way, is the play central to the (excellent) movie Birdman. Man, typing this got me excited. Think I'm gonna pour a glass of Teacher's and see if anyone wants…
on “Ask HN: Favorite Short Fiction?” ↗…Other Essays. I forgot until I picked this book up again how much fun it is to read David Foster Wallace. Despite all the footnotes, he's very engaging. Also, my girlfriend just sneaked Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love into my computer bag the other day. I haven't read him in a long time, but coincidentally was just very recently talking to a friend about What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami,…
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗One of the most interesting things to do in terms of looking at editorial changes is to read side-by-side What We Talk About When We Talk About Love and Beginners by Raymond Carver. The latter is the unedited version of his collected stories. It's really fascinating to see how Gordon Lish really formed what people think of as Carver's style, although…
on “The tragic rape of Charles Bukowski’s ghost by Black Sparrow Press (2013)” ↗Hmm, no credit to Haruki Murakami, who wrote the memoir of the title you yanked “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”? Murakami credited Raymond Carver's collection of short stories called “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” for inspiring his title. Might be nice for you to include a small mention.
on “What I talk about when I talk about query optimizer (part 1): IR design” ↗Birdman also heavily revolves around What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗Is the title an intentional mirror of Carver's short story collection "What we talk about when we talk about love"? If so, can someone smarter than me explain what the author means by this connection?
on “What we talk about when we talk about sideloading” ↗