Popular Mechanics

by Raymond Carver

"Early that day the weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water. Streaks of it ran down from the little shoulder-high window that faced the backyard. Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too."

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, American, School, Read For School, Classics

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Carver was born into a poverty-stricken family at the tail-end of the Depression. He married at 19, started a series of menial jobs and his own career of 'full-time drinking as a serious pursuit', a career that would eventually kill him. Constantly struggling to support his wife and family, Carver enrolled in a writing programme under author John Gardner in 1958. He saw this opportunity as a turning point.

Rejecting the more experimental fiction of the 60s and 70s, he pioneered a precisionist realism reinventing the American short story during the eighties, heading the line of so-called 'dirty realists' or 'K-mart realists'. Set in trailer parks and shopping malls, they are stories of banal lives that turn on a seemingly insignificant detail. Carver writes with meticulous economy, suddenly bringing a life into focus in a similar way to the paintings of Edward Hopper. As well as being a master of the short story, he was an accomplished poet publishing several highly acclaimed volumes.

After the 'line of demarcation' in Carver's life - 2 June 1977, the day he stopped drinking - his stories become increasingly more redemptive and expansive. Alcohol had eventually shattered his health, his work and his family - his first marriage effectively ending in 1978. He finally married his long-term parter Tess Gallagher (they met ten years earlier at a writers' conference in Dallas) in Reno, Nevada, less than two months before he eventually lost his fight with cancer.

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maureen provided the link to this two page short story:
http://engleza.cnprsv.ro/popular_mech...

After reading her wonderful review, I decided to read this little gem for myself!

As the snow is falling down, a man is leaving his wife, his bags are packed and he is ready to go but there is one little problem - he wants to take their son with him and his wife wants to keep their son with her. Neither will give in, neither will let go.....

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carver writes with a vagueness, while at the same time using precise language, style, and tone to convey potential outcomes, themes, and consequences. The greatest takeaway is also the greatest irony: each was determined to win at all costs, with no thought to who the real loser would be.

Read this very short story here: http://engleza.cnprsv.ro/popular_mechanics.pdf

[klaudia katarzyna · Rating 2 out of 5]

dramatic but didn't move me

[To Da · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Popular Mechanics” by Carver (1981) depicts a common issue that happens between many couples when they are about to break up, and shows that the biggest losers are the children. The father who is about to leave wants to take his baby, and the irritated mother will not let her baby to him, and with the quarrel between them the baby gets hurt, “he worked on her fisted fingers with one hand and with the other hand he gripped the screaming baby”. This fighting backs to the stubbornness of each of them; everyone wants to infuriate the other and no one wants to relinquish his position for the sake of the baby. This will result in a broken child physically and emotionally. The story was amazing because in few words the author was able to portray the causes and the consequences of such a frequent case.

[Maha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such drama and tension in so few words. The power of a short story.

[Nathan San Filippo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Economy of language

[Dinah Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raymond Carver writes of an all too scary situation of a couple breaking up and fighting over their child. The unsettling crisis of our younger years— hopefully not to be experienced.

[Emma]

another read in AP Literature— interesting writing style and story but still not the biggest fan

[Anatoly · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a lot of interpretations we can find on the Internet and the question is why such a short story as "Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver became so popular. The plot is how the couple was going to break up, the man was leaving home, woman hysterically commented his intentions and finally, they started to argue about their baby and it seemed as if the baby was torn apart (this final wasn't completely clear).

The reality effect is the first reason for reader's recognition of this story. The first paragraph draws the picture of prosaic reality:

"Early that day the weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water... Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too."

Some literature's critics explain the symbolism of this story:
The snow melting into dirty water: snow is white and is considered pure, but the dirty water represents the darkness that is to come in their relationship.
Dark and slush give the story a negative feeling

There is an opinion that the story represents a modern interpretation of Solomon's decision. When two women came to Solomon each pretending as a mother for one baby, Solomon suggested to divide the child into two parts for each woman, the true mother refused her right for the baby and Solomon recognized her as a mother.

This interpretation bases on the action, on their dispute about a baby. I hold the opinion that representing a routine of human relationships is more important in this story. Two people who lived together and have a child became emotionally separated. They act as robots, as actors who are playing their own roles. Let's see the text:
The man seems to keep a calm attitude about the situation while the woman is yelling.
When the woman takes the picture it also shows that she will not give up without a fight.

This version of moral of this story would be proved by the story of naming the story. Its original title was "Mine", then, it was changed into "Popular Mechanics" by the editor, finally, the story was named "Little Things".

The author uses "just-telling-what-happened" style. The tone of the story is angry, aggressive, and tense.

I think that the main idea of the story is to represent a mechanism of breaking up without emotions. It proved the last line:

"In this manner, the issue was decided"

[Britt Halliburton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would argue that the child is not the focus of this story, as many believe it to be, but rather a large metaphor for the need to 'win' after a break-up. To be the winner at the end of the thing, therefore to possess the child. Neither of them actually care for the child, at all. The child is the victory cup, the consolation prize at the end of the relationship, the badge of honour. With neither willing to concede, the result is... unfortunate, in this case. Neither make any kind of rational argument for why they should win the child, only that they should and the other should relinquish dominance.

[Isabelle House · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what a short story should be—purposefully written, punchy, and to the point. It’s written extremely minimalistic, with short choppy sentences and a lack of dialogue tags and quotations, so it almost reads like verse. This adds to the off-putting and ominous feel of the story. The title itself, “Popular Mechanics”, adds so much to the story and the idea that divorced/separating parents methods of “fixing” their situations and arguing over how to share their children—ultimately at the expense of the actual life/care of the child—is a popular method. The ending paints a vivid and grotesque image, with the parents both pulling on either sides of the baby while fighting to keep it. The last line, “In this manner, the issue was decided,” after their final tugs on the baby is absolutely chilling. Carver doesn’t use many words in this story, but he says a lot.

[Tiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

La analogía de los padres me parece lo más accurate del mundo.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

No hay mucho que decir muy breve e intensa pero así como sube la tensión baja de repente.

[A. Ivana · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a master's work to be able to capture the tension and intensity of the situation in such few words.

[Gemma · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was silly. Get a less obvious metaphor.

[carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for class--
Raymond Carver is a strange man and this is a strange story. Not really sure what to think about it. I'm really split over it - just like the baby.

[Jayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that is short but intense.

[grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

mr bevins making me read this little thing was actually the worst thing he ever could have done to me it was so creepy and weird

[tali]

eh

[Camila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crazy. That poor baby.

[Ray LaManna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short but meaningful story

[oreoluwa ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this had me thinking. 3 stars

[Mariana Chaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretentiousness is gonna be the death of us

[Savannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, i enjoyed it weirdly to where my professor told us the ending but it was gruesome still knowing along with the unexplained, “issue was decided.”

[୨୧victoria୨୧]

gloomy atmosphere, fighting couple, and a baby with no name..

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love you Raymond Carver

[Luna Bokhorst]

I read this for my first Creative Writing class. It was quite interesting. Being only two pages long, there's not much I can say about it.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside, the snow was melting, as cars slushed by the house. Inside, a man is packing his suitcase, he’s leaving his wife. The problem is, they have a baby, and the man insists he won’t leave without the child. The mother is equally insistent that he WILL leave without said child!

They literally have a tug-of-war with the baby, the mother refusing to let go, whilst the father pulls with all his might.
The final line was ' it was decided '.

It leaves the reader to draw his/her own conclusions. Still pondering about this one.

[Eduard Gafton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

[A ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

(For translation class)