Are These Actual Miles?

I like the sparse writing-style that Raymond Carver uses. His descriptions are short and direct: “He sits. He gets up. In the bathroom he brushes his teeth very carefully. Then he uses dental floss” (pg. 149). Every once in a while the author incorporates a longer sentence, so it doesn’t seem like you’re reading a list. Even though the writing is brief, it still has some good detail. For example, he mentions at the beginning that Leo “taps his lips with his knuckles” (pg. 146), and later he “puts the heel of his hand against his eye and pushes” (pg. 149). These small mannerisms reveal a lot about the mind state of the character.

I also like how the author introduces Leo’s suicidal thoughts. He doesn’t write a dramatic scene, he just briefly mentions it. The reader notes it and moves on, and this reflects how Leo’s thoughts aren’t a moment of desperation, but a slow fog in his life, something that he just lives with and doesn’t think too much about. He eats chili and crackers and thinks about biting the rim of the glass and watches television and brushes his teeth. The understatement in the action makes the small details stand out even more. There could be more complex description, but if the reader gets inundated with detail, he may not pay as much attention.

If this story were continued, would Leo recover from his bankruptcy?