Cathedral: An Unusual Approach Towards A Common Tale

It's interesting how a new perspective can change your opinion of things, isn't it? That seems to be the main theme of Cathedral, the short story by Raymond Carver. Yeah, it's a story with certain tropes that Hollywood has overdone to death (the husband who begrudgingly spends time with someone he doesn't like for the sake of his wife; the strange man with a disability and/or troubled past who really isn't all that bad), but the new perspective on it helps make the story seem all the more vibrant. Since it was told in the first person, it's easy to get inside the narrator's head and find out what he's thinking as he grows from feeling awkward about his wife's friend from feeling totally connected. I really did enjoy this story.