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The Cure
The story of a man's attempt to cure himself of a disastrous marriage. His wife, Rachel, had left him for the 2nd time taking their three children with her. He had set up a routine for himself and wouldn't answer the telephone, for he wanted no reconciliation with Rachel. But he was unnerved by a peeping Tom, who appeared at the window every night. When he discovered it was a neighbor who was harmless he felt no better. He seemed to see a rope around his own neck and he couldn't sleep. Finally he answered the telephone. It was Rachel and a reconciliation followed. Tom was never seen again and all was well.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
18 pages, Unknown Binding
First published July 5, 1952
18 people want to read
About the author
John Cheever
308Μύbooks1,013ΜύfollowersJohn Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer, sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs" or "the Ovid of Ossining." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the suburbs of Westchester, New York, and old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 28, 2025
This is a wonderful work of psychological fiction. The narrator has been separated several times from his wife, and she recently left him again, taking their three children with her. He's trying to cure himself of this difficult marriage. He's spending as little time as possible in their suburban home, heading to the bar and drive-in movies after working in the city. The narrator is resolved not to answer the phone if she calls.
"If it rained for five days, if one of the children had a passing fever, if she got some sad news in a letterβanything like this might be enough to put her on the telephone, and I did not want to be tempted to resume a relationship that had been so miserable."
Cheever does a great job writing about a man who is suffering from insomnia, tossing and turning, listening to the sounds of the summer nights. The narrator is becoming lonelier and more desperate, and it is questionable whether his sleep-deprived mind is actually seeing and hearing things in the night. His behavior is becoming stranger. How long will he ignore the ringing of the phone?
"The Cure" was published in the July 5, 1952 edition of The New Yorker, and the story has lots of summer vibes. 4.5 stars, rounded up.
This is story #14 in the collection, "The Stories of John Cheever."
"If it rained for five days, if one of the children had a passing fever, if she got some sad news in a letterβanything like this might be enough to put her on the telephone, and I did not want to be tempted to resume a relationship that had been so miserable."
Cheever does a great job writing about a man who is suffering from insomnia, tossing and turning, listening to the sounds of the summer nights. The narrator is becoming lonelier and more desperate, and it is questionable whether his sleep-deprived mind is actually seeing and hearing things in the night. His behavior is becoming stranger. How long will he ignore the ringing of the phone?
"The Cure" was published in the July 5, 1952 edition of The New Yorker, and the story has lots of summer vibes. 4.5 stars, rounded up.
This is story #14 in the collection, "The Stories of John Cheever."
July 9, 2015
The Cure by John Cheever
Very interesting, 9 out of 10
This has a quick start.
- My wife and I quarreled
It is summer and there are aspects in this story that appear βnormalβ� and others that suggest a condition.
The Cure in the title may refer to the deteriorating βat least from where I see it- situation of the story teller.
There are some funny aspects, like the one when the maid is drunk.
The cure begins with the end of the relationship- this is the expressed intention of the hero, who does not want to answer the phone.
It may be his wife.
I have periods when I do not feel like answering the phone to hear my wife criticizing and now I wonder-
- Is this how I will end up?
- Like this guy?
Because after a short introduction- we are talking about a short story by the way- the character seems to lose it.
I wondered-
- Is he going crazy?
He reads in the house and hears voices.
That is what solitude may do to youβ�
But hearing coughs and having the feeling of being watched in an apparently empty house may mean paranoia.
Or something else in that domain.
Apart from the man verging towards madness, the tale is complex and there are splendid descriptions.
There is sadness; there are smells and exquisite sensations.
I relate to the character and his penchant for the movies.
But it feels creepy when I have the feeling that a ghost would show up or the hero will just have a breakdown.
- Get away from here!
- Rachel is gone
- Get the hell out!!
That is what our personage shouts toβ¦no one.
Tom enters the stage.
He is a neighbor and the main character wants to call the police, on account of these apparitions that he βseesβ�.
The policeman, a man that the hero knows is not so keen on sending someone-
- We are short of people and you need to talk about that at the next town meeting, so that they hire moreβ�
I guess this is when the reader may get really hooked-
- Is there going to be a murder?
- Am I reading a detective story?
Read the story to find out who-or if anybody- gets killed.
Very interesting, 9 out of 10
This has a quick start.
- My wife and I quarreled
It is summer and there are aspects in this story that appear βnormalβ� and others that suggest a condition.
The Cure in the title may refer to the deteriorating βat least from where I see it- situation of the story teller.
There are some funny aspects, like the one when the maid is drunk.
The cure begins with the end of the relationship- this is the expressed intention of the hero, who does not want to answer the phone.
It may be his wife.
I have periods when I do not feel like answering the phone to hear my wife criticizing and now I wonder-
- Is this how I will end up?
- Like this guy?
Because after a short introduction- we are talking about a short story by the way- the character seems to lose it.
I wondered-
- Is he going crazy?
He reads in the house and hears voices.
That is what solitude may do to youβ�
But hearing coughs and having the feeling of being watched in an apparently empty house may mean paranoia.
Or something else in that domain.
Apart from the man verging towards madness, the tale is complex and there are splendid descriptions.
There is sadness; there are smells and exquisite sensations.
I relate to the character and his penchant for the movies.
But it feels creepy when I have the feeling that a ghost would show up or the hero will just have a breakdown.
- Get away from here!
- Rachel is gone
- Get the hell out!!
That is what our personage shouts toβ¦no one.
Tom enters the stage.
He is a neighbor and the main character wants to call the police, on account of these apparitions that he βseesβ�.
The policeman, a man that the hero knows is not so keen on sending someone-
- We are short of people and you need to talk about that at the next town meeting, so that they hire moreβ�
I guess this is when the reader may get really hooked-
- Is there going to be a murder?
- Am I reading a detective story?
Read the story to find out who-or if anybody- gets killed.
June 9, 2019
El protagonista de este relato (que intuyo muy autobiogrΓ‘fico) se queda solo en casa, su esposa le ha abandonado temporalmente por segunda o tercera vez y se ha ido con los niΓ±os. En momentos parece un cuento de terror, un merodeador husmea de noche por su casa y la imaginaciΓ³n del protagonista se dispara, su rutina se ve interrumpida por las jugadas de su imaginaciΓ³n. Un hombre solo en casa y cuΓ‘nta atmΓ³sfera. Grande Cheever.
September 19, 2019
Working my way through The Stories of John Cheever and this one stood out as one of finest so far next to the more famous/anthologized stories. It seems the harder Mr. Cheever pushes on the surrealism the stronger the result.
February 1, 2023
Excellent short mystery that kept me at the edge of my seat. The narratorβs wife leaves him and he attempts to cure himself of taking her back by ignoring the phone. The mystery occurs when a man shows up at his front window hoping for a glimpse of the narratorβs demise.
March 6, 2025
Very compelling story about marriage and the forces that hold us together. There is a bit of irony in the title--the cure is not necessarily the one we think we will get.
(#14 - Stories of John Cheever)
(#14 - Stories of John Cheever)
November 5, 2023
fantastic, odd story. like the ramblings of a fragmented, frustrated mind. great.
April 6, 2025
Privileged Home Labyrinth 006699
October 29, 2021
John Cheever's "The Cure" shows the complicated feelings of a married couple, that during a hot summer, they decide to call it quits.
"You cure yourself of a romantic, carnal, and disastrous marriage, I decided, and, like any addict in the throes of a cure, you must be exaggeratedly careful of every step you take. I decided not to answer the telephone, because I knew that Rachel might repent, and I knew, by then, the size and the nature of the things that could bring us together. If it rained for five days, if one of the children had a passing fever, if she got some sad news in a letterβanything like this might be enough to put her on the telephone, and I did not want to be tempted to resume a relationship that had been so miserable. "
Having lived near Stony Brook, I got a kick out of the mention in this story, though only one line.
π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π» spoiler βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββalertπ π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π ββββββββββββββββββββββββ
When reading this you think that the husband is tired of the troubles of his marriage, looking to do anything, to cure him of staying married. He stays away so when the phone rings, he is not there if his wife wants to come back but in the end the troubles of being alone have been the real cure in staying married and no matter what it is better to have some marriage troubles as long as you stay together. So the separation was the cure.
Rachel leaves with the children after a quarrel her husband not sad but not happy, feeling some self respect, not wanting to feel miserable again. The feeling of self respect probably from not wanting to settle. After he is alone things start to go wrong, the cat and dog are missing, the house keeper is drunk and insomnia that keeps getting worse. He feels someone is watching him and finds out it is neighbor, had the neighbor always a peeping tom but he was so busy with his family and able to sleep that he never noticed before. He goes out for dinner looking for a pretty girl but all he sees are not really desirable, not the fantasy of being single with lots of women. A woman mentions about him hanging himself, he goes home making sure that there is no rope around, burning what is there. He starts to have more mental troubles but when his wife calls and one of the kids is sick,this he is ready to have his family back and drives all night to be there and they are all well.
βYou cure yourself of a romantic, carnal, and disastrous marriage, I decided, and, like any addict in the throes of a cure, you must be exaggeratedly careful of every step you take. I decided not to answer the telephone, because I knew that Rachel might repent, and I knew, by then, the size and the nature of the things that could bring us together. If it rained for five days, if one of the children had a passing fever, if she got some sad news in a letter βanything like this might be enough to put her on the telephone, and I did not want to be tempted to resume a relationship that had been so miserable.β�
βEven though I had only seen the face dimly, I thought that I would recognize it. Then I saw my man. It was as simple as that. He was waiting on the platform for the eight-ten with the rest of us, but he wasnβt any stranger. It was Herbert Marston, who lives in the big yellow house on Blenhollow Road. If there had been any question in my mind, it would have been answered by the way he looked when he saw that I recognized him. He looked frightened and guilty.β�
βThat was all. It was all over. I packed a bag and turned off the icebox and drove all night. Weβve been happy ever since. So far as I know, Mr. Marston has never stood outside our house in the dark, although Iβve seen him often enough on the station platform and at the country club. His daughter Lydia is going to be married next month, and his sallow wife was recently cited by one of the national charities for her good works. Everyone here is well.β�
"You cure yourself of a romantic, carnal, and disastrous marriage, I decided, and, like any addict in the throes of a cure, you must be exaggeratedly careful of every step you take. I decided not to answer the telephone, because I knew that Rachel might repent, and I knew, by then, the size and the nature of the things that could bring us together. If it rained for five days, if one of the children had a passing fever, if she got some sad news in a letterβanything like this might be enough to put her on the telephone, and I did not want to be tempted to resume a relationship that had been so miserable. "
Having lived near Stony Brook, I got a kick out of the mention in this story, though only one line.
π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π»π» spoiler βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββalertπ π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π ββββββββββββββββββββββββ
When reading this you think that the husband is tired of the troubles of his marriage, looking to do anything, to cure him of staying married. He stays away so when the phone rings, he is not there if his wife wants to come back but in the end the troubles of being alone have been the real cure in staying married and no matter what it is better to have some marriage troubles as long as you stay together. So the separation was the cure.
Rachel leaves with the children after a quarrel her husband not sad but not happy, feeling some self respect, not wanting to feel miserable again. The feeling of self respect probably from not wanting to settle. After he is alone things start to go wrong, the cat and dog are missing, the house keeper is drunk and insomnia that keeps getting worse. He feels someone is watching him and finds out it is neighbor, had the neighbor always a peeping tom but he was so busy with his family and able to sleep that he never noticed before. He goes out for dinner looking for a pretty girl but all he sees are not really desirable, not the fantasy of being single with lots of women. A woman mentions about him hanging himself, he goes home making sure that there is no rope around, burning what is there. He starts to have more mental troubles but when his wife calls and one of the kids is sick,this he is ready to have his family back and drives all night to be there and they are all well.
βYou cure yourself of a romantic, carnal, and disastrous marriage, I decided, and, like any addict in the throes of a cure, you must be exaggeratedly careful of every step you take. I decided not to answer the telephone, because I knew that Rachel might repent, and I knew, by then, the size and the nature of the things that could bring us together. If it rained for five days, if one of the children had a passing fever, if she got some sad news in a letter βanything like this might be enough to put her on the telephone, and I did not want to be tempted to resume a relationship that had been so miserable.β�
βEven though I had only seen the face dimly, I thought that I would recognize it. Then I saw my man. It was as simple as that. He was waiting on the platform for the eight-ten with the rest of us, but he wasnβt any stranger. It was Herbert Marston, who lives in the big yellow house on Blenhollow Road. If there had been any question in my mind, it would have been answered by the way he looked when he saw that I recognized him. He looked frightened and guilty.β�
βThat was all. It was all over. I packed a bag and turned off the icebox and drove all night. Weβve been happy ever since. So far as I know, Mr. Marston has never stood outside our house in the dark, although Iβve seen him often enough on the station platform and at the country club. His daughter Lydia is going to be married next month, and his sallow wife was recently cited by one of the national charities for her good works. Everyone here is well.β�
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