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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
This is the first Alice Munro book I've read. I especially liked the story "Train" and thought the title really fit the story really well.
As always, good characters, good writing and some lovely twists and turns.
Short stories of varying boringness, told with no passion or flourish. How did this win literary awards? I hate to abort books, but over half way through I ended up finding someone who'd reviewed each story, and three which were reviewed as "boring" I skipped altogether.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The queen at her best. It's startling, how she does so much and makes it look so simple; a couple of these I had to reread immediately, I was so bewildered by how I'd arrived at where she'd deposited me.
Not sure what to make of the four "not quite non/fiction" pieces at the end. It is very cool to see a bit of the ground from which she grew—definitely a through-line to the short story work. But I'm not sure how much it explains. I'm not sure how much Munro ever explains, but I guess that's why she's a genius.
Not sure what to make of the four "not quite non/fiction" pieces at the end. It is very cool to see a bit of the ground from which she grew—definitely a through-line to the short story work. But I'm not sure how much it explains. I'm not sure how much Munro ever explains, but I guess that's why she's a genius.
This is Alice Munro at her finest. Each story devastated me. Will come back in to make more notes later, but reading this book was an absolute joy, and I can't believe that someday we will no longer have new Alice Munro stories. In recent interviews, she seems to be hinting that she may be slowing or stopping writing soon, but I hope that this is just her lowering expectations before she drops another amazing book on us in a couple of years.
I love how understated Alice Munro's stories are. Her writing is unshowy, her characters are staid and stalwart. They don't want to dwell on the moment that broke their hearts, and so Munro doesn't, but a glimpse is all the more powerful because it eschews the self-pity of extended belly-button gazing. This collection in particular broke my heart many times over.
I'm on a roll with short stories. I have enjoyed Munro's stories, mainly in The New Yorker. This may be the first collection of her stories that I have read. I loved the melancholy mood of ordinary life in the majority of these stories. I will definitely read another of her books.
"we say of some things that they can't be forgiven, or that we will never forgive ourselves. but we do—we do it all the time."
➵ 4 stars.
➵ 4 stars.
Though the stories were finely written, they lacked oomph and I ended up putting it down a little less than half-way through. Munro is an excellent writer but she has a style that feels kind of antiquated; not bad in itself, but something you have to be in the mood for to really enjoy.