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ejdelorenze's review against another edition
3.0
This book of short stories was hard to rate. 3 or 4 .... there are 8 or so stories, and some really warrant a 4 while others are only a 3 for me. Munro is a wonderful writer and her imagery is fantastic. She's known for being concise ... never wasting a word. But for me, it was a bit too concise ... there were parts, particularly at the end of a few of the stories, where I was left feeling confused and lost. Clearly I wasn't making certain connections I should have been, but that doesn't really change the fact that it didn't entirely work for me. I did really appreciate the short narratives ... particularly the later stories. They're all a bit dark, but very interesting and imaginative.
mholec's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
immergruen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
hexadecibel's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first book I've read by Alice Munro and it won't be the last. Short fiction is my favorite genre anyway and she does a wonderful job of delving into the inner lives of her characters and making them real.
an_ja's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
grb8's review against another edition
5.0
Munro writes here as fluidly as the first collection I read of hers. This collection felt reminiscent of Faulkner in the way its pieces built communities with watching eyes and its consideration of legacy, ancestry, family, etc. As with her collection I read though the focus here is the women of each story.
I find Munro’s writing as enjoyable to read as any. It’s not necessarily fluid, or easy. But more like a windy scenic drive. And in these stories she even puts up stop signs at the intersections with her italicized words and phrases, hanging between paragraphs or sections. They work, just as pretty much everything else in this collection does.
I find Munro’s writing as enjoyable to read as any. It’s not necessarily fluid, or easy. But more like a windy scenic drive. And in these stories she even puts up stop signs at the intersections with her italicized words and phrases, hanging between paragraphs or sections. They work, just as pretty much everything else in this collection does.
beingbreezie's review against another edition
5.0
In Alice Munro’s "Runaway" her poignant and captivating stories revolve around family, aging, and discovering ones position and purpose in twentieth century Canada. The stories span decades, lifetimes, giving the collection an epic quality. Some of the stories are linked, engaging the reader to discover if the others contain overlapping characters or stand alone in Munro’s Canadian wilderness. Whether linked or not, the stories revolve around a central female characters who struggle to come of age or show the reader some incisive fact about their core beings. In the end, to put it in Munro’s words, the stories "crumble dark and tenderly into something like soot and soft ash.” They leave readers feeling as if they’ve just finished perusing some cluster of journals or somehow experienced the entirety of another's life in dream they can’t quite remember.
cknelson's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
alwaysanna13's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of short stories (and slightly longer ones) was beautifully written - Munro knows how to make language paint a picture! That said, I didn't love the collection - it was a little slow, and I found it hard to connect to the characters.