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dotorsojak's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Maybe 5 stars (I'm still thinking.)
Superb. Contains one of the greatest short stories I have ever read. It's called "Silence."
Superb. Contains one of the greatest short stories I have ever read. It's called "Silence."
halperta's review against another edition
4.0
Alice munro is one of my favorites in short fiction. Some of these stories are mediocre. Chance is amazing. read her.
eberico's review against another edition
3.0
Runaway has lingered on my nightstand since November, and I can't rightly explain why. I'm an avid reader, but I read in cycles - a hundred pages in the bathtub, then nothing for a week or two. Two thick magazines on the plane, but no more than one short story a month. It's easy to lose the subtlety and flow of a story, particularly when spread over a few months.
That is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else and you remember, and you think, soon. Then it becomes something that is just there, in the closet, and other things get crowded in front of it and on top of it and finally you don't think about it at all.
The thing that was your bright treasure. You don't think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it becomes something you can barely remember.
That is what happens.
And Runaway is subtle. This review by Jonathan Franzen captures the beauty and challenge of Munro's writing - it focuses on small but compellingly human stories. Nothing happens on a historically momentous scale, but the stories she tells are full of those small events that feel historically momentous: meeting a stranger, deciding to leave, making a promise, learning the truth, falling in love, remembering.
The thing about life, Harry had told Lauren, was to live in the world with interest. To keep your eyes open and see the possibilities - see the humanity - in everybody you met. To be aware. If he had anything at all to teach her it was that. Be aware.
That is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else and you remember, and you think, soon. Then it becomes something that is just there, in the closet, and other things get crowded in front of it and on top of it and finally you don't think about it at all.
The thing that was your bright treasure. You don't think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it becomes something you can barely remember.
That is what happens.
And Runaway is subtle. This review by Jonathan Franzen captures the beauty and challenge of Munro's writing - it focuses on small but compellingly human stories. Nothing happens on a historically momentous scale, but the stories she tells are full of those small events that feel historically momentous: meeting a stranger, deciding to leave, making a promise, learning the truth, falling in love, remembering.
The thing about life, Harry had told Lauren, was to live in the world with interest. To keep your eyes open and see the possibilities - see the humanity - in everybody you met. To be aware. If he had anything at all to teach her it was that. Be aware.
aiee's review against another edition
2.0
Perhaps Munro is just not my type of writer, but I found most of these stories incredibly boring. It was a struggle to get through them without falling asleep, and despite being a series of short stories (which I usually love), it was difficult to make it to the end of this...
Ah, well. Not my cup of tea.
Ah, well. Not my cup of tea.
solveigchristina's review against another edition
4.0
These stories are beautifully written as always, and they are utmost intriguing in that they often span a whole lifetime of a person that we first meet in their early 20s. However, or maybe because they cover so many years, all stories have a certain sad undertone to them, an air of loss, of chances left untaken. They are not exactly a joy to read for everything the protagonists need to go through, and in this, these tales are very true to life, I suppose.
moosegurl2's review against another edition
3.0
"It is fine to be ambitious but what about other people?"
moosegurl's review against another edition
3.0
"It is fine to be ambitious but what about other people?"
nancf's review against another edition
4.0
Another book that has been on my shelf for a while. I often confuse the various literary Alices, but was reminded of Alice Munro when she recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is my first Alice Munro and I will seek more. I loved her writing, the words, the characters. Though each story in this collection stood on its own, I especially liked the trio of stories about Juliet. As written on the cover flap, "Here are the infinite betrayals and surprises of love - between men and women, between friends, between parents and children- that are the stuff of all our lives."
"Then it becomes something that is just there, in the closet, and other things get crowded in front of it and on top of it and finally you don't think about it at all." (83)
"Then it becomes something that is just there, in the closet, and other things get crowded in front of it and on top of it and finally you don't think about it at all." (83)
aem538's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5