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patokoao's review
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
florosev's review against another edition
2.0
No había leído nada de la autora... me gustó cómo escribe, cómo relata, en pocas palabras, la complejidad de lo cotidiano, de lo simple.
Sin embargo, no me gustaron mucho los cuentos, quizás tenía expectativas muy altas, quizas es sólo algo de gustos, pero el que más me gustó fue Cómo conocí a mi marido. El resto ninguno me interesó particularmente.
Sí me hizo sentido algo que leí de la autora en alguna parte y es que los libros de cuento no deberían leerse de corrido, como si fueran una novela, sino leer uno a uno los cuentos, dejando tiempo entremedio para digerirlos .. (mi interpretación libre, no literal).
Sin embargo, no me gustaron mucho los cuentos, quizás tenía expectativas muy altas, quizas es sólo algo de gustos, pero el que más me gustó fue Cómo conocí a mi marido. El resto ninguno me interesó particularmente.
Sí me hizo sentido algo que leí de la autora en alguna parte y es que los libros de cuento no deberían leerse de corrido, como si fueran una novela, sino leer uno a uno los cuentos, dejando tiempo entremedio para digerirlos .. (mi interpretación libre, no literal).
bhurlbut's review
5.0
I had not read Alice Munro until her Nobel Prize win this year. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. I read several of these stories aloud to my mother while she recovered from surgery -- she reads wonderfully well. I particularly enjoyed "Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You," "Forgiveness In Families, and "The Ottawa Vaalley." I look forward to reading more of Ms. Munro.
smbcoffee's review
3.0
Good short stories, filled with lots of interesting observations from different people from all walks of life. Some of the tales just dragged on, however, and I found myself checking frequently to see how many I had left in the book.
rachelhelps's review
4.0
These stories are a bit experimental in their non-linear storytelling format, but the material itself feels familiar - not alien as one might expect from modern literature. Most of the stories are about older women, many of whom are divorced or single, who have a secret knowledge of something... (hence the title).
ferciboy's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
robindallav's review against another edition
5.0
My favourite Alice Munro collection I've read. "Material", "How I Met My Husband", and "The Ottawa Valley" are all ace.
spiderfelt's review
5.0
I don't know if I have ever read anything that speaks so eloquently to the complex emotions we face as we pass through the optimistic hopes and romantic ideals of youth into the heavy realities and disappointments of middle age to complex observations of elder years. Alice Munro conveys the subtle nuance of relationship, perception and feelings of isolation that envelope women at various periods in our lives. I'm not sure I would have appreciated the writing when I was younger, but it is just right for now.
bassant's review against another edition
عبارة عن قصص قصيرة من غير عبره أو اي حاجه تحسسني أنا بستفيد حاجه وانا بقرأ ولا حتي مسلية
bgg616's review
4.0
Alice Munro is now receiving the attention she deserves after being honored with the Nobel prize for literature. This collection has gems, but I wouldn't rank it with her best. However, a couple of short excerpts will show what is so special about her stories. In her story "Material" she deconstructs the book jacket bio, full of hyperbole, of her ex-husband, a writer. He is described as having worked as a telephone lineman (he once had a job for less than 2 weeks painting telephone poles), and a sawmill foreman (he'd worked a summer for his uncle loading lumber into trucks and being sworn at by the foreman). She muses why didn't he include "examination marker", a job he often did that he liked. The story "The Ottawa Valley" begins " I think of my mother sometimes in department stores.I don't know why, I was never in one with her; their plenitude, their bustle, it seems to be would have satisfied her." At times, the subject of her prose is so familiar, you feel she has stolen a look into your own life. Munro reminds us that life is full of ordinary moments that in hindsight contain the essence of what our lives were and are. In writing about the ordinary, Munro is extraordinary.