Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Idk, this really just did not grip me in the same way as the first collection I read
Okay, I liked the very first story a lot.
Then I read 5 in a row that didn't wow me. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I should have kept going.
Then I read 5 in a row that didn't wow me. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I should have kept going.
Pongo que lo terminé aunque me faltaron algunos cuentos, pero dios, que cuentos tan lentos y desesperantes. Ya le he dado 2 oportunidades a Munro y siempre siempre me aburre.
¿La tercera es la vencida?
¿La tercera es la vencida?
4 ½ stars. My first full Alice Munro collection (which I began, strangely, a week or so before she died). The first thing that struck me was how real her characters feel, and how immediately they do so – you feel like you know who they are within a paragraph or two. And her stories are often populated with peripheral characters in a way that feels true to life, and which would feel crowded and clumsy in any other hand, but which allows Munro to simply add layers of meaning, to fill out and complicate the lives of her characters. This is such effortless and natural writing. She is also able to capture and explore the subtle differences in class and upbringing like almost no one else. Munro’s writing feels utterly free of cliché and artifice, and judgement.
Her stories are also almost entirely (and refreshingly) free of a traditional story arc: we are not even witnessing a slight shift in a character’s outlook so much as observing them at a point in their life when a shift is happening. We float in, and then float out. This is almost always impressive and effective – the fact that the stories hold together is a sign of true artistry – though at times things can feel driftless, meandering, even incomplete. Most of the stories were simply masterful; a handful of others less so. I suspect, given the overwhelming admiration for her, and her obvious talent and craft, this may not be considered her strongest collection. Still, what impressive writing.
Her stories are also almost entirely (and refreshingly) free of a traditional story arc: we are not even witnessing a slight shift in a character’s outlook so much as observing them at a point in their life when a shift is happening. We float in, and then float out. This is almost always impressive and effective – the fact that the stories hold together is a sign of true artistry – though at times things can feel driftless, meandering, even incomplete. Most of the stories were simply masterful; a handful of others less so. I suspect, given the overwhelming admiration for her, and her obvious talent and craft, this may not be considered her strongest collection. Still, what impressive writing.
Meh. I guess I can recognize its good writing, but it's certainly not to my liking. And now I know. Back to the scifi / fantasy for me.
I suspect that Munro's stories are like a mood ring--the color and tone reflect a great deal who you are when you read them. That said, the stories in The Moons of Jupiter seemed to me to be lacking the luminous inner quality of many of her stories I've read, that touch of grace that illuminates the heart of so many of her stories. These felt more opaque, heavier and duller (not more boring but less bright). Perhaps that's a function of the reader, perhaps it's that these are earlier works than any of hers I've read before. Two stories stood out to me--"Mrs. Cross and Mrs. Kidd" and the title story, both of which dealt with aging and had that twisting lucid pain to them that marks so much of her work to me. The rest had occasional brilliant moments, but somehow failed to hook me as securely as her stories usually do.
Lovely stories about little things, little emotions. Was given this book as a gift but would like to read more Munro before I have a complete opinion.