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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Like a collection of short stories. The arc of Del's life and growing up is at times very real and hard, at times comic, and at all times tinged with hope for something better or at least different.
reflective
slow-paced
It was for English class and I just did not have enough time to finish it before the exam. I also found the book kind of boring. It also did not include intersectionality when it came to exploring womanhood, as the main character was white. Other books we explored included this intersectionality, so I was not drawn to it.
It is an honest portrayal of childhood and good character development. It feels like you're reading about somebody's day, not a novel, and that was cool, however it ended a bit abruptly. I wish I could've had something more at the end perhaps.
The childhood section was too slow-paced for me even though I loved Munro’s writing but the last third on adolescence hit me a little too hard.
“He called me “baby” in a cold, languishing voice, as if I were somebody altogether different from myself; all I could think to do was get some idea of this person he thought he was dancing with and pretend to be her- somebody small, snappy, bright, flirtatious” (206).
“It was driving drunk at night along the black roads, listening to men’s jokes, putting up with and warily fighting with men and getting hold of them, getting hold- one side of life that could not exist without the other, and by undertaking and getting used to them both a girl was putting herself in the road to marriage. There was no other way. And I was not going to be able to do it. No. Better Charlotte Brontë” (213).
“He called me “baby” in a cold, languishing voice, as if I were somebody altogether different from myself; all I could think to do was get some idea of this person he thought he was dancing with and pretend to be her- somebody small, snappy, bright, flirtatious” (206).
“It was driving drunk at night along the black roads, listening to men’s jokes, putting up with and warily fighting with men and getting hold of them, getting hold- one side of life that could not exist without the other, and by undertaking and getting used to them both a girl was putting herself in the road to marriage. There was no other way. And I was not going to be able to do it. No. Better Charlotte Brontë” (213).
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I gave myself two days to settle with this book before even attempting a review. Two days of thinking and reflecting and confirming the marvel that is this book. As one can tell from the title of the book, Munro focuses on the relationships between girls and women in this book and each chapter marked a new development for Del, the protagonist of this story.
Del is a precocious girl living first at the outskirts and then in the poor small town of Jubilee, Canada. Her mother writes in the paper and sells encyclopedias, and is considered an eccentric for her agnosticism, beliefs in women’s reproductive rights and other notions that of course must have been extremely “liberal” in a small and religious town in the 1940s, and her father is a fox farmer who lingers at the edges of the story for the most part.
Told in the first person and from Del’s point of view, we journey with her through her childhood and the characters that people her life and thoughts, her awakenings and conflicts and disasters and emerge with her at the end, fully nourished. The kind of story that grows and grows with each turn of the page, filled with brilliant understandings of life, death, spiritualit(ies)y, friendships and love.
One of the most exciting and fascinating aspects of this story is the town of Jubilee itself and the rich detail Munro furnishes it with. From its economic and recreational activities to the townspeople themselves, she creates such an intricate mesh, a breathing steaming town.
If you liked Toni Morrison’s [b:Sula|11346|Sula|Toni Morrison|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441578153s/11346.jpg|3207953], William Maxwell’s [b:So Long, See You Tomorrow|14276|So Long, See You Tomorrow|William Maxwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390750749s/14276.jpg|1267189], Willa Cather’s [b:My Ántonia|17150|My Ántonia (Great Plains Trilogy, #3)|Willa Cather|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389151307s/17150.jpg|575450] or [b:The Neapolitan Novels|26828169|The Neapolitan Novels|Elena Ferrante|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443412457s/26828169.jpg|46858867] of Elena Ferrante, then you’ll most likely like this one too. With this book Munro solidifies her place in my heart as one of my favourite writers, a great book.
Del is a precocious girl living first at the outskirts and then in the poor small town of Jubilee, Canada. Her mother writes in the paper and sells encyclopedias, and is considered an eccentric for her agnosticism, beliefs in women’s reproductive rights and other notions that of course must have been extremely “liberal” in a small and religious town in the 1940s, and her father is a fox farmer who lingers at the edges of the story for the most part.
Told in the first person and from Del’s point of view, we journey with her through her childhood and the characters that people her life and thoughts, her awakenings and conflicts and disasters and emerge with her at the end, fully nourished. The kind of story that grows and grows with each turn of the page, filled with brilliant understandings of life, death, spiritualit(ies)y, friendships and love.
One of the most exciting and fascinating aspects of this story is the town of Jubilee itself and the rich detail Munro furnishes it with. From its economic and recreational activities to the townspeople themselves, she creates such an intricate mesh, a breathing steaming town.
If you liked Toni Morrison’s [b:Sula|11346|Sula|Toni Morrison|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441578153s/11346.jpg|3207953], William Maxwell’s [b:So Long, See You Tomorrow|14276|So Long, See You Tomorrow|William Maxwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390750749s/14276.jpg|1267189], Willa Cather’s [b:My Ántonia|17150|My Ántonia (Great Plains Trilogy, #3)|Willa Cather|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389151307s/17150.jpg|575450] or [b:The Neapolitan Novels|26828169|The Neapolitan Novels|Elena Ferrante|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443412457s/26828169.jpg|46858867] of Elena Ferrante, then you’ll most likely like this one too. With this book Munro solidifies her place in my heart as one of my favourite writers, a great book.
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
a languid, fluid story about girlhood and the all encompassing unreality that it is.