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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There's not much of a plot, it's just different things happening in one girl's life. But it's a lot funnier and more engaging than I expected. While this book is considered a novel, I can see why Alice Munro is known for her short stories.
A collection of ordinary stories set in a girl's small-town life. Her mother, an early feminist, writes articles for the local newspaper advocating for birth control. Despite being a bright student with a promising future, her path is eventually disrupted by the complications of adolescent love. I can't help but sigh over the ending, even though I know that reading is not a destination but more like a starting point in a reader’s life.
Could be considered a collection of short stories or a novel. A classic example of a bildungsroman, following the life of Del in her small town in Ontario.
A very slow start to this book, which is more like a series of short stories put together, but the second half was worth persevering for.
A good read.
A good read.
Munro is far and away the best short story writer I have ever read, and she should be considered a seminal feminist writer of her era. Her work is always gut-wrenching without having to be flashy or blatant, she inspires me deeply. I consider Lives to be one of her lesser works, and I still give this bitch a solid 4 stars. As beautiful as it is painful.
Munro's writing, characters, and storytelling are astonishingly beautiful. While the beginning took me a while to engage, as the story unfolded, I found myself hanging from every page. There is a reason she won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
And, as an added bonus, I had never connected the dots that she owns and runs one of my favorite bookstores in the world - Munro's in Victoria, BC.
And, as an added bonus, I had never connected the dots that she owns and runs one of my favorite bookstores in the world - Munro's in Victoria, BC.
Alice Munro crafts stories that make me hold my breath. While allowing her shrewd, tough women to walk the world, she emphasizes the importance of their explorations and adventures across their small town lives, so we know they are never too far from making mistakes that may lock them into dreary, boxed-in existences in these aforementioned small towns.
That ever-present temptation to slip up and settle surrounds the main character of Lives of Girls and Women. And how she learns from her childhood in her small Canadian haven is what fuels the narrative of this novel. As her decisions and encounters pile up, you find yourself rooting for her success in the outside world even as she honors her family's heritage in the Great White North. Munro enchants you without your even realizing it, and sucks you into every detail she lays out. Easily my favorite writer of the past few years.
That ever-present temptation to slip up and settle surrounds the main character of Lives of Girls and Women. And how she learns from her childhood in her small Canadian haven is what fuels the narrative of this novel. As her decisions and encounters pile up, you find yourself rooting for her success in the outside world even as she honors her family's heritage in the Great White North. Munro enchants you without your even realizing it, and sucks you into every detail she lays out. Easily my favorite writer of the past few years.