Scan barcode
A review by willowbiblio
Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
5.0
"It was clear to me at once that I was not thinking as the girl thought... I wanted men to love me *and* I wanted to think of the universe when I looked at the moon."
------------
This was such a beautifully written novel about girlhood and the transition into womanhood. it was clear that Alice Munro is a short story author first, the chapters were more a series of short stories than a traditional novel flow. I liked it.
It was interesting to have Del's mother be a projection of who Del may become, should she choose to get married and stay in Jubilee. Her own sexual flowering alongside her mother's seeming asexuality was well written. Del was so headstrong and "other" in a town that rejected otherness. Her intellectual connection with Jerry and their fumbling sexual exploration was so necessary to her understanding of herself as a powerful and intelligent woman.
Munro's introduction of the character Garnet and dipping Del back into religious zeal showed just how much she had evolved from her girlhood forays into the religious experience. I loved the use of Naomi as a foil, especially the early years when she was beginning to conform to the expectations put on her by the machine of capitalist consumerism. Her marriage because of a pregnancy alongside Del's rejection of marriage to pursue her dreams was both incredibly sad for her and exactly right for Del.
I did get bogged down in the 1st quarter of the book and decided to push through, I'm glad I did. I can see why this won the Nobel Prize.
------------
This was such a beautifully written novel about girlhood and the transition into womanhood. it was clear that Alice Munro is a short story author first, the chapters were more a series of short stories than a traditional novel flow. I liked it.
It was interesting to have Del's mother be a projection of who Del may become, should she choose to get married and stay in Jubilee. Her own sexual flowering alongside her mother's seeming asexuality was well written. Del was so headstrong and "other" in a town that rejected otherness. Her intellectual connection with Jerry and their fumbling sexual exploration was so necessary to her understanding of herself as a powerful and intelligent woman.
Munro's introduction of the character Garnet and dipping Del back into religious zeal showed just how much she had evolved from her girlhood forays into the religious experience. I loved the use of Naomi as a foil, especially the early years when she was beginning to conform to the expectations put on her by the machine of capitalist consumerism. Her marriage because of a pregnancy alongside Del's rejection of marriage to pursue her dreams was both incredibly sad for her and exactly right for Del.
I did get bogged down in the 1st quarter of the book and decided to push through, I'm glad I did. I can see why this won the Nobel Prize.