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A review by leelulah
The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro
4.0
Read for the Popsugar Challenge 2019
27. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title
I wanted something the least astrological possible for this prompt, and I couldn't have picked something more unknown to me, and yet very pleasing to find out about.
There was a lot of talking about Alice Munro when she won the Nobel Literature Prize back in 2013, but I was not familiar with her writing until now. It's not the first Canadian author I read, Atwood has the honour of being the one. But, unlike Atwood, I believe Munro is closer to my affinities. There's a haunting Southern Gothic style about her that caught me from the first story, and though I didn't enjoy all the stories in this book, I enjoyed a good portion of them. Enough to keep my interest.
This grotesque and realistic depiction of flawed characters in absolutely ordinary situations has a great amount to teach about humanity. The humor helps to deal with the more unsavory parts of the narrative, and this moment where the "disgusting" and the "humorous" fuse is akin to a bittersweet combination, just like Oscar Wilde and O'Connor (yes, two dissimilar comparisons, and Munro herself admitted owing much more to the latter, but it is in the subtle use of irony).
Unlike O'Connor, there's no mention of the religious other than to give an insight into characters rather than to point upwards, too. But I don't think it's disrespectful, there are many shades of Protestants in here, I wonder if this detail points towards the conflicts inside Christianity that make it so strange to outsiders. There are frequent mentions of adultery, divorce and homosexuality but not done in a congratulating manner.
I think there's a bit of stream of consciousness infused while weaving the plot and this gave me Woolf vibes. The remarkable interest in women's lives was a spin that I didn't expect to find, but very much welcome.
27. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title
I wanted something the least astrological possible for this prompt, and I couldn't have picked something more unknown to me, and yet very pleasing to find out about.
There was a lot of talking about Alice Munro when she won the Nobel Literature Prize back in 2013, but I was not familiar with her writing until now. It's not the first Canadian author I read, Atwood has the honour of being the one. But, unlike Atwood, I believe Munro is closer to my affinities. There's a haunting Southern Gothic style about her that caught me from the first story, and though I didn't enjoy all the stories in this book, I enjoyed a good portion of them. Enough to keep my interest.
This grotesque and realistic depiction of flawed characters in absolutely ordinary situations has a great amount to teach about humanity. The humor helps to deal with the more unsavory parts of the narrative, and this moment where the "disgusting" and the "humorous" fuse is akin to a bittersweet combination, just like Oscar Wilde and O'Connor (yes, two dissimilar comparisons, and Munro herself admitted owing much more to the latter, but it is in the subtle use of irony).
Unlike O'Connor, there's no mention of the religious other than to give an insight into characters rather than to point upwards, too. But I don't think it's disrespectful, there are many shades of Protestants in here, I wonder if this detail points towards the conflicts inside Christianity that make it so strange to outsiders. There are frequent mentions of adultery, divorce and homosexuality but not done in a congratulating manner.
I think there's a bit of stream of consciousness infused while weaving the plot and this gave me Woolf vibes. The remarkable interest in women's lives was a spin that I didn't expect to find, but very much welcome.