Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by zjames
The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose by Alice Munro
4.0
I found this book pretty difficult to rate. The subject and style is not something I usually read, and the stories don't follow your typical pattern with a lesson learned or a big finale at the end of each one, but rather seem to go in the opposite direction. Rose never seems to learn her lesson and life simply goes on.
The stories are detailed and well-written. Munro's diction was a little difficult for me to get used to at first, with her long-drawn passages where characters ponder in self-reflection, and in other instances where brevity is heavily used on certain important details and events. But the characters and situations are so well-realized you want to know what happens next.
There are some smutty and frankly disturbing scenes in this book. I knew a little about the content before going in, as I had initially read this book for the titular story, The Beggar Maid, where Rose's relationship with Patrick develops before ending in their divorce. It's the best story in the book, and Patrick is easily the most interesting secondary character. It feels very real how they both care about each other but their flaws eventually become insurmountable obstacles to their marriage, and it all ends in bitterness. Besides that, there is incest and rape in a middle school bathroom, sexual harassment on a train, and Rose ends up being a willing participant in several affairs.
Rose is a deeply flawed character who sees only the best or worse in people, depending on whether she values their attention, and her deep need to be wanted leads her to make decisions most of us would consider highly immoral. Still, it's hard not to empathize with her in some situations, especially when she needs to dig herself out of a hole she's created.
The stories are detailed and well-written. Munro's diction was a little difficult for me to get used to at first, with her long-drawn passages where characters ponder in self-reflection, and in other instances where brevity is heavily used on certain important details and events. But the characters and situations are so well-realized you want to know what happens next.
There are some smutty and frankly disturbing scenes in this book. I knew a little about the content before going in, as I had initially read this book for the titular story, The Beggar Maid, where Rose's relationship with Patrick develops before ending in their divorce. It's the best story in the book, and Patrick is easily the most interesting secondary character. It feels very real how they both care about each other but their flaws eventually become insurmountable obstacles to their marriage, and it all ends in bitterness. Besides that, there is incest and rape in a middle school bathroom, sexual harassment on a train, and Rose ends up being a willing participant in several affairs.
Rose is a deeply flawed character who sees only the best or worse in people, depending on whether she values their attention, and her deep need to be wanted leads her to make decisions most of us would consider highly immoral. Still, it's hard not to empathize with her in some situations, especially when she needs to dig herself out of a hole she's created.