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A review by thelizabeth
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
4.0
This book was a present from Meg, who told me she thought it was interesting to read short stories by an expert in the form. And it is, and I don't do it a lot.
Generally I really enjoyed this collection, and at times it felt revelatory. Then I began to wonder if I was hoodwinked, because sometimes I get hoodwinked, as the last clump of stories at the end is not that awesome, and I started to feel frowny-face.
But it's ok. I dog-eared a lot of pages that were so smart or lovely I knew I'd have to reread them. And the overall cool and sympathetic tone, the decades-old settings, it's a comfort to read.
The stuff:
"The Love of a Good Woman": Thumbs mostly up. I didn't like it in the beginning with the boys and the body and the Wobegon-ish small town. But once we're in the nurse's portion it's just wonderful. I didn't really like the little trick at the end, but a lot of great things are felt in the middle.
"Jakarta": Thumbs totally up. The portion in the past is so good, the women's friendship, and the long party scene when you know everything will change. I liked anticipating the present's resolution, finding out what happened. I thought of all kinds of possibilities, which says how much I liked the characters.
"Cortes Island": Thumbs mainly up. I liked the characterization and the conflict with the lonely, prideful landlady. The tone of portent and the dark revelation, eh. The mystery was too ambiguous, I didn't really understand. The ending, though, about the dreams, oh that's beautiful.
"Save the Reaper": Thumbs up. The perspective is affecting, and the situation they accidentally get into is well creepy. The little grandson's foreboding was good, that he knew they shouldn't go. The dangerous girl set up all the right kinds of questions to think about when it's over.
"The Children Stay": Thumbs real up. The affair is both distressing and romantic. It also was funny to see a play I read and really hated used well metaphorically.
"Rich as Stink": Thumbs down. The adults' characterization was really well cut, but the story didn't do much. Way, way, way too symbolism-laden. And then just, well now I have made something tragic happen, the end.
"Before the Change": Thumbs down. A good musing on an intimidating adult father-child relationship, but I didn't like anything about the story. The fake epistolary thing, the overwrought maternity theme (and eh abortion controversy), the not entirely believable backstory. On the nose.
"My Mother's Dream": Thumbs sideways. I actually did like the story part of the story, but this one just isn't very beautiful or insightful as the others are. It's the only story that didn't compel me to turn down a page corner so I could reread something later. And the narration is a little odd. But I liked reading about what the mother thought and went through, and how the big event made her feel.
There are so many beautiful parts throughout that I'm happy to round this one up.
Generally I really enjoyed this collection, and at times it felt revelatory. Then I began to wonder if I was hoodwinked, because sometimes I get hoodwinked, as the last clump of stories at the end is not that awesome, and I started to feel frowny-face.
But it's ok. I dog-eared a lot of pages that were so smart or lovely I knew I'd have to reread them. And the overall cool and sympathetic tone, the decades-old settings, it's a comfort to read.
The stuff:
"The Love of a Good Woman": Thumbs mostly up. I didn't like it in the beginning with the boys and the body and the Wobegon-ish small town. But once we're in the nurse's portion it's just wonderful. I didn't really like the little trick at the end, but a lot of great things are felt in the middle.
"Jakarta": Thumbs totally up. The portion in the past is so good, the women's friendship, and the long party scene when you know everything will change. I liked anticipating the present's resolution, finding out what happened. I thought of all kinds of possibilities, which says how much I liked the characters.
"Cortes Island": Thumbs mainly up. I liked the characterization and the conflict with the lonely, prideful landlady. The tone of portent and the dark revelation, eh. The mystery was too ambiguous, I didn't really understand. The ending, though, about the dreams, oh that's beautiful.
"Save the Reaper": Thumbs up. The perspective is affecting, and the situation they accidentally get into is well creepy. The little grandson's foreboding was good, that he knew they shouldn't go. The dangerous girl set up all the right kinds of questions to think about when it's over.
"The Children Stay": Thumbs real up. The affair is both distressing and romantic. It also was funny to see a play I read and really hated used well metaphorically.
"Rich as Stink": Thumbs down. The adults' characterization was really well cut, but the story didn't do much. Way, way, way too symbolism-laden. And then just, well now I have made something tragic happen, the end.
"Before the Change": Thumbs down. A good musing on an intimidating adult father-child relationship, but I didn't like anything about the story. The fake epistolary thing, the overwrought maternity theme (and eh abortion controversy), the not entirely believable backstory. On the nose.
"My Mother's Dream": Thumbs sideways. I actually did like the story part of the story, but this one just isn't very beautiful or insightful as the others are. It's the only story that didn't compel me to turn down a page corner so I could reread something later. And the narration is a little odd. But I liked reading about what the mother thought and went through, and how the big event made her feel.
There are so many beautiful parts throughout that I'm happy to round this one up.