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A review by zena_ryder
Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Munro
5.0
I rarely read short stories because I like to spend more time with characters, which typically happens in a novel. But this collection is a series of short stories that focus on the same main character (Rose) and are collected in chronological order — so the whole book reads almost like a novel.
The first story starts in post-war Ontario when Rose is a child, living with her father and stepmother. The stories progress through her life as she marries, has a child herself, has a career, and eventually goes back to her stepmother's home in Ontario.
Alice Munro is a brilliant short story writer. Her writing reminds me of Jane Austen. Both authors are masters of subtle subtext and witty understatement. Munro also beautifully describes little details that are highly evocative in very few words. Her characters are introspective without being self-indulgent.
This particular book was given to me by my husband's parents the first Christmas we spent together, in 1997. I read it back then, but don't think I've re-read it since. Now I'm eager to read some more Munro.
And here's a quote I enjoyed:
"Rose was just beginning to understand that the boys she knew, however incompetent they might seem, were going to turn into men, and be allowed to do things that you would think required a lot more talent and authority than they could have."
The first story starts in post-war Ontario when Rose is a child, living with her father and stepmother. The stories progress through her life as she marries, has a child herself, has a career, and eventually goes back to her stepmother's home in Ontario.
Alice Munro is a brilliant short story writer. Her writing reminds me of Jane Austen. Both authors are masters of subtle subtext and witty understatement. Munro also beautifully describes little details that are highly evocative in very few words. Her characters are introspective without being self-indulgent.
This particular book was given to me by my husband's parents the first Christmas we spent together, in 1997. I read it back then, but don't think I've re-read it since. Now I'm eager to read some more Munro.
And here's a quote I enjoyed:
"Rose was just beginning to understand that the boys she knew, however incompetent they might seem, were going to turn into men, and be allowed to do things that you would think required a lot more talent and authority than they could have."