Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
Alice Munro
Vintage 2001
These short stories are snapshots of women’s lives in Canada since the end of the Second World War. What distinguishes them is their precise descriptions of feelings and places, and their realistic portrayal of people whose complexities and ambiguities are all too believable. At times Munro’s writing reminded me of Anne Tyler’s, although it’s not as funny and the stories are on the whole sadder, I think. All nine are good, and some of them are very good indeed. In the latter category I would include Queenie, the story of a childhood friend whose relationship with an older man many years before has provided a backdrop to the narrator’s whole life, The Bear Came Over The Mountain (recently filmed as Away From Her), which tells of a woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s who falls for another patient, and Family Furnishings, about ties which, in later life, a short story writer concedes are not as easy to break as she thought. Many of these stories are centred around encounters which, although brief, have a profound influence, perhaps for many years afterwards. Munro presents them in a clear, unsentimental, often extremely moving way. My only criticism is that, although the stories are already long, I often wanted them to be a bit longer, so involved was I with the characters. Having said that, the ending of each story is just right. I think the only reason I have come to Alice Munro so late is that I subconsciously associated her with another Alice, Alice Walker – American not Canadian, and the author of one of my least favourite novels, The Color Purple. This is a shame; now, having discovered her, I look forward to reading more of her work.
29th March 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Munro
See also: Too Much Happiness
Just click below.
Powered by CGISpy.com