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My Best Stories
My Best Stories is a dazzling selection of stories—seventeen favourites chosen by the author from across her distinguished career. The stories are arranged in the order in which they were written, allowing even the most devoted Munro admirer to discover how her work developed. "Royal Beatings" shows us right away how far we are from the romantic world of happy endings. "The Albanian Virgin" smashes the idea that all of her stories are set in B.C. or in Ontario's "Alice Munro Country." "A Wilderness Station" breaks short story rules by transporting us back to the 1830s and then jumping forward more than a hundred years. And the final story, "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," which was adapted into the film Away from Her, leads us far beyond the turkey-plucking world of young girls into unflinching old age. Every story in this selection is superb. It is a book to read—and reread—very slowly, savouring each separate story. This collection of small masterpieces deserves a place in every book lover's home.
576 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Alice Munro
208 books6,288 followersCollections of short stories of noted Canadian writer Alice Munro of life in rural Ontario include
Dance of the Happy Shades
(1968) and
Moons of Jupiter
(1982); for these and vivid novels, she won the Nobel Prize of 2013 for literature.
People widely consider her premier fiction of the world. Munro thrice received governor general's award. She focuses on human relationships through the lens of daily life. People thus refer to this "the Canadian Chekhov."
(Arabic: أليس مونرو)
(Persian: آلیس مانرو)
(Russian Cyrillic: Элис Манро)
(Ukrainian Cyrillic: Еліс Манро)
(Bulgarian Cyrillic: Алис Мънро)
(Slovak: Alice Munroová)
(Serbian: Alis Manro)
People widely consider her premier fiction of the world. Munro thrice received governor general's award. She focuses on human relationships through the lens of daily life. People thus refer to this "the Canadian Chekhov."
(Arabic: أليس مونرو)
(Persian: آلیس مانرو)
(Russian Cyrillic: Элис Манро)
(Ukrainian Cyrillic: Еліс Манро)
(Bulgarian Cyrillic: Алис Мънро)
(Slovak: Alice Munroová)
(Serbian: Alis Manro)
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December 19, 2021
My Best Stories = Carried Away: A Selection of Stories = Alice Munro's Best: A Selection of Stories, Alice Munro
The stories are arranged in the order in which they were written, allowing even the most devoted Munro admirer to discover how her work developed.
Royal Beatings shows us right away how far we are from the romantic world of happy endings.
The Albanian Virgin smashes the idea that all of her stories are set in B.C. or in Ontario's "Alice Munro Country."
A Wilderness Station breaks short story rules by transporting us back to the 1830's and then jumping forward more than a hundred years.
And the final story, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, which was adapted into the film Away from Her, leads us far beyond the turkey-plucking world of young girls into unflinching old age.
...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوازدهم ماه جولای سال2015میلادی
عنوان:عشق جایش تنگ است؛ نویسنده: آلیس مونرو؛ مترجم: نجمه رمضانی؛ تهران، نشر قطره، سال1393؛ در198ص؛ شابک9786001197901؛ موضوع داستانهای کوتاه از نویسندگان کانادا - سده21م
سرکار خانم «آلیس مونرو»، برنده ی «جایزه ی ادبی نوبل»، در سال2013میلادی بودند؛ مجموعه داستانهای «رقص سایه های شاد»، «زندگی دختران و زنان»، «رازهای عیان» و «دوستان جوانی من»، «فکر کردی کی هستی؟» و «فرار» نیز، از آثار ایشان هستند
دیگر آثار ایشان «رؤیای مادرم، آلیس مونرو، ترانه علیدوستی (مترجم)، تهران نشر مرکز، سال1390»؛ «می‌خواستم چیزی بهت بگم، آلیس مونرو، نیایش عبدالکریمی (مترجم)، بیژن عبدالکریمی (مقدمه)، تهران نقد فرهنگ، سال1394؛»؛ «فرار، آلیس مونرو، مژده دقیقی (مترجم)، ناشر نیلوفر»؛ «دست مایه‌ها، آلیس مونرو، مرضیه ستوده (مترجم)؛»؛ «دورنمای کاسل راک، آلیس مونرو، زهرا نی‌چین (مترجم)، ناشر افراز، سال1390؛»؛ «خوشبختی در راه است، آلیس مونرو، مهری شرفی، (مترجم)، ناشر ققنوس، سال1392؛»؛ «زندگی عزیز، آلیس مونرو، منیره ژیان، (مترجم)، ناشر مهر صفا، اردیبهشت سال1393؛»؛ و «گریز پا، سه داستان، نویسنده: آلیس مونرو، مترجم شقایق قندهاری، تهران، افق، سال1385، در192ص؛ چاپ دوم سال1387؛ شابک9643692930؛ چاپ سوم سال1392»؛
کتاب «عشق جایش تنگ است» نوشته سرکار خانم «آلیس مانرو»، نویسنده ی «کانادایی» و برگزیده ی «جایزه نوبل سال2013میلادی» است؛ ایشان در داستانهای نخستین خویش، به مضامینی همچون «بلوغ»، و «کنار آمدن با خانواده»، پرداخته اند؛ اما با گذر سن، توجه ایشان به میانسالی و تنهایی بیشتر شده است؛ شهر مهم‌ترین عنصر در آثار «مانرو» است، و مضامینی همچون «زندگی روزمره» و «مسائل زنان» از دیگر شاخصه های آثار ایشان به شمار می‌آیند؛ بیشتر داستانهای «مانرو» نخستین بار در نشریه ی معتبر «نیویورکر» منتشر شدند، و در مجموع از ایشان چهارده مجموعه داستان، و پنج مجلد گزیده داستان، منتشر شده است
نقل نمونه متن از کتاب «عشق جایش تنگ است»: (نفرت، دوستی، معاشقه، مهرورزی، ازدواج: سال‌ها پیش، قبل از آن‌که قطارها از حرکت روی خطوطِ فرعیِ ریل بایستند، زنی با پیشانی بلند و لک و پیسی، و موهای فری که به قرمزی می‌زد، به ایستگاه راه آهن آمد، و درباره ی انتقال اثاث خانه، پرس و جو کرد؛ مأمور ایستگاه اغلب زن‌ها را دست می‌انداخت، به خصوص زن‌های ساده را، که به نظر می‌رسید از این نوع گفتگو خوش‌شان می‌آمد؛ طوری گفت: «اثاث؟!» که انگار هیچ‌کس قبلاً اینکار را نکرده است؛ «خب، حالا بگو ببینم چه جور اسباب و اثاثیه ای هستن؟»؛ میز نهارخوری و شش صندلی. سرویس کامل اتاق خواب، کاناپه، میز جلو مبلی، میزهای کنار مبل، آباژور پایه دار، همینطور یک کابینت و یک بوفه؛ «اوه، پس بگو می‌خوای اثاث یه خونه رو بار بزنی دیگه.»؛ «نه بابا، اون قدرا هم نیس وسایل آشپزخونه که اصلاً توش نیس و وسایل اتاق خواب هم یه نفره س.»؛
طوری دندان قروچه میکرد که انگار برای دعوا آمده بود؛ «پس باید با کامیون بفرستیش.»؛ «نه، میخوام با قطار باشه؛ می‌فرستمش غرب، به ساسکاچوان.»؛ با مرد با صدای بلند حرف می‌زد، به نحویکه انگار با یک کر یا کودن طرف است، و اِشکال خاصی در تلفظ کلماتش بود؛ مثل این‌که لهجه داشت؛ مرد فکر کرد هلندی است ـ هلندی‌ها آن اطراف رفت و آمد داشتند ـ اما مثل زن‌های هلندی قوی‌هیکل نبود، و پوست صورتیِ لطیف، و موهای بور نداشت؛ نسبتاً جوان بود، سنش به چهل هم نمی‌رسید، اما چه فایده؟ نمیشد گفت دختر شاهِ پریان است
مرد سر کارش برگشت؛ «اول باید یه کامیون بگیری و اسباب و اثاثیه رو از هر جایی هستن بیاری اینجا؛ باید ببینیم اصلاً تو قطاری که از ساسکاچوان رد میشه، جای خالی هس یا نه؛ اگه نبود، باید هماهنگ کنی که یکی اونا رو بین راه، مثلاً تو رِجاینا تحویل بگیره.»؛ «مقصد نهایی گِدنیا س.؛ قطار ازش رد میشه.»؛ مرد نقشه ی راهنما را که از مقوای روغنی بود، و با میخ به دیوار نصب شده بود، پایین آورد و پرسید که چطور نوشته میشود؛ مدادی را که با زنجیر آویزان بود برداشت، و روی تکه کاغذی که از کیفش بیرون آورده بود نوشت «گدنیا»؛ «مردمش کجایی ان؟» زن گفت که نمیداند؛ مداد را از زن پس گرفت، تا خط به خط راهنما را بخواند؛
اون اطراف اکثراً یا اهل «چک» هستن، یا «مجارستانی»، یا «اوکراینی»؛ اینها را که میگفت، به ذهنش خطور کرد که شاید آن زن هم اهل یکی از همان کشورها باشد؛ ��صلاً چه فرقی میکرد، او فقط داشت یک سری اطلاعات به زن میداد؛ «ایناهاش، اینجاس، خوبه، تو مسیره»؛ «بله، خب میخوام جمعه بفرستمشون؛ میتونین یه کاری برام بکنین؟»؛ «میتونیم تحویلش بگیریم، اما معلوم نیس چه روزی به دستشون برسه؛ به اولویت بندیهاشون بستگی داره؛ اونجا کسی هست تحویلشون بگیره؟»؛ «بله»؛ «جمعه یه قطارِ باری ـ مسافری هست، دو و هجده دقیقه ی عصر؛ کامیون جمعه صبح بارشون میزنه؛ همینجا توی شهر زندگی میکنی؟»؛ زن در حالیکه نشانی را مینوشت، سرش را به نشان تایید پایین آورد؛ خیابان «اگزیبیشن»، پلاک106؛)؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 27/09/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The stories are arranged in the order in which they were written, allowing even the most devoted Munro admirer to discover how her work developed.
Royal Beatings shows us right away how far we are from the romantic world of happy endings.
The Albanian Virgin smashes the idea that all of her stories are set in B.C. or in Ontario's "Alice Munro Country."
A Wilderness Station breaks short story rules by transporting us back to the 1830's and then jumping forward more than a hundred years.
And the final story, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, which was adapted into the film Away from Her, leads us far beyond the turkey-plucking world of young girls into unflinching old age.
...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوازدهم ماه جولای سال2015میلادی
عنوان:عشق جایش تنگ است؛ نویسنده: آلیس مونرو؛ مترجم: نجمه رمضانی؛ تهران، نشر قطره، سال1393؛ در198ص؛ شابک9786001197901؛ موضوع داستانهای کوتاه از نویسندگان کانادا - سده21م
سرکار خانم «آلیس مونرو»، برنده ی «جایزه ی ادبی نوبل»، در سال2013میلادی بودند؛ مجموعه داستانهای «رقص سایه های شاد»، «زندگی دختران و زنان»، «رازهای عیان» و «دوستان جوانی من»، «فکر کردی کی هستی؟» و «فرار» نیز، از آثار ایشان هستند
دیگر آثار ایشان «رؤیای مادرم، آلیس مونرو، ترانه علیدوستی (مترجم)، تهران نشر مرکز، سال1390»؛ «می‌خواستم چیزی بهت بگم، آلیس مونرو، نیایش عبدالکریمی (مترجم)، بیژن عبدالکریمی (مقدمه)، تهران نقد فرهنگ، سال1394؛»؛ «فرار، آلیس مونرو، مژده دقیقی (مترجم)، ناشر نیلوفر»؛ «دست مایه‌ها، آلیس مونرو، مرضیه ستوده (مترجم)؛»؛ «دورنمای کاسل راک، آلیس مونرو، زهرا نی‌چین (مترجم)، ناشر افراز، سال1390؛»؛ «خوشبختی در راه است، آلیس مونرو، مهری شرفی، (مترجم)، ناشر ققنوس، سال1392؛»؛ «زندگی عزیز، آلیس مونرو، منیره ژیان، (مترجم)، ناشر مهر صفا، اردیبهشت سال1393؛»؛ و «گریز پا، سه داستان، نویسنده: آلیس مونرو، مترجم شقایق قندهاری، تهران، افق، سال1385، در192ص؛ چاپ دوم سال1387؛ شابک9643692930؛ چاپ سوم سال1392»؛
کتاب «عشق جایش تنگ است» نوشته سرکار خانم «آلیس مانرو»، نویسنده ی «کانادایی» و برگزیده ی «جایزه نوبل سال2013میلادی» است؛ ایشان در داستانهای نخستین خویش، به مضامینی همچون «بلوغ»، و «کنار آمدن با خانواده»، پرداخته اند؛ اما با گذر سن، توجه ایشان به میانسالی و تنهایی بیشتر شده است؛ شهر مهم‌ترین عنصر در آثار «مانرو» است، و مضامینی همچون «زندگی روزمره» و «مسائل زنان» از دیگر شاخصه های آثار ایشان به شمار می‌آیند؛ بیشتر داستانهای «مانرو» نخستین بار در نشریه ی معتبر «نیویورکر» منتشر شدند، و در مجموع از ایشان چهارده مجموعه داستان، و پنج مجلد گزیده داستان، منتشر شده است
نقل نمونه متن از کتاب «عشق جایش تنگ است»: (نفرت، دوستی، معاشقه، مهرورزی، ازدواج: سال‌ها پیش، قبل از آن‌که قطارها از حرکت روی خطوطِ فرعیِ ریل بایستند، زنی با پیشانی بلند و لک و پیسی، و موهای فری که به قرمزی می‌زد، به ایستگاه راه آهن آمد، و درباره ی انتقال اثاث خانه، پرس و جو کرد؛ مأمور ایستگاه اغلب زن‌ها را دست می‌انداخت، به خصوص زن‌های ساده را، که به نظر می‌رسید از این نوع گفتگو خوش‌شان می‌آمد؛ طوری گفت: «اثاث؟!» که انگار هیچ‌کس قبلاً اینکار را نکرده است؛ «خب، حالا بگو ببینم چه جور اسباب و اثاثیه ای هستن؟»؛ میز نهارخوری و شش صندلی. سرویس کامل اتاق خواب، کاناپه، میز جلو مبلی، میزهای کنار مبل، آباژور پایه دار، همینطور یک کابینت و یک بوفه؛ «اوه، پس بگو می‌خوای اثاث یه خونه رو بار بزنی دیگه.»؛ «نه بابا، اون قدرا هم نیس وسایل آشپزخونه که اصلاً توش نیس و وسایل اتاق خواب هم یه نفره س.»؛
طوری دندان قروچه میکرد که انگار برای دعوا آمده بود؛ «پس باید با کامیون بفرستیش.»؛ «نه، میخوام با قطار باشه؛ می‌فرستمش غرب، به ساسکاچوان.»؛ با مرد با صدای بلند حرف می‌زد، به نحویکه انگار با یک کر یا کودن طرف است، و اِشکال خاصی در تلفظ کلماتش بود؛ مثل این‌که لهجه داشت؛ مرد فکر کرد هلندی است ـ هلندی‌ها آن اطراف رفت و آمد داشتند ـ اما مثل زن‌های هلندی قوی‌هیکل نبود، و پوست صورتیِ لطیف، و موهای بور نداشت؛ نسبتاً جوان بود، سنش به چهل هم نمی‌رسید، اما چه فایده؟ نمیشد گفت دختر شاهِ پریان است
مرد سر کارش برگشت؛ «اول باید یه کامیون بگیری و اسباب و اثاثیه رو از هر جایی هستن بیاری اینجا؛ باید ببینیم اصلاً تو قطاری که از ساسکاچوان رد میشه، جای خالی هس یا نه؛ اگه نبود، باید هماهنگ کنی که یکی اونا رو بین راه، مثلاً تو رِجاینا تحویل بگیره.»؛ «مقصد نهایی گِدنیا س.؛ قطار ازش رد میشه.»؛ مرد نقشه ی راهنما را که از مقوای روغنی بود، و با میخ به دیوار نصب شده بود، پایین آورد و پرسید که چطور نوشته میشود؛ مدادی را که با زنجیر آویزان بود برداشت، و روی تکه کاغذی که از کیفش بیرون آورده بود نوشت «گدنیا»؛ «مردمش کجایی ان؟» زن گفت که نمیداند؛ مداد را از زن پس گرفت، تا خط به خط راهنما را بخواند؛
اون اطراف اکثراً یا اهل «چک» هستن، یا «مجارستانی»، یا «اوکراینی»؛ اینها را که میگفت، به ذهنش خطور کرد که شاید آن زن هم اهل یکی از همان کشورها باشد؛ ��صلاً چه فرقی میکرد، او فقط داشت یک سری اطلاعات به زن میداد؛ «ایناهاش، اینجاس، خوبه، تو مسیره»؛ «بله، خب میخوام جمعه بفرستمشون؛ میتونین یه کاری برام بکنین؟»؛ «میتونیم تحویلش بگیریم، اما معلوم نیس چه روزی به دستشون برسه؛ به اولویت بندیهاشون بستگی داره؛ اونجا کسی هست تحویلشون بگیره؟»؛ «بله»؛ «جمعه یه قطارِ باری ـ مسافری هست، دو و هجده دقیقه ی عصر؛ کامیون جمعه صبح بارشون میزنه؛ همینجا توی شهر زندگی میکنی؟»؛ زن در حالیکه نشانی را مینوشت، سرش را به نشان تایید پایین آورد؛ خیابان «اگزیبیشن»، پلاک106؛)؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 27/09/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
June 14, 2015
A superb introduction to one of the best writers in the English language. (If you can get a copy of 1996's Selected Stories you'll be able to sample even more of her early work - since this collection starts with her fourth book.)
I've read some of these multiple times, studied them, quoted them, laughed over them and recognized myself and people I know in them.
What she does with the short story form is astonishing. And while she's known for her stories set in a particular area of Southwestern Ontario that's as distinct as Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, there are also stories set in Albania, Vancouver, Toronto, Nova Scotia and (very memorably) Miles City, Montana.
I really should read this all the way through again and write a proper review.
I've read some of these multiple times, studied them, quoted them, laughed over them and recognized myself and people I know in them.
What she does with the short story form is astonishing. And while she's known for her stories set in a particular area of Southwestern Ontario that's as distinct as Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, there are also stories set in Albania, Vancouver, Toronto, Nova Scotia and (very memorably) Miles City, Montana.
I really should read this all the way through again and write a proper review.
November 1, 2017
WWI. A young librarian receives a letter from a soldier who used to come to the Library to read, unbeknown to her. He declares his love for her and she falls in love with a stranger. When the war is over and the man returns home, the librarian finds out that he was previously engaged to another woman. She never sees his face or talks to him, but his words leave track on her heart forever.
Years pass. A tragic accident in the piano factory where the soldier used to work. The widowed owner of the business returns some of his books to the Library and he falls in love with the Librarian.
Years pass. WWII is over. The woman, a widow now, has an unexpected meeting with the past where everything seems possible, but it's finally only an illusion, like love, desire and the ghost of youth.
Years pass. A tragic accident in the piano factory where the soldier used to work. The widowed owner of the business returns some of his books to the Library and he falls in love with the Librarian.
Years pass. WWII is over. The woman, a widow now, has an unexpected meeting with the past where everything seems possible, but it's finally only an illusion, like love, desire and the ghost of youth.
April 23, 2019
Come primo approccio ad Alice Munro scelgo la via del best of e dopo 17 racconti di fila - parecchio lunghi - la sensazione è quella di risalire al pelo dell’acqua dopo un’apnea infinita.
A volerla mettere sul piano musicale, Munro intende il racconto come i gruppi prog rock degli anni Settanta intendevano la canzone. Quindi la sensazione di raggiungere il livello di saturazione è dietro l’angolo.
Resta il fatto che, in generale, sono quasi tutti davvero belli.
Disseminati ci sono piani temporali diversi, richiami, flashback, racconti nel racconto e strutture articolate da romanzo condensato. Alcuni racconti avrebbero probabilmente una resa migliore se un po’ alleggeriti.
Le donne di cui parla - le vere protagoniste - più che sole mi sono sembrate autonome, con la necessità e il desiderio di essere e sentirsi libere. Sono donne che arrivano all’autonomia rinunciando sia alla famiglia di origine sia ai propri uomini, spesso con un’infanzia rurale e colma di difficoltà alle spalle.
Munro mescola amori, tradimenti, rancori, rapporti complicati tra genitori e figli, tentativi di capire e capirsi.
La scrittura ha una lucidità invidiabile. Lo stile è accessibile e piano, funzionale. Munro ha la capacità di descrivere in modo semplice e analitico allo stesso tempo. E, a suo modo, ha già la caratura del classico.
Ambienti: tra Vancouver, l’Ontario e il nord degli Stati Uniti.
Magari tra un po’, ma di sicuro leggerò altro di suo. [78/100]
Botte da re @@@
La Mendicante @@@
La stagione dei tacchini @@
Le lune di Giove @@@@
Il percorso dell’amore @@@@
Miles City, Montana @@@@
Amica della mia gioventú @@@@
Meneseteung @@@
Diversamente @@@
Lasciarsi andare @@@
La vergine albanese @@@@@
Un posto selvaggio @@@
Vandali @@@@
Nemico, amico, amante... @@@@
Salvate il mietitore @@@
In fuga @@@@
The Bear Came Over the Mountain @@@@
– Una volta mia madre ha bruciato tremila dollari, – dissi. – Tremila dollari, dentro quella stufa.
Emise un altro fischio, di tonalità diversa. – In che senso? Ci ha buttato un assegno?
– No, no. In contanti. Lo ha fatto di proposito. È andata in banca e se li è fatti mettere tutti in una scatola da scarpe. Li ha portati a casa e li ha messi nella stufa. Pochi per volta, per non fare la fiamma troppo alta. Mio padre è rimasto lí a guardarla.
– Ma si può sapere cosa dici? – chiese Bob Marks. – Pensavo che foste poverissimi.
– Infatti. Poverissimi.
– E allora come faceva ad avere tremila dollari? Sarebbe come dire trentamila oggi. Se basta. Anche piú di trentamila oggi.
– Era la sua eredità, – dissi. – Glieli aveva lasciati suo padre. Suo padre morí a Seattle e le lasciò tremila dollari, e lei li bruciò perché lo odiava. Non li voleva, i suoi soldi. Lo odiava.
– Una bella dose di odio, – disse Bob Marks.
– Non è questo il punto. Né l’odio di lei, né stabilire se lui fosse abbastanza odioso da meritarselo. È poco probabile che lo fosse. Non è questo il punto.
– I soldi sí, però, – disse lui. – I soldi sono sempre il punto.
– No. Il punto è che mio padre glielo lasciò fare. Il punto per me, almeno. Mio padre restò lí a guardare senza protestare mai. E se qualcuno avesse cercato di fermarla, lui l’avrebbe difesa. Io lo considero un gesto d’amore.
A volerla mettere sul piano musicale, Munro intende il racconto come i gruppi prog rock degli anni Settanta intendevano la canzone. Quindi la sensazione di raggiungere il livello di saturazione è dietro l’angolo.
Resta il fatto che, in generale, sono quasi tutti davvero belli.
Disseminati ci sono piani temporali diversi, richiami, flashback, racconti nel racconto e strutture articolate da romanzo condensato. Alcuni racconti avrebbero probabilmente una resa migliore se un po’ alleggeriti.
Le donne di cui parla - le vere protagoniste - più che sole mi sono sembrate autonome, con la necessità e il desiderio di essere e sentirsi libere. Sono donne che arrivano all’autonomia rinunciando sia alla famiglia di origine sia ai propri uomini, spesso con un’infanzia rurale e colma di difficoltà alle spalle.
Munro mescola amori, tradimenti, rancori, rapporti complicati tra genitori e figli, tentativi di capire e capirsi.
La scrittura ha una lucidità invidiabile. Lo stile è accessibile e piano, funzionale. Munro ha la capacità di descrivere in modo semplice e analitico allo stesso tempo. E, a suo modo, ha già la caratura del classico.
Ambienti: tra Vancouver, l’Ontario e il nord degli Stati Uniti.
Magari tra un po’, ma di sicuro leggerò altro di suo. [78/100]
Botte da re @@@
La Mendicante @@@
La stagione dei tacchini @@
Le lune di Giove @@@@
Il percorso dell’amore @@@@
Miles City, Montana @@@@
Amica della mia gioventú @@@@
Meneseteung @@@
Diversamente @@@
Lasciarsi andare @@@
La vergine albanese @@@@@
Un posto selvaggio @@@
Vandali @@@@
Nemico, amico, amante... @@@@
Salvate il mietitore @@@
In fuga @@@@
The Bear Came Over the Mountain @@@@
– Una volta mia madre ha bruciato tremila dollari, – dissi. – Tremila dollari, dentro quella stufa.
Emise un altro fischio, di tonalità diversa. – In che senso? Ci ha buttato un assegno?
– No, no. In contanti. Lo ha fatto di proposito. È andata in banca e se li è fatti mettere tutti in una scatola da scarpe. Li ha portati a casa e li ha messi nella stufa. Pochi per volta, per non fare la fiamma troppo alta. Mio padre è rimasto lí a guardarla.
– Ma si può sapere cosa dici? – chiese Bob Marks. – Pensavo che foste poverissimi.
– Infatti. Poverissimi.
– E allora come faceva ad avere tremila dollari? Sarebbe come dire trentamila oggi. Se basta. Anche piú di trentamila oggi.
– Era la sua eredità, – dissi. – Glieli aveva lasciati suo padre. Suo padre morí a Seattle e le lasciò tremila dollari, e lei li bruciò perché lo odiava. Non li voleva, i suoi soldi. Lo odiava.
– Una bella dose di odio, – disse Bob Marks.
– Non è questo il punto. Né l’odio di lei, né stabilire se lui fosse abbastanza odioso da meritarselo. È poco probabile che lo fosse. Non è questo il punto.
– I soldi sí, però, – disse lui. – I soldi sono sempre il punto.
– No. Il punto è che mio padre glielo lasciò fare. Il punto per me, almeno. Mio padre restò lí a guardare senza protestare mai. E se qualcuno avesse cercato di fermarla, lui l’avrebbe difesa. Io lo considero un gesto d’amore.
December 11, 2017
I've read most of My Best Stories from the collections they originally appeared in, but this was a welcome re-acquaintance; a reunion with the nearly forgotten. Here's a longish passage from "Miles City, Montana" that demonstrates why Alice Munro is the master, my guru:
Most of the stories in this fine collection have that effect on me: the safe shock; the imaginings of different outcomes, a different life. Munro knows people, knows women, and although I am no more likely to run off to Victoria to open a book store than I am to fall in with a failed hotelier or lonesome taxidermist, the women in these stories might as well be me, so honestly are they portrayed.
I have no desire to tear apart these stories to find their working parts and meshing gears but will, rather, enjoy luxuriating in their after effects; the safe shocks which are anything but trashy.
Disappeared.
But she swam. She held her breath and came up swimming.
What a chain of lucky links.
That was all we spoke about - luck. But I was compelled to picture the opposite. At this moment, we could have been filling out forms. Meg removed from us, Meg's body being prepared for shipment. To Vancouver - where we had never noticed such a thing as a graveyard - or to Ontario? The scribbled drawings she had made this morning would still be in the back seat of the car. How could this be borne all at once, how did people bear it? The plump, sweet shoulders and hands and feet, the fine brown hair, the rather satisfied, secretive expression - all exactly the same as when she had been alive. The most ordinary tragedy. A child drowned in a swimming pool at noon on a sunny day. Things tidied up quickly. The pool opens as usual at two o'clock. The lifeguard is a bit shaken up and gets the afternoon off. She drives away with her boyfriend in the Roto-Rooter truck. The body sealed away in some kind of shipping coffin. Sedatives, phone calls, arrangements. Such a sudden vacancy, a blind sinking and shifting. Waking up groggy from the pills, thinking for a moment it wasn't true. Thinking if only we hadn't stopped, if only we hadn't taken this route, if only they hadn't let us use the pool. Probably no one would ever have known about the comb.
There's something trashy about this kind of imagining, isn't there? Something shameful. Laying your finger on the wire to get the safe shock, feeling a bit of what it's like, then pulling back.
Most of the stories in this fine collection have that effect on me: the safe shock; the imaginings of different outcomes, a different life. Munro knows people, knows women, and although I am no more likely to run off to Victoria to open a book store than I am to fall in with a failed hotelier or lonesome taxidermist, the women in these stories might as well be me, so honestly are they portrayed.
I have no desire to tear apart these stories to find their working parts and meshing gears but will, rather, enjoy luxuriating in their after effects; the safe shocks which are anything but trashy.
December 11, 2017
I finally read Munro consumed by guilt at not having read the only Canadian author to ever win a Nobel Prize for literature. This is a collection of short stories covering her whole career. I was a bit leery of Munro because I thought that it would be all icy glances over the dishes. The stories are actually pretty much that kind of thing, but they are quite good.
She writes well, although not really well. The third person pieces are more effective because she always writes in the same voice and that makes it seem that all the first person pieces are about the same characters. She writes very much about middle class problems in small towns. I found the whole to be less than the sum of its parts. While many of the stories are outstanding, she can get a bit samey and there is not really as much variety as there might be. I think she is good at short stories, but she would not make my top ten for short story writers. A lot of her writing is daring in a safe kind of way. For those who are Canadian, it is very much CBC Radio 1 writing and would appeal to that kind of crowd.
She's good, but not really good and I am unlikely to read anymore. She's slightly overrated in the end.
She writes well, although not really well. The third person pieces are more effective because she always writes in the same voice and that makes it seem that all the first person pieces are about the same characters. She writes very much about middle class problems in small towns. I found the whole to be less than the sum of its parts. While many of the stories are outstanding, she can get a bit samey and there is not really as much variety as there might be. I think she is good at short stories, but she would not make my top ten for short story writers. A lot of her writing is daring in a safe kind of way. For those who are Canadian, it is very much CBC Radio 1 writing and would appeal to that kind of crowd.
She's good, but not really good and I am unlikely to read anymore. She's slightly overrated in the end.
May 23, 2012
The copy before me is from the library, such a pristine copy too, sad, since anything by Munro from any library should be tattered and dog-eared from the wear and tear of readers...
But maybe the past patrons did the same thing I plan to do: I read five stories out of this collection and I decided, firmly and with conviction, to set this copy aside and purchase my own copy. This is a collection of stories to be savored for a lifetime.
I could not believe the quality of the writing.
The title story was jawdroppingly amazing. The prose was flawless and beautifully dense, and the characters were more alive than many characters inhabiting full-fledged novels. Without revealing the story, I'll just say that I was amazed by the somewhat hidden allegory Munro makes to the act of reading itself, and to the allegory on realities of the mind versus true reality. But even if those two points are missed, the story is still just as fantastic. Hell, it even works as kind of a sad romance if that's what you're looking for... but it's way more meatier than that.
Okay, technically, I haven't read the book in it's entirety yet, but I assure I will soon...
Highly Recommended, if just for the the title story...
But maybe the past patrons did the same thing I plan to do: I read five stories out of this collection and I decided, firmly and with conviction, to set this copy aside and purchase my own copy. This is a collection of stories to be savored for a lifetime.
I could not believe the quality of the writing.
The title story was jawdroppingly amazing. The prose was flawless and beautifully dense, and the characters were more alive than many characters inhabiting full-fledged novels. Without revealing the story, I'll just say that I was amazed by the somewhat hidden allegory Munro makes to the act of reading itself, and to the allegory on realities of the mind versus true reality. But even if those two points are missed, the story is still just as fantastic. Hell, it even works as kind of a sad romance if that's what you're looking for... but it's way more meatier than that.
Okay, technically, I haven't read the book in it's entirety yet, but I assure I will soon...
Highly Recommended, if just for the the title story...
December 11, 2017
I have to admit to ignorance - I had not heard of Alice Munro until she was awarded the Nobel prize for literature. But having heard of her, I am glad I did as these are excellent short stories. It's difficult to decide whether to judge a book like this according to the best stories or the average. The average standard is very high, but inconsistent. Not everything is brilliant, although all are good. And amongst the stories are some truly 5 start gems such as The Bear Came Over the Mountain. You never feel as if the short story is an unsatisfying or truncated sort of book - these are all fully formed works of writing.
I do not advise sitting down and reading this book end-to-end, as although all the stories are unique there is a commonality of tone and to a lesser extent theme. This is more a dip in and savour each story over time sort of book.
I do not advise sitting down and reading this book end-to-end, as although all the stories are unique there is a commonality of tone and to a lesser extent theme. This is more a dip in and savour each story over time sort of book.
February 21, 2015
Se oggi riesco ad apprezzare maggiormente il genere racconto è grazie soprattutto alla scrittura elegante e raffinata della Munro.
Questa raccolta che raccoglie 17 racconti scelti personalmente dall'autrice sono un excursus del meglio della sua produzione. Le tematiche riscontrate sono quelle che i lettori della Munro hanno imparato con il tempo ad apprezzare. Le tematiche spaziano dall'essere se stessi alla sessualità sino alla religione. Le donne della Munro sono donne che cercano il loro equilibrio, la loro autenticità, anche nella disonestà, come ammette Georgia in "Diversamente" ("Autentico, ma disonesto").
Lasciatevi andare anche voi, spalancate cuore, mente e addentratevi in queste storie in cui la Munro ci legge dentro.
Questa raccolta che raccoglie 17 racconti scelti personalmente dall'autrice sono un excursus del meglio della sua produzione. Le tematiche riscontrate sono quelle che i lettori della Munro hanno imparato con il tempo ad apprezzare. Le tematiche spaziano dall'essere se stessi alla sessualità sino alla religione. Le donne della Munro sono donne che cercano il loro equilibrio, la loro autenticità, anche nella disonestà, come ammette Georgia in "Diversamente" ("Autentico, ma disonesto").
Lasciatevi andare anche voi, spalancate cuore, mente e addentratevi in queste storie in cui la Munro ci legge dentro.
January 14, 2016
داستان های زیبایی بودونکته بسیارجالب این که محوراصلی وسبک نوشتاری برپایه نامه ونامه نگاری است که برایم بسیارتازگی داشت.قطعابقیه آثارش راهم خواهم خواند
Read
June 23, 2024I have a genealogy hobby, and recently I showed my research to some older relatives, who looked over my lists of names and dates and tried their best to fill in the (often sordid) human details my sources couldn’t provide. Returning to this Munro collection after that, I was struck by how similar the two experiences felt: Munro’s stories, with their retrospective slant, recurring settings, tangled family relationships, meandering plots, and deeply ambivalent takeaways are basically the literary equivalent of sitting down and listening to an older relative free-associate about family history. Even Munro’s periodic flashes of brutality—a gory workplace accident in “Carried Away,” loving descriptions of poultry butchering in “The Turkey Season,” the eponymous beating of “Royal Beatings”—are familiar to me from family members who have never let their Christian virtue or middle-class propriety keep them from relishing a bloody detail. And, as in all families, nearly every Munro story leaves the reader with the abiding feeling that the things you really want to know will never be told at all.
The downside, for me at least, is that as much as Munro’s brilliant prose and human insight elevate her stories beyond simple family gossip, there is still something a little… soporific about them when taken one after the other. There are only so many times I can return to the claustrophobic interior dramas of these mid-century rural Ontarians before I start to yearn for some excitement, some conclusiveness, some feeling of winding up in a different place from where I began—or at the very least a sense that my author recognizes these might be things some of her readers desire on occasion. I don’t consider myself an especially plot-focused reader, but when the climactic note of two consecutive stories consists of a character making an unexpected facial expression, I admit my tolerance for plotlessness is strained. I didn’t finish this collection; I made it through the first 4 ½ stories, after having read the title piece last fall—in all, maybe 170 pages or so. It would have become far too laborious for me, and in turn probably unfair to Munro, to have plowed through all 560 pages just for completion’s sake. In the future I’d rather dip into her work intermittently, one story at a time, with long rests between.
A writing professor whom I greatly admire revealed once that, as much as she loves Munro now, she couldn’t stand her work when she was younger. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say I can’t stand Munro, but I do wonder if she’s an author who will grow on me with age, as I find myself contemplating long-buried histories and trying to trace the ripples of the minor-seeming actions of my own past.
The downside, for me at least, is that as much as Munro’s brilliant prose and human insight elevate her stories beyond simple family gossip, there is still something a little… soporific about them when taken one after the other. There are only so many times I can return to the claustrophobic interior dramas of these mid-century rural Ontarians before I start to yearn for some excitement, some conclusiveness, some feeling of winding up in a different place from where I began—or at the very least a sense that my author recognizes these might be things some of her readers desire on occasion. I don’t consider myself an especially plot-focused reader, but when the climactic note of two consecutive stories consists of a character making an unexpected facial expression, I admit my tolerance for plotlessness is strained. I didn’t finish this collection; I made it through the first 4 ½ stories, after having read the title piece last fall—in all, maybe 170 pages or so. It would have become far too laborious for me, and in turn probably unfair to Munro, to have plowed through all 560 pages just for completion’s sake. In the future I’d rather dip into her work intermittently, one story at a time, with long rests between.
A writing professor whom I greatly admire revealed once that, as much as she loves Munro now, she couldn’t stand her work when she was younger. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say I can’t stand Munro, but I do wonder if she’s an author who will grow on me with age, as I find myself contemplating long-buried histories and trying to trace the ripples of the minor-seeming actions of my own past.
September 26, 2017
4.5 stars - The writing and characters are superb. Maybe I read too many sci-fi and thrillers but I kept anticipating crazy things were going to happen in some of the stories and they didn't. Great stuff even if you aren't getting a lot of action.
December 11, 2017
I admit to jumping on the bandwagon with this one. Munro won the Nobel prize and I - being Canadian, a fellow alumna of Western and a lover of literature - was embarrassed to say that I'd never read anything by her. At least that I could recall.
I really enjoyed the first couple of stories in this collection, which followed the same characters. They were relatable, they lived in southwestern Ontario and inhabited the world of higher education. I liked that I could picture the setting, and it brought the characters to life for me. But the more I read, the more I began to get bored, and had to set the book down for long periods of time. I suppose short stories are meant to be enjoyed in small spurts, maybe reading this like a novel was not how it was intended to be consumed. In any case, reading several stories back-to-back made me realise that the majority of the main characters in these stories are very similar: female, middle-aged (or older) and unhappy in some way. The stories became depressing, and kind of predictable. Aren't there any happy middle-aged women who don't cheat on their husbands, or haven't been cheated on by their husbands, living in southwestern Ontario?
I'm happy for Munro and her international prize. Maybe I'm missing something. It must be me.
I really enjoyed the first couple of stories in this collection, which followed the same characters. They were relatable, they lived in southwestern Ontario and inhabited the world of higher education. I liked that I could picture the setting, and it brought the characters to life for me. But the more I read, the more I began to get bored, and had to set the book down for long periods of time. I suppose short stories are meant to be enjoyed in small spurts, maybe reading this like a novel was not how it was intended to be consumed. In any case, reading several stories back-to-back made me realise that the majority of the main characters in these stories are very similar: female, middle-aged (or older) and unhappy in some way. The stories became depressing, and kind of predictable. Aren't there any happy middle-aged women who don't cheat on their husbands, or haven't been cheated on by their husbands, living in southwestern Ontario?
I'm happy for Munro and her international prize. Maybe I'm missing something. It must be me.
April 16, 2016
کتاب مجموعه سه داستان کوتاه یا بهتر بگم ناوِلت به نام های
نفرت، دوستی، معاشقه مهورزی ازدواج 1
دور افتاده 2
و منزلگاهی در برهوت 3
اولین باری بود که از آلیس مونرو میخوندم.. متن کتاب به خوبی ترجمه شده بود اما شیوه ی نگارش کتاب مورد علاقه من نبود و بشدت از خواندنش خسته شدم...
نویسنده انگار در حال حرف زدن بود مث یه آدم وراج که همینجور حرف میزند و حرف میزند
منم خسته شدم و 40 صفحه آخر رو نخوندم و خیلی از صفحات رو رد کردم
اما توصیف های فوق العاده ای داشت ، جوری که ا��گار به تماشای یک فیلم نشسته اید
موضوعات کتابهای آلیس مونرو اغلب به مسائلی پیرامون خانواده و یا بلوغ و مشکلات زنانه
..............
در این کتب هم داستان اول پیرامون بلوغ و ازدواج بود.. و دیدی که افراد به زنی مسن دارند و یا این ناخردی و سادگی شخصیتی به نام یوهانا
داستان دوم در مورد شخصی بود که علاقه مند کسی بود که به جنگ رفته بود و نامه مینوشت..اما هنگام برگشت از جنگ، زن متوجه شد که آن مرد نامزدی داشته و پس از برگشت به اجبار با اون ازدواج کرده.. هرچند که خودش امیدی به بازگشت نداشته..که شاید بمیرد در جنگ و مجبور به ازدواج نباشد
یکبار خوندنش بد نیست
نخوندین هم چیزی از دست ندادید :)
نفرت، دوستی، معاشقه مهورزی ازدواج 1
دور افتاده 2
و منزلگاهی در برهوت 3
اولین باری بود که از آلیس مونرو میخوندم.. متن کتاب به خوبی ترجمه شده بود اما شیوه ی نگارش کتاب مورد علاقه من نبود و بشدت از خواندنش خسته شدم...
نویسنده انگار در حال حرف زدن بود مث یه آدم وراج که همینجور حرف میزند و حرف میزند
منم خسته شدم و 40 صفحه آخر رو نخوندم و خیلی از صفحات رو رد کردم
اما توصیف های فوق العاده ای داشت ، جوری که ا��گار به تماشای یک فیلم نشسته اید
موضوعات کتابهای آلیس مونرو اغلب به مسائلی پیرامون خانواده و یا بلوغ و مشکلات زنانه
..............
در این کتب هم داستان اول پیرامون بلوغ و ازدواج بود.. و دیدی که افراد به زنی مسن دارند و یا این ناخردی و سادگی شخصیتی به نام یوهانا
داستان دوم در مورد شخصی بود که علاقه مند کسی بود که به جنگ رفته بود و نامه مینوشت..اما هنگام برگشت از جنگ، زن متوجه شد که آن مرد نامزدی داشته و پس از برگشت به اجبار با اون ازدواج کرده.. هرچند که خودش امیدی به بازگشت نداشته..که شاید بمیرد در جنگ و مجبور به ازدواج نباشد
یکبار خوندنش بد نیست
نخوندین هم چیزی از دست ندادید :)
December 11, 2015
I admire the fact that the apparent ordinary existence can be intriguing in her stories and that I did picture the small town Canada living and feeling. But around 500 pages of short stories portraying females in some kind of distress was maybe too much to read all along. I suggest savour each story giving some time from one to another. There were some brilliant stories, which moved me deeply.
May 15, 2020
What a lovely read. She is the master of the short story, with complex, subtle, surprising stories. She writes more involvement in a short story than other authors can fit into a novel. Usually when I’m reading a book of short stories I get to one I don’t like and I put the book down but not here. She has different timelines and many characters and they all arrive at the end together.
And there is the sadness that runs underneath all the stories, maybe bc she was a child during the depression?
My favorite story is the last one in the book, The Bear came Over the Mountain.
And there is the sadness that runs underneath all the stories, maybe bc she was a child during the depression?
My favorite story is the last one in the book, The Bear came Over the Mountain.
December 11, 2017
Prosaic Perfection!
If I were given only two words to describe Alice Munro achievement “prosaic perfection” would have to be it.
I admit it was thoroughly snobbish of me. It took my own citizenship, an eminent literature professor’s laudatory (and hortatory) analysis, and – as though these were not enough – a Nobel Prize to get to know and instantly becomeIf I were given only two words to describe Alice Munro achievement 'prosaic perfection' would have to be it.
I admit it was thoroughly snobbish of me. It took my own Canadian citizenship, an eminent literature professor's laudatory (and hortatory) analysis, and ' as though these were not enough ' a Nobel Prize to get acquainted and instantly become besotted with Alice Munro's literary genius.
Yes. Once I looked, it was love at first sight.
'My Best Stories' is a mixed bag, but it is a potent mix. It commences with 'Royal Beatings' of a 'nine, ten, eleven, twelve' year-old Rosie. These all-too-common fatherly affections left such a bloody imprint on her psyche that even a master like Munro could not contain here to a single story. The 'Stories' continue pausing in 'Miles City, Montana' (perhaps the most philosophical pit stop in the collection) where a child's near-death experience forces a mother to an existential what-if blame game. 'Differently' is another story with a philosophical bend, but exploring alternate modus vivendi, one in which we and the people we truly care about were actually (not just conceptually) mortal, it aspires to applied rather than speculative philosophy. 'Wilderness Station' is a Cain and Able story with a twist and an axe that cuts deep into the future while 'Vandals' is a subtle but thoroughly disturbing sexual abuse story.
The penultimate story in the collection, 'Runaway', is pure literary perfection. Yes, the prof that introduced me to Munro did so with this story, but, having finally read it, I must admit that do not think that reading a 400-page novel could engender as much emotional kerfuffle as Munro did in these mere 35 pages.
The final story, 'The Bear that came over the Mountain', is unusual on two accounts. First (although it is about a woman) it is told from a man's perspective, and second, it is a quirky love story that depicts a woman who paradoxically finds her love only after having lost everything else, including her very self.
These, it should be stated, are just my notable mentions each of which easily pays the price of admission to the entire collection. But note that, masterful plots and tabloid-worthy-life- shattering events are the least reasons you invest yourself in them.
The Devil is in the Details:
One of the first thing that strikes a reader about Munro's stories is her obsessive and fastidious attention to detail. 'The smell of cedar bush', a surreptitious look, 'a squashed leaf' or 'a Popsicle stick' matter to her because she knows that despite our ostensible fascination with tawdry extremism it is precisely these minute and seemingly insignificant details that weave any semblance of meaning into our otherwise meaningless lives.
Free Will?:
Reflecting back I see that the invocations of Spinoza in the 'Royal Beatings' which opens this collection might not have been wholly adventitious. The self-making, progressive, and free willing individuals we are taught to see ourselves as are the very pillars of a society where jurisprudence, morality, and progress are possible. But Munro courts the Spinoza-like notion that the forces which drive our actions are, essentially, alien to us; that self-help may be self-delusion, and that free will is nothing more than the past inexorably willing itself on to the present all the while feigning volition.
It is, after all, this burden of history that drives the 'royally' abused Rosie to her future sadomasochistic tendencies in 'The Beggar Maid'; that engenders 'a tongue-tied' grandchildren to a murderous grandfather in the 'Wilderness Station', and that explains a seemingly inexplicable rampage of the saintly born-again Christians in 'Vandals'. As Georgia, a character in 'Differently', succinctly puts it: 'People make momentous shifts, but not the changes they imagine'.
Indeed, 'shift' are not 'changes' but realizing this ' as Spinoza urges us to, understanding our limitations, and discovering the forces that surreptitiously force themselves on us maybe the only freedom we actually have. To put it another way (as the aforementioned stories suggest) while we may be products we are also producers - and herein lies the possibility of ethics.
The Rosetta Stone to a Woman's Soul:
Each story in the collection is its own, self-enclosed, moral arena. We may crave clarity, resolve, and moral rectitude but, much like in the world around us, there are not saints nor martyrs in Munro's universes. As their (re)creator she (and each of her characters) is profoundly moral but never moralizing.
There is only one sacrosanct commandment that guides Munro's Promethean project: and that is to pour the ineffable essence a woman's soul on the page and allow the reader to taste and delight in it. It is - and I am not being hyperbolic - a well-neigh tactile experience and one would be a fool not to indulge in it.
If I were given only two words to describe Alice Munro achievement “prosaic perfection” would have to be it.
I admit it was thoroughly snobbish of me. It took my own citizenship, an eminent literature professor’s laudatory (and hortatory) analysis, and – as though these were not enough – a Nobel Prize to get to know and instantly becomeIf I were given only two words to describe Alice Munro achievement 'prosaic perfection' would have to be it.
I admit it was thoroughly snobbish of me. It took my own Canadian citizenship, an eminent literature professor's laudatory (and hortatory) analysis, and ' as though these were not enough ' a Nobel Prize to get acquainted and instantly become besotted with Alice Munro's literary genius.
Yes. Once I looked, it was love at first sight.
'My Best Stories' is a mixed bag, but it is a potent mix. It commences with 'Royal Beatings' of a 'nine, ten, eleven, twelve' year-old Rosie. These all-too-common fatherly affections left such a bloody imprint on her psyche that even a master like Munro could not contain here to a single story. The 'Stories' continue pausing in 'Miles City, Montana' (perhaps the most philosophical pit stop in the collection) where a child's near-death experience forces a mother to an existential what-if blame game. 'Differently' is another story with a philosophical bend, but exploring alternate modus vivendi, one in which we and the people we truly care about were actually (not just conceptually) mortal, it aspires to applied rather than speculative philosophy. 'Wilderness Station' is a Cain and Able story with a twist and an axe that cuts deep into the future while 'Vandals' is a subtle but thoroughly disturbing sexual abuse story.
The penultimate story in the collection, 'Runaway', is pure literary perfection. Yes, the prof that introduced me to Munro did so with this story, but, having finally read it, I must admit that do not think that reading a 400-page novel could engender as much emotional kerfuffle as Munro did in these mere 35 pages.
The final story, 'The Bear that came over the Mountain', is unusual on two accounts. First (although it is about a woman) it is told from a man's perspective, and second, it is a quirky love story that depicts a woman who paradoxically finds her love only after having lost everything else, including her very self.
These, it should be stated, are just my notable mentions each of which easily pays the price of admission to the entire collection. But note that, masterful plots and tabloid-worthy-life- shattering events are the least reasons you invest yourself in them.
The Devil is in the Details:
One of the first thing that strikes a reader about Munro's stories is her obsessive and fastidious attention to detail. 'The smell of cedar bush', a surreptitious look, 'a squashed leaf' or 'a Popsicle stick' matter to her because she knows that despite our ostensible fascination with tawdry extremism it is precisely these minute and seemingly insignificant details that weave any semblance of meaning into our otherwise meaningless lives.
Free Will?:
Reflecting back I see that the invocations of Spinoza in the 'Royal Beatings' which opens this collection might not have been wholly adventitious. The self-making, progressive, and free willing individuals we are taught to see ourselves as are the very pillars of a society where jurisprudence, morality, and progress are possible. But Munro courts the Spinoza-like notion that the forces which drive our actions are, essentially, alien to us; that self-help may be self-delusion, and that free will is nothing more than the past inexorably willing itself on to the present all the while feigning volition.
It is, after all, this burden of history that drives the 'royally' abused Rosie to her future sadomasochistic tendencies in 'The Beggar Maid'; that engenders 'a tongue-tied' grandchildren to a murderous grandfather in the 'Wilderness Station', and that explains a seemingly inexplicable rampage of the saintly born-again Christians in 'Vandals'. As Georgia, a character in 'Differently', succinctly puts it: 'People make momentous shifts, but not the changes they imagine'.
Indeed, 'shift' are not 'changes' but realizing this ' as Spinoza urges us to, understanding our limitations, and discovering the forces that surreptitiously force themselves on us maybe the only freedom we actually have. To put it another way (as the aforementioned stories suggest) while we may be products we are also producers - and herein lies the possibility of ethics.
The Rosetta Stone to a Woman's Soul:
Each story in the collection is its own, self-enclosed, moral arena. We may crave clarity, resolve, and moral rectitude but, much like in the world around us, there are not saints nor martyrs in Munro's universes. As their (re)creator she (and each of her characters) is profoundly moral but never moralizing.
There is only one sacrosanct commandment that guides Munro's Promethean project: and that is to pour the ineffable essence a woman's soul on the page and allow the reader to taste and delight in it. It is - and I am not being hyperbolic - a well-neigh tactile experience and one would be a fool not to indulge in it.
December 11, 2017
Alice! Is there anyone better? She was my introduction to short stories, and to Canadian literature. Her writing makes me pause on nearly every page and wonder how she can capture a relationship or an emotion as brilliantly as she does...and then I quickly devour the next page and am astounded all over again. Time, after time, after time…and oh, I’ve read these stories many times. I think this is my most-crinkle-paged book on the shelf, and maybe my most gifted book too (in fact, I handed it over rather aggressively as required Canadian reading to a friend who recently moved here from France.) This collection of seventeen stories chosen by Munro is arranged in the order they were written, so you can enjoy the evolution from one to the next…and then all over again.
- Ashley Audrain, Director of Publicity
- Ashley Audrain, Director of Publicity
May 27, 2023
Could I be more bored.
February 5, 2020
I racconti sono brevi, come quelli di Carver,spesso senza un vero finale, spesso con qualche traccia di mistero se non, addirittura, di sovrannaturale. Ogni racconto è scritto con una sorta di montaggio alternato cinematografico grazie alla tecnica dell'analessi, questo continuo distogliere l'attenzione dalla storia corrente, spesso risulta stancante per il lettore, altre volte si riscontra una leziosità nell'ingarbugliata trama che pare pleonastica.
__La stagione dei tacchini : La protagonista ricorda la stagione invernale alla Casa del tacchino.La vita al lavoro è scandita delle storie dei suoi colleghi:le due sorelle di mezz'età ridicole ed eccessive, Irene che era incinta, il vecchio ultraottantenne Henry ed il migliore di tutti :Herb Abbott, il caposquadra. C'è il burbero capo ed il figlio ignorante e spocchioso. La vita nella sezione macelleria viene descritta in modo estremamente reale senza la minima tentazione verso la poeticità sociale.
__Le lune di Giove. Canada. Una scrittrice con due figlie: una che si prende una pausa per andare in Messico con il fidanzato e l'altra in un voluto buen retiro; fa visita al padre malato. I medici mettono di fronte al padre la possibilità di potersi operare evitando la morte che sopraggiungerà nell'arco di tre mesi. Il padre da prima decide di abbandonarsi alla naturale fine poi però cambia idea. La figlia con stoicismo ed impassibilità sembra accettare qualsiasi brutta notizia le si presenti nella vita. Ho pensato che questo personaggio fosse il più autobiografico.
_Il percorso dell’amore. Una figlia ricorda la madre morta, una donna molto forte, piena di dignità, che dopo una vita molto dura da evangelica diventa anglicana dopo il matrimonio. La madre era stata allevata da una vicina di casa che l'aveva "salvata", sua madre, la nonna della protagonista,aveva tentato il suicidio. Nella famiglia c'è un eterna colpa da scontare. La protagonista si ricorda di un giorno particolare, quando arrivò sua zia Beryl sorella di sua madre, fu una domenica molto piacevole passata al ristorante. Due storie si erano ormai sedimentate in lei ma fu zia Beryl a farle capire che i fatti non erano proprio andati come li raccontava sua madre o come lei li aveva ricordati. La nonna non cercò di suicidarsi con la corda al collo, fu solo uno scherzo per scuotere il marito fedigrafo. I soldi lasciati dall'eredità del nonno, che si immagina si sia macchiato di una colpa atroce, furono bruciati dalla madre nel cammino ma non in presenza di suo padre, suo padre probabilmente lo seppe quel giorno in macchina ma approvò ugualmente il gesto della moglie, perchè erano i suoi soldi. La protagonista che da quella casa scappò a 15 anni per iscriversi ad una scuola di ragioneria, andare a lavorare poi in un'agenzia immobiliare e diventare in seguito proprietaria di un'agenzia, si chiede quali sofferenze e traumi si nascondano in quelle case di campagna, dove la gente seppur povera riesce a mantenere la propria dignità.
__Miles City, Montana. Una donna ricorda il viaggio in macchina in Montana nel '61 con l'ex marito e le due figlie piccole, ma come accade sempre nelle sue storie minime ricorda che quel giorno ricordò la morte di un suo quasi coetaneo, il bambino Steve Gauley , ripescato dal padre vicino al fiume. Il bambino era completamente coperto di fango e foglie. Al funerale del piccolo i suoi genitori sembravano aver accettato quella morte infantile come un accadimento solito, forse per la mortalità alta di quegli anni. Proseguendo il ricordo del viaggio, racconta come ebbe un sentore di tragedia mentre le due bambine erano in piscina sorvegliate dalla bambina. In effetti la bambina nuotava sul fondo, il padre la recuperò in un battibaleno scavalcando la rete alta due metri e tuffandosi in acqua, fortunatamente la bambina stava benissimo. qui c'è una simmetria con l'apertura del ripescaggio da parte del padre del bambino morto, mentre il bambino recupera la figlia viva. Avvicinandosi alla località prefissata la protagonista pensa a cosa sarebbe potuto accadere se la tragedia avesse fatto visita quel giorno. Si respira una malinconia, una tristezza, una sensazione di perdita dall'inizio alla fine, soprattutto quando confida al lettore di non aver rivisto più il primo marito con il quale fra alti e bassi vi era un rapporto di solida sincerità. Ci si chiede perchè una coppia così ben equilibrata, seppure lontana dalla perfezione, con due bambine bellissime e intelligenti si sia separata e cosa sia successo da allora ad oggi.
__Amica della mia gioventú-Con gratitudine a R. J. T. Anche qui lo schema si ripete, una figlia ricorda la madre, racconta di vederla nel sogno, con lei che ha l'età attuale e la madre né giovane né cinquantenne o disabile, come invece morì. Lo scenario è sempre quello di un Canada rurale, dove crescono figli che hanno goduto di poche carezze genitoriali. Nella prima parte racconta della madre,che insegnante nella valle dell’Ottawa, ancora giovanissima va a vivere da una famiglia di religiosi cameroniani, i Grieves, che praticano l'astinenza di qualsiasi attività la domenica e vivono senza i più moderni e necessari confort, anche l'apparenza della loro casa risponde a questa rigida estetica spartana. La famiglia è composta da due sorelle: Flora ed Ellie, che dimostrano il doppio della loro età, e dal marito di Ellie: Robert. Flora era la più simpatica e la madre della protagonista andò a vivere nella parte della casa che apparteneva ad essa. Entrambe erano alte e snelle, con un portamento signorile nonostante fossero contadine ed allevatrici. la storia delle due sorelle è molto singolare. Robert era andato a lavorare dai Grieves prima che il padre delle due morisse, e poi per più di un anno rimase il fidanzato di Flora eterno futuro marito, ma accadde che Robert mise incinta Ellie, e fu così che il matrimonio si fece ma cambiando la natura degli addendi. Le due sorelle andavano molto d'accordo prima dell'arrivo dell'uomo, ma la gravidanza ridusse Ellie ad un'isterica viziata, mentre Flora continuava a coccolarla ed a volerle bene come ad una figlia. Ellie collezionò una lunga serie di aborti ed il bambino non arrivò mai, questo nutrì ancora di più le chiacchiere grasse della gente del posto. Quando Ellie si ammalò di tumore, arrivò una disdicevole infermiera volgare, pigra, presuntuosa ed incompetente di nome , Atkinson. E quando Ellie morì qualche mese dopo tutti si aspettavano che Robert sposasse Flora, ma a sorpresa dopo essere stato raggirato come gli altri sposò l'infermiera Atkinson, che presto si impadronì di quasi tutta la casa. La madre della protagonista dopo sposata, cercò di contattare Flora e forse la sua lettera fu troppo piena di compassione per non far sollevare la dignità granitica di Flora che con parole educate le chiese di farsi gli affari suoi. La protagonista torna all'inizio della storia ricordando sua madre nei sogni, ancora eretta senza carrozzina, che le parla con lievità dei suoi dolori. Ricordare un genitore e pensarlo al sicuro dei dolori e dalle pene è sempre una gioia. La protagonista immagina una Flora cattiva diversa dal ritratto dipinto da sua madre ed un Robert ipersessuato, ha bisogno di scrivere le sue storie. Si chiese se Flora sia ancora una cameroniana.
Meneseteung E' la triste storia di Almeda Joynt Roth, una poetessa, ricordata nel villaggio e dal quotidiano locale, il «Vidette». L'infanzia è lacerante, i due fratellini muoiono di malattie infantili, più tardi la madre muore dal dolore e più tardi ancora, quando Almeda è già una donna muore anche il padre. La scrittrice vive nella vecchia casa fra ricordi e solitudine. Nel villaggio arriva Jarvis Poulter che tutti pensano voglia rubare l'acqua della zona per i suoi comodi. Il suo obiettivo è trovare il petrolio, non lo trova ma scopre che la zona è ricca di salgemma e diventa ricco , Almeda scherzando gli fa notare che ha trovato il sale della vita e che forse anticamente in quel posto non vi era la terraferma ma il mare. L'uomo frequentando la chiesa, più per formalità che per devozione incontra Almeda e se ne innamora. La storia fra i due, disturbata dalle chiacchiere di sottofondo della gente del posto, non dura molto perchè Almeda ha una patologia che oggi chiameremmo sindrome mestruale e per lenire il dolore usa il Laudano. Il laudano le causa annebbiamento e stati di confusione, la gente pensa sia alcolizzata e la inizia ad isolare, i ragazzini le giocano scherzi macabri e pesanti. Tempo dopo la dolce e signorile Almeda dagli occhi tristi morì e qualche anno dopo anche il suo vecchio innamorato. Meneseteung è il nome del fiume del villaggio che dà il nome ad una delle poesie scritte da Almeda.
Diversamente Diversamente è la storia di alcuni amici e dei lori incroci amorosi. La storia inizia dalla fine con Georgia che si innamora del suo insegnante di scrittura creativa"Georgia e il docente finirono per andare a vivere insieme. Vivono insieme anche adesso, in una fattoria, nell’Ontario. Vendono lamponi e hanno una piccola casa editrice. Quando riesce a mettere insieme i soldi necessari, Georgia va a trovare i suoi figli a Vancouver.". Giorgia va a Victoria a trovare un un amico che si è risposato da poco con una giovane donna: Raymond il marito della sua vecchia amica Maya, morta da un anno. Maya era una donna benestante come il marito ma molto eccentrica, amava ospitare i suoi amici a piedi scalzi e vestirsi da hippy. Maya aveva avuto una relazione con un altro dei loro amici Harvey, ginecologo, sposato con Hilda. Harvey le praticò un aborto quando Maya aspettava il loro bambino ( suo e di Harvey). A quell'epoca Georgia era sposata con Ben. Per un periodo la protagonista del racconto lavorò in una libreria, questi giorni sono descritti con molta delicatezza, probabilmente i giorni più belli della sua vita. In quel periodo conosce anche Miles, giovane belloccio e rossiccio che vede per la prima volta come una visione quando scende dalla moto. Miles si occupa di fotografare meraviglie o antichità nascoste nella natura. Fra i due nasce una relazione, Miles però è impegnato e presto si rivela per ciò che è davvero. E' uno scambista e vorrebbe avere una relazione a 4 : loro due ed i rispettivi compagni. Georgia è disgustata dalla proposta e lo lascia. Per qualche motivo che non ricordo, Miles va a cercare Georgia a casa di Maya, ma Maya non lascia nulla di intentato e fa sesso con Miles. Georgia lo viene a sapere e rompe l'amicizia con Maya. Il racconto si conclude con questa bellissima frase"Pensa alle sere in cui stava seduta in negozio. Alla luce per strada, al complicato gioco di immagini riflesse nelle vetrine. A quella trasparenza casuale."
Lasciarsi andare Louise è stata in un sanatorio, di professione fa la bibliotecaria,ha avuto la spagnola, nella pensione dove vie,beve ogni sera un bicchiere di vino, alcuni uomini non sopportano che una donna beva, c'è un commesso viaggiatore che parla spesso con lei , le fa la corte ed una sera salgono al piano superiori e fanno sesso, ma il commesso non si fa vedere più da quel giorno. Nel frattempo Louise riceve lettere da un misterioso ammiratore che è in guerra in Europa, dice di averla vista numerose volte alla libreria, ma Louisa non ha mai visto lui. Il ragazzo le chiede se vuole prestarsi a far finta di essere la sua innamorata cosicché egli possa avere una speranza per tornar vivo dalla guerra. Louise divertita dal gioco gli dà corda. Quando Jack Agnew, l'ammiratore, torna dalla grande guerra con una lieve ferita, la ragazza scopre dai giornali che presto sposerà la sua promessa sposa Lillian. Jack trova lavoro in una falegnameria, qui un giorno tagliando un tronco viene risucchiato dalla sega circolare e viene decapitato, il suo datore di lavoro, Arthur Doud, va a trovare la moglie di Jack per comunicargli la tragedia. Arthur, è vedovo oppure no, non ricordo, e frequentando la biblioteca presto si innamora di Louise e la sposa. La scena si sposta repentinamente in avanti degli anni con Louise ormai vedova che vede un uomo parlare da un palco in un comizio che si chiama come il suo vecchio amico di penna e nella confusione della demenza senile lo scambia per lui o forse pensa sia il vecchio commesso viaggiatore.
La vergine albanese questa è la storia più ardua da seguire, sia alternano continuamente un racconto inventato da uno dei personaggi: Charlotte e la vita della protagonista, di nuovo una libraia. "Ero venuta a Victoria perché era il posto piú lontano da London, Ontario, che potessi raggiungere senza lasciare il paese. A London mio marito Donald e io avevamo affittato un appartamento nel seminterrato della nostra casa a una coppia, Nelson e Sylvia. Nelson si stava laureando in Letteratura inglese e Sylvia faceva l’infermiera. Donald era dermatologo, e io scrivevo una tesi su Mary Shelley" . Successivamente fra Nelson e la protagonista nasce una storia d'amore, cosicché entrambi lasciano i rispettivi coniugi. Donald decide di andare a vivere dalla sua segretaria. Ma dallo snodarsi della storia si intuisce che la ragazza si lascia anche con Nelson. Nel frattempo la protagonista va a trovare Charlotte ricoverata in ospedale, una strana donna, canuta e di mezza età, abbigliata in ampie palandrane che va sempre in giro con il marito, un uomo ambito e dallo sguardo losco, probabilmente un medio orientale. Charlotte racconta alla libraia, una storia da lei inventata, brano per brano, è la storia di Lottar, una vergine albanese, una donna che vive come una guerriera isolata dal mondo, dopo essere stata rapita e che un prete libererà per riportarla alla civiltà. La libraia aveva conosciuto Charlotte in libreria, erano diventate molto amiche ma il marito Gjurdhi, un traffichino che andava sempre in giro con un carretto pieno di anticaglie, cercava sempre di rifilarle qualche vecchio libro da comprare. Charlotte muore in ospedale, il marito scompare. Quando la libraia ripensa alla sua vita, dopo molto tempo, vede entrare Nelson e si suppone che tornino insieme. Sicuramente questa è stata la storia più pesante da seguire.
Un posto selvaggio. Questa storia va indietro nel tempo. Siamo nel 1852 a Toronto, in un orfanotrofio due ragazze sono osservate dal direttore per poi prometterle a bravi giovani. la più sana delle due, ma meno bella, Miss McKillop,era strabica, viene promessa ad un giovane contadino Simon Herron. Nel bosco Miss McKillop vive con Simon ed il fratello George. Un giorno George torna a casa trascinando il cadavere del fratello, adducendo che era morto sotto la mole di un ramo caduto . La giovane ed il cognato seppelliscono Simon sotto la neve. Dopo alcuni mesi la giovane vedova scappa e va a rifugiarsi in un luogo vicino. Con passare del tempo si scopre la verità, Simon era un violento, colpiva spesso la moglie, e quel giorno aveva litigato con il fratello George che lo uccise.
__La stagione dei tacchini : La protagonista ricorda la stagione invernale alla Casa del tacchino.La vita al lavoro è scandita delle storie dei suoi colleghi:le due sorelle di mezz'età ridicole ed eccessive, Irene che era incinta, il vecchio ultraottantenne Henry ed il migliore di tutti :Herb Abbott, il caposquadra. C'è il burbero capo ed il figlio ignorante e spocchioso. La vita nella sezione macelleria viene descritta in modo estremamente reale senza la minima tentazione verso la poeticità sociale.
__Le lune di Giove. Canada. Una scrittrice con due figlie: una che si prende una pausa per andare in Messico con il fidanzato e l'altra in un voluto buen retiro; fa visita al padre malato. I medici mettono di fronte al padre la possibilità di potersi operare evitando la morte che sopraggiungerà nell'arco di tre mesi. Il padre da prima decide di abbandonarsi alla naturale fine poi però cambia idea. La figlia con stoicismo ed impassibilità sembra accettare qualsiasi brutta notizia le si presenti nella vita. Ho pensato che questo personaggio fosse il più autobiografico.
_Il percorso dell’amore. Una figlia ricorda la madre morta, una donna molto forte, piena di dignità, che dopo una vita molto dura da evangelica diventa anglicana dopo il matrimonio. La madre era stata allevata da una vicina di casa che l'aveva "salvata", sua madre, la nonna della protagonista,aveva tentato il suicidio. Nella famiglia c'è un eterna colpa da scontare. La protagonista si ricorda di un giorno particolare, quando arrivò sua zia Beryl sorella di sua madre, fu una domenica molto piacevole passata al ristorante. Due storie si erano ormai sedimentate in lei ma fu zia Beryl a farle capire che i fatti non erano proprio andati come li raccontava sua madre o come lei li aveva ricordati. La nonna non cercò di suicidarsi con la corda al collo, fu solo uno scherzo per scuotere il marito fedigrafo. I soldi lasciati dall'eredità del nonno, che si immagina si sia macchiato di una colpa atroce, furono bruciati dalla madre nel cammino ma non in presenza di suo padre, suo padre probabilmente lo seppe quel giorno in macchina ma approvò ugualmente il gesto della moglie, perchè erano i suoi soldi. La protagonista che da quella casa scappò a 15 anni per iscriversi ad una scuola di ragioneria, andare a lavorare poi in un'agenzia immobiliare e diventare in seguito proprietaria di un'agenzia, si chiede quali sofferenze e traumi si nascondano in quelle case di campagna, dove la gente seppur povera riesce a mantenere la propria dignità.
__Miles City, Montana. Una donna ricorda il viaggio in macchina in Montana nel '61 con l'ex marito e le due figlie piccole, ma come accade sempre nelle sue storie minime ricorda che quel giorno ricordò la morte di un suo quasi coetaneo, il bambino Steve Gauley , ripescato dal padre vicino al fiume. Il bambino era completamente coperto di fango e foglie. Al funerale del piccolo i suoi genitori sembravano aver accettato quella morte infantile come un accadimento solito, forse per la mortalità alta di quegli anni. Proseguendo il ricordo del viaggio, racconta come ebbe un sentore di tragedia mentre le due bambine erano in piscina sorvegliate dalla bambina. In effetti la bambina nuotava sul fondo, il padre la recuperò in un battibaleno scavalcando la rete alta due metri e tuffandosi in acqua, fortunatamente la bambina stava benissimo. qui c'è una simmetria con l'apertura del ripescaggio da parte del padre del bambino morto, mentre il bambino recupera la figlia viva. Avvicinandosi alla località prefissata la protagonista pensa a cosa sarebbe potuto accadere se la tragedia avesse fatto visita quel giorno. Si respira una malinconia, una tristezza, una sensazione di perdita dall'inizio alla fine, soprattutto quando confida al lettore di non aver rivisto più il primo marito con il quale fra alti e bassi vi era un rapporto di solida sincerità. Ci si chiede perchè una coppia così ben equilibrata, seppure lontana dalla perfezione, con due bambine bellissime e intelligenti si sia separata e cosa sia successo da allora ad oggi.
__Amica della mia gioventú-Con gratitudine a R. J. T. Anche qui lo schema si ripete, una figlia ricorda la madre, racconta di vederla nel sogno, con lei che ha l'età attuale e la madre né giovane né cinquantenne o disabile, come invece morì. Lo scenario è sempre quello di un Canada rurale, dove crescono figli che hanno goduto di poche carezze genitoriali. Nella prima parte racconta della madre,che insegnante nella valle dell’Ottawa, ancora giovanissima va a vivere da una famiglia di religiosi cameroniani, i Grieves, che praticano l'astinenza di qualsiasi attività la domenica e vivono senza i più moderni e necessari confort, anche l'apparenza della loro casa risponde a questa rigida estetica spartana. La famiglia è composta da due sorelle: Flora ed Ellie, che dimostrano il doppio della loro età, e dal marito di Ellie: Robert. Flora era la più simpatica e la madre della protagonista andò a vivere nella parte della casa che apparteneva ad essa. Entrambe erano alte e snelle, con un portamento signorile nonostante fossero contadine ed allevatrici. la storia delle due sorelle è molto singolare. Robert era andato a lavorare dai Grieves prima che il padre delle due morisse, e poi per più di un anno rimase il fidanzato di Flora eterno futuro marito, ma accadde che Robert mise incinta Ellie, e fu così che il matrimonio si fece ma cambiando la natura degli addendi. Le due sorelle andavano molto d'accordo prima dell'arrivo dell'uomo, ma la gravidanza ridusse Ellie ad un'isterica viziata, mentre Flora continuava a coccolarla ed a volerle bene come ad una figlia. Ellie collezionò una lunga serie di aborti ed il bambino non arrivò mai, questo nutrì ancora di più le chiacchiere grasse della gente del posto. Quando Ellie si ammalò di tumore, arrivò una disdicevole infermiera volgare, pigra, presuntuosa ed incompetente di nome , Atkinson. E quando Ellie morì qualche mese dopo tutti si aspettavano che Robert sposasse Flora, ma a sorpresa dopo essere stato raggirato come gli altri sposò l'infermiera Atkinson, che presto si impadronì di quasi tutta la casa. La madre della protagonista dopo sposata, cercò di contattare Flora e forse la sua lettera fu troppo piena di compassione per non far sollevare la dignità granitica di Flora che con parole educate le chiese di farsi gli affari suoi. La protagonista torna all'inizio della storia ricordando sua madre nei sogni, ancora eretta senza carrozzina, che le parla con lievità dei suoi dolori. Ricordare un genitore e pensarlo al sicuro dei dolori e dalle pene è sempre una gioia. La protagonista immagina una Flora cattiva diversa dal ritratto dipinto da sua madre ed un Robert ipersessuato, ha bisogno di scrivere le sue storie. Si chiese se Flora sia ancora una cameroniana.
Meneseteung E' la triste storia di Almeda Joynt Roth, una poetessa, ricordata nel villaggio e dal quotidiano locale, il «Vidette». L'infanzia è lacerante, i due fratellini muoiono di malattie infantili, più tardi la madre muore dal dolore e più tardi ancora, quando Almeda è già una donna muore anche il padre. La scrittrice vive nella vecchia casa fra ricordi e solitudine. Nel villaggio arriva Jarvis Poulter che tutti pensano voglia rubare l'acqua della zona per i suoi comodi. Il suo obiettivo è trovare il petrolio, non lo trova ma scopre che la zona è ricca di salgemma e diventa ricco , Almeda scherzando gli fa notare che ha trovato il sale della vita e che forse anticamente in quel posto non vi era la terraferma ma il mare. L'uomo frequentando la chiesa, più per formalità che per devozione incontra Almeda e se ne innamora. La storia fra i due, disturbata dalle chiacchiere di sottofondo della gente del posto, non dura molto perchè Almeda ha una patologia che oggi chiameremmo sindrome mestruale e per lenire il dolore usa il Laudano. Il laudano le causa annebbiamento e stati di confusione, la gente pensa sia alcolizzata e la inizia ad isolare, i ragazzini le giocano scherzi macabri e pesanti. Tempo dopo la dolce e signorile Almeda dagli occhi tristi morì e qualche anno dopo anche il suo vecchio innamorato. Meneseteung è il nome del fiume del villaggio che dà il nome ad una delle poesie scritte da Almeda.
Diversamente Diversamente è la storia di alcuni amici e dei lori incroci amorosi. La storia inizia dalla fine con Georgia che si innamora del suo insegnante di scrittura creativa"Georgia e il docente finirono per andare a vivere insieme. Vivono insieme anche adesso, in una fattoria, nell’Ontario. Vendono lamponi e hanno una piccola casa editrice. Quando riesce a mettere insieme i soldi necessari, Georgia va a trovare i suoi figli a Vancouver.". Giorgia va a Victoria a trovare un un amico che si è risposato da poco con una giovane donna: Raymond il marito della sua vecchia amica Maya, morta da un anno. Maya era una donna benestante come il marito ma molto eccentrica, amava ospitare i suoi amici a piedi scalzi e vestirsi da hippy. Maya aveva avuto una relazione con un altro dei loro amici Harvey, ginecologo, sposato con Hilda. Harvey le praticò un aborto quando Maya aspettava il loro bambino ( suo e di Harvey). A quell'epoca Georgia era sposata con Ben. Per un periodo la protagonista del racconto lavorò in una libreria, questi giorni sono descritti con molta delicatezza, probabilmente i giorni più belli della sua vita. In quel periodo conosce anche Miles, giovane belloccio e rossiccio che vede per la prima volta come una visione quando scende dalla moto. Miles si occupa di fotografare meraviglie o antichità nascoste nella natura. Fra i due nasce una relazione, Miles però è impegnato e presto si rivela per ciò che è davvero. E' uno scambista e vorrebbe avere una relazione a 4 : loro due ed i rispettivi compagni. Georgia è disgustata dalla proposta e lo lascia. Per qualche motivo che non ricordo, Miles va a cercare Georgia a casa di Maya, ma Maya non lascia nulla di intentato e fa sesso con Miles. Georgia lo viene a sapere e rompe l'amicizia con Maya. Il racconto si conclude con questa bellissima frase"Pensa alle sere in cui stava seduta in negozio. Alla luce per strada, al complicato gioco di immagini riflesse nelle vetrine. A quella trasparenza casuale."
Lasciarsi andare Louise è stata in un sanatorio, di professione fa la bibliotecaria,ha avuto la spagnola, nella pensione dove vie,beve ogni sera un bicchiere di vino, alcuni uomini non sopportano che una donna beva, c'è un commesso viaggiatore che parla spesso con lei , le fa la corte ed una sera salgono al piano superiori e fanno sesso, ma il commesso non si fa vedere più da quel giorno. Nel frattempo Louise riceve lettere da un misterioso ammiratore che è in guerra in Europa, dice di averla vista numerose volte alla libreria, ma Louisa non ha mai visto lui. Il ragazzo le chiede se vuole prestarsi a far finta di essere la sua innamorata cosicché egli possa avere una speranza per tornar vivo dalla guerra. Louise divertita dal gioco gli dà corda. Quando Jack Agnew, l'ammiratore, torna dalla grande guerra con una lieve ferita, la ragazza scopre dai giornali che presto sposerà la sua promessa sposa Lillian. Jack trova lavoro in una falegnameria, qui un giorno tagliando un tronco viene risucchiato dalla sega circolare e viene decapitato, il suo datore di lavoro, Arthur Doud, va a trovare la moglie di Jack per comunicargli la tragedia. Arthur, è vedovo oppure no, non ricordo, e frequentando la biblioteca presto si innamora di Louise e la sposa. La scena si sposta repentinamente in avanti degli anni con Louise ormai vedova che vede un uomo parlare da un palco in un comizio che si chiama come il suo vecchio amico di penna e nella confusione della demenza senile lo scambia per lui o forse pensa sia il vecchio commesso viaggiatore.
La vergine albanese questa è la storia più ardua da seguire, sia alternano continuamente un racconto inventato da uno dei personaggi: Charlotte e la vita della protagonista, di nuovo una libraia. "Ero venuta a Victoria perché era il posto piú lontano da London, Ontario, che potessi raggiungere senza lasciare il paese. A London mio marito Donald e io avevamo affittato un appartamento nel seminterrato della nostra casa a una coppia, Nelson e Sylvia. Nelson si stava laureando in Letteratura inglese e Sylvia faceva l’infermiera. Donald era dermatologo, e io scrivevo una tesi su Mary Shelley" . Successivamente fra Nelson e la protagonista nasce una storia d'amore, cosicché entrambi lasciano i rispettivi coniugi. Donald decide di andare a vivere dalla sua segretaria. Ma dallo snodarsi della storia si intuisce che la ragazza si lascia anche con Nelson. Nel frattempo la protagonista va a trovare Charlotte ricoverata in ospedale, una strana donna, canuta e di mezza età, abbigliata in ampie palandrane che va sempre in giro con il marito, un uomo ambito e dallo sguardo losco, probabilmente un medio orientale. Charlotte racconta alla libraia, una storia da lei inventata, brano per brano, è la storia di Lottar, una vergine albanese, una donna che vive come una guerriera isolata dal mondo, dopo essere stata rapita e che un prete libererà per riportarla alla civiltà. La libraia aveva conosciuto Charlotte in libreria, erano diventate molto amiche ma il marito Gjurdhi, un traffichino che andava sempre in giro con un carretto pieno di anticaglie, cercava sempre di rifilarle qualche vecchio libro da comprare. Charlotte muore in ospedale, il marito scompare. Quando la libraia ripensa alla sua vita, dopo molto tempo, vede entrare Nelson e si suppone che tornino insieme. Sicuramente questa è stata la storia più pesante da seguire.
Un posto selvaggio. Questa storia va indietro nel tempo. Siamo nel 1852 a Toronto, in un orfanotrofio due ragazze sono osservate dal direttore per poi prometterle a bravi giovani. la più sana delle due, ma meno bella, Miss McKillop,era strabica, viene promessa ad un giovane contadino Simon Herron. Nel bosco Miss McKillop vive con Simon ed il fratello George. Un giorno George torna a casa trascinando il cadavere del fratello, adducendo che era morto sotto la mole di un ramo caduto . La giovane ed il cognato seppelliscono Simon sotto la neve. Dopo alcuni mesi la giovane vedova scappa e va a rifugiarsi in un luogo vicino. Con passare del tempo si scopre la verità, Simon era un violento, colpiva spesso la moglie, e quel giorno aveva litigato con il fratello George che lo uccise.
April 4, 2024
I found these stories devastating. Filled with deceit, secrets, human weakness, illicitness, indiscretions, philandering. Mostly without the grace of redemption. But Munro's skill at story telling is amazing, insightful. I was stupefied by the complexity of the portraits Munro was able to fit into 20-30 pages. Maybe that is why I found the stories so upsetting - that she seemed to accurately and convincingly capture humanity in all its nakedness. And that’s not naked in a good way. I was left disarmed, defeated, and vulnerable. It was hard to feel this way while also feeling like American culture and politics is smoking a cigarette next to a 100 gallon drum filled with gasoline and nitrogen.
Regarding the craftsmanship of these stories - I thought about how each year engineers cram more and more transistors onto a silicone wafer. I am even more amazed at how much Munro was able to cram so much into such short, precise, well-crafted, and multi-layered stories - many playing with time and perspective in awe inspiring ways.
My favorites: Runaway ( well-crafted and tense), Vandals (disturbing and distressing), Save the Reaper (unexpectedly suspenseful), The Albanian Virgin (creative and unique).
Quotes/Other musings:
"...she felt the first signal of a love affair like the warmth of the sun on her skin, like music through a doorway, or the moment, as she had often said, when the black and white television commercial bursts into color. She did not think that her time was being wasted. She did not thin it had been wasted." - 360
"She looked back on this moment as their real beginning. They both seemed uneasy and subdued, not reluctant so much as troubled, even sorry for each other. She asked him later if he had felt anything important at the time, and he said yes - he had realized that she was a person he could live with. She asked him if he couldn't say wanted to live with, and he said yes, he could say that. He could say it, but he didn't." - 368
"The strange and terrible thing coming clear to her about that world of the future, as she now pictured it, was that she would not exist there. She would only walk around, and open her mouth and speak, and do this and do that. She would not really be there. And, what was strange about it was that she was doing all this, she was riding on this bus in the hopes of recovering herself." - 499
514 - Reference to eyes at the beginning and end.
"On the morning of the day when he was to go back to Meadowlake for the first visit, Grant woke early. He was full of solemn tingling, as in the old days on the morning of hist first planned meeting with a new woman. The feeling was not precisely sexual. (Later, when the meetings had become routine, that was all it was.) There was an expectation of discovery, almost a spiritual expansion. Also timidity, humility, alarm." - 525
"Teenagers at the baseball game, sitting at the top of the bleachers out of the way of the boy's friends. A couple of inches of bare wood between them, darkness falling, quick chill of the evening late in the summer. The skittering of their hands, the shift of their haunches, eyes never lifted from the field. He'll take off his jacket, if he's wearing one, to lay it around her narrow shoulders. Underneath it he can pull her closer to him, press his spread fingers into her soft arm." - 533
This last quote reminds me of a verse from what is my all time favorite song - Jack and Diane by John Cougar Mellencamp. The above passage and this song transports you to the sweet naivety and not-so-innocence of youth:
Suckin' on a chili dog outside the Tastee Freez
Diane's sittin' on Jackie's lap, he's got his hands between her knees
Jackie say, "Hey Diane, lets run off behind a shady tree
Dribble off those Bobby Brooks slacks and do what I please"
Regarding the craftsmanship of these stories - I thought about how each year engineers cram more and more transistors onto a silicone wafer. I am even more amazed at how much Munro was able to cram so much into such short, precise, well-crafted, and multi-layered stories - many playing with time and perspective in awe inspiring ways.
My favorites: Runaway ( well-crafted and tense), Vandals (disturbing and distressing), Save the Reaper (unexpectedly suspenseful), The Albanian Virgin (creative and unique).
Quotes/Other musings:
"...she felt the first signal of a love affair like the warmth of the sun on her skin, like music through a doorway, or the moment, as she had often said, when the black and white television commercial bursts into color. She did not think that her time was being wasted. She did not thin it had been wasted." - 360
"She looked back on this moment as their real beginning. They both seemed uneasy and subdued, not reluctant so much as troubled, even sorry for each other. She asked him later if he had felt anything important at the time, and he said yes - he had realized that she was a person he could live with. She asked him if he couldn't say wanted to live with, and he said yes, he could say that. He could say it, but he didn't." - 368
"The strange and terrible thing coming clear to her about that world of the future, as she now pictured it, was that she would not exist there. She would only walk around, and open her mouth and speak, and do this and do that. She would not really be there. And, what was strange about it was that she was doing all this, she was riding on this bus in the hopes of recovering herself." - 499
514 - Reference to eyes at the beginning and end.
"On the morning of the day when he was to go back to Meadowlake for the first visit, Grant woke early. He was full of solemn tingling, as in the old days on the morning of hist first planned meeting with a new woman. The feeling was not precisely sexual. (Later, when the meetings had become routine, that was all it was.) There was an expectation of discovery, almost a spiritual expansion. Also timidity, humility, alarm." - 525
"Teenagers at the baseball game, sitting at the top of the bleachers out of the way of the boy's friends. A couple of inches of bare wood between them, darkness falling, quick chill of the evening late in the summer. The skittering of their hands, the shift of their haunches, eyes never lifted from the field. He'll take off his jacket, if he's wearing one, to lay it around her narrow shoulders. Underneath it he can pull her closer to him, press his spread fingers into her soft arm." - 533
This last quote reminds me of a verse from what is my all time favorite song - Jack and Diane by John Cougar Mellencamp. The above passage and this song transports you to the sweet naivety and not-so-innocence of youth:
Suckin' on a chili dog outside the Tastee Freez
Diane's sittin' on Jackie's lap, he's got his hands between her knees
Jackie say, "Hey Diane, lets run off behind a shady tree
Dribble off those Bobby Brooks slacks and do what I please"
February 22, 2022
Alice Munro es maravillosa. Su forma de concebir el género del cuento es algo descomunal. Sus tramas se tejen de una forma tan natural y espontánea que una vez enganchado en la lectura el lector atento encuentra dificultad en soltarla. Los narradores de estos cuentos son personajes rotos, rurales, que miran hacia el pasado, despliegan sus miedos, sus carencias, sus voces trascienden mediante espirales de tiempo que van y vienen con una naturalidad magistral. Es difícil resaltar un cuento por encima de otro porque cada uno brilla con luz propia, pero después de un exhaustivo análisis me he decantado por “Carried away”, que originalmente fue publicado en la colección “Las lunas de Júpiter”. Munro desarrolla una situación tan improbable e incluso, para los tiempos que vivimos, hasta inverosímil, de una manera tan exacta, realista, que, sin saberlo, el lector no sólo la ve como algo probable, sino como el canal idóneo para darle forma al cuento. Saltos temporales, lenguaje bien estructurado, elipsis argumentales, tensión que sube y baja. Munro es, sin duda, una autora ineludible, obligatoria, de quien se puede aprender cómo se debe escribir un cuento de calidad.
August 16, 2022
continuing on my nobel prize binge: how nice it is to have such talent associated with canada. for a country seemingly so defined by not being its southern neighbour, munro brings us into a fantastic wrestling match with the paradoxes of the 'not', showing us an the absolutely canadian taste of not quite being rich, not quite being religious, not quite being chaste, not quite being in love, not quite being loyal, not quite being artistic, not quite being alive but not quite being dead either. there's no real way to encapsulate how much these stories wrap you up and spit you out with a reformed aesthetic view, but for sure this is not an author you can afford to ignore.
also the short story format is great for low attention span people like me.
also the short story format is great for low attention span people like me.
November 9, 2020
My first experience of Munro — stunning at first, then somewhat dreary and repetitive, and then an icy maturity as she broke new ground with the later stories. On a prose level, this is a master class, but the subject material feels as exhausting as living through the mid 20th century myself, and her ungenerously precise view of people is a relief to step away from every so often. A writer to admire and learn from but not one I think I’ll be revisiting often.
June 26, 2022
Incredibly good, all the nuance you could ever want. Favourites were: ‘Carried Away’, ‘Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage’, ‘The Albanian Virgin’, ‘A Wilderness Station’ and ‘The Beggar Maid’.
February 7, 2024
This was really interesting. I’m excited to hear what my professor has to say about it because I didn’t pick up on everything I should have!
Edit in class: my prof is telling us what actually happened... girl I didn't get any of that
Edit in class: my prof is telling us what actually happened... girl I didn't get any of that
July 8, 2024
‘È cosí che si osservano i dettagli anche piú insignificanti del mondo reale dopo che si è stati in viaggio per ore: se ne percepisce l’isolamento e la precisa collocazione insieme alla fortuita coincidenza dell’essere lí, in quel momento, a guardarli.’
Nei racconti migliori è in quel preciso momento che la scrittura di Alice Munro riesce a collocarti. In quei passaggi fulminanti dove passato, presente e futuro sono simultanei. Dove tutto può accadere: il dramma (Miles City, Montana), la scoperta (Salvate il mietitore), una nuova vita (In fuga). Ci sono pagine e passaggi che squarciano l’animo umano (soprattutto femminile) con una lucidità meravigliosa e spietata, portando a galla quei ‘grumi’ che ci tengono svegli la notte, che nascondiamo anche a noi stessi.
Capolavori:
Miles City, Montana
Salvate il mietitore
Il percorso dell’amore
The Bear came over the mountain
Vandali
In fuga
Nei racconti migliori è in quel preciso momento che la scrittura di Alice Munro riesce a collocarti. In quei passaggi fulminanti dove passato, presente e futuro sono simultanei. Dove tutto può accadere: il dramma (Miles City, Montana), la scoperta (Salvate il mietitore), una nuova vita (In fuga). Ci sono pagine e passaggi che squarciano l’animo umano (soprattutto femminile) con una lucidità meravigliosa e spietata, portando a galla quei ‘grumi’ che ci tengono svegli la notte, che nascondiamo anche a noi stessi.
Capolavori:
Miles City, Montana
Salvate il mietitore
Il percorso dell’amore
The Bear came over the mountain
Vandali
In fuga
![Profile Image for Anna [Floanne].](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1566911038i/4459724._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
February 15, 2017
Questa è un'antologia di racconti tratti da varie opere della Munro e da lei scelti come i più rappresentativi del suo stile, che non più tardi di due anni fa, le ha permesso di essere insignita del meritatissimo Nobel per la Letteratura. Dare un giudizio unico e globale del libro in sé mi riusciva difficile, poiché è la prima volta che mi accosto a questa scrittrice e alla moltitudine di tematiche da lei indagate. Come spesso accade, alcuni brani mi hanno colpito maggiormente rispetto ad altri ma in tutti emerge la bravura nel rendere la complessità dell'animo umano attraverso un'attenta analisi della quotidianità e dei rapporti interpersonali, resa con un stile descrittivo ma al contempo asciutto e privo di abbellimenti. L'atmosfera di solitudine dei suoi personaggi mi ha ricordato moltissimo i quadri di Edward Hopper.
Tra i miei racconti preferiti: (attenzione)
Tra i miei racconti preferiti: (attenzione)
April 17, 2020
Who Do You Think You Are by Alice Munro
10 out of 10
Doubt is the name of a fabulous motion picture, with the outstanding Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams - http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/n... - and it also what many feel when the Nobel, Pulitzer or some other prestigious prize is awarded, but in the case of Alice Munro, this reader has no more Doubt, after exulting in The Beggar Maid - http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/t... - and then completing the Virtuous Circle with Who do You Think You Are, included on The Guardian’s 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list - https://www.theguardian.com/books/200... - in the Family and Self zone.
The collection of short stories follows Rose and to a lesser extent, her step mother, Flo, as the former has to endure squalor and abuse as a child, then grows up, while the latter grows old and then loses some of her mental capacities – forgetting who the visitor is at times, though on occasion, as when she scolds the guest that has braved the snowstorm, extreme fatigue to see her and tells her ‘she must not park the car in the street, she has to shovel the snow’, even when the ‘visitor’ insists that one more word would make her depart – ending up in a home, when being alone would no longer be sustainable or safe for her.
In The Beggar Maid, we are acquainted with Patrick Blatchford, the son of the very wealthy owner of a chain of stores and a very peculiar, snobbish, silent and hostile mother – the heroine is worried that she might see some of those traits in her daughter, Anna – who has a period in which he is in conflict with the family, unwilling to enter their business, and apparently in admiration of the woman who comes from such a poor background, but the one who might inadvertently chosen the perfect approach for the cavalier, outré young man, when she came to him to vent the anger caused by a stranger who had just grabbed her ankle, as she was arranging some books in the library where she was working temporarily and the student was reading…
The difference between them is emphasized by many exchanges, scenes and the infatuated use of erudition, such as when he references the painting of King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid – which gives the name to the short story – but this is a bad habit that this complicated man has, he is more than surprised when the others do not know about the said tableau and much else of what he mentions and he is also puzzled when the rest say something he does not know…he is considered a huge catch and girls at the faculty are very jealous and baffled to find that Rose is the one to get him…nonetheless, the young woman – virgin when she has coitus with him – is not so sure that this is the love of her life and the interaction between them is worth reading about, she provokes him – in one passage, she talks about the erectile dimension of his attraction for the old landlady – and in one nadir, she declares she would not marry him, despite the fact that she had accepted, and raises the stakes or lowers them by adding that he is weak, and other insults that appear to make any redemption impossible…
Patrick acts with stoicism and endurance, on the face of it and with hindsight, he would extract revenge for this, by assaulting his wife, literally and psychologically, and before they take their marital vows, he is rather loathsome when they visit Flo and he says that ‘he agrees, it is a dump’ and reacts with horror at the food offered, the tackiness of the place…when Rose declares she is not marrying him, he suggests a period of a couple of weeks of meditation, reflection and the result is that the heroine, who is for most of the time unpredictable, decides earlier on getting married, after asking to be pardoned for the humiliation poured on the poor man…
Poor man who is immediately quite rich, for he accepts entering the store managing business, acquires an impressive house, if not the massive, opulent mansion the parents have, only Rose is not happy with this ‘fortune’ – indeed, positive psychology studies have discovered the Hedonic Adaptation, a phenomenon which has humans adapt to material things…the Coolidge effect might play here too – and she is infatuated (probably love would not do as a proper term) with the husband of an acquaintance, Jocelyn, and this violin player, Clifford, would provide some excitement in her life, for they kiss and embrace within the first few minutes after they meet at a party, then they plan on moving their platonic affair into a carnal sphere, as the man tours with the philharmonic and the protagonist would meet with him at the bus station, in this little town along the itinerary of the musician…
Alas, there is no bus stop and she is terrified after waiting for many long hours, on the porch of a home for the old, planning desperate exits for what looks like a catastrophic scenario, because she only has a dollar or two – whenever she needs something, she has to ask her rich husband, who is not magnanimous, but quite strict – and thus she has to envisage a situation where she claims she has become amnesic and has no idea what she is doing in this place, to be thus able to get away…fortunately, Clifford arrives eventually, but this ends quite horridly, with him saying it would be a Mischief (which is the name of the short story about this) and this is happening again, with differences, when she is separated from Patrick and lives with Anna, in a quite lackluster, poor place and she tries to escape, find solace into another affair, which is blocked by a snowstorm this time – when she tries to travel to meet this other married man, she takes her daughter with her, but there is no way out, the heavy Canadian snowfall has blocked the airport and there is no bus coming and thus departing from her small town…
What happens in the short story Providence is continued with Simon’s Luck, which begins at a party, where the apparently careless, unloving, insensitive Rose tells the story of her cat, which she had not really wanted, but decided he would be hers anyway and just before coming to this do, he jumped into the clothes in the washing machine and when she took them out later, she wondered what fur does she possess…it was the expired tomcat, which provoked laughter among some guests and horror in the host…this where she meets Simon, who comes home with her, play acts some characters, talks about and does work in her garden, mentions arranging the faulty heating system and when he departs, she thinks it is only to return the following weekend and when this does not happen, she is so devastated that she drinks so much it will have become a problem, unless she took definitive action, packed her things, sent some messages and moves altogether, only to leant later about ‘Simon’s Luck’…
In other two short stories in the collection, we learn about the man who has a low IQ, Milton Homer, who takes part in all the parades, when a baby is born, he comes to all the houses and declares that the infants should have a good life and if they die, they will be in the hands of Jesus – something similar I hope – but he has a perversity, which could be explained by his mental derangement, and he appears to be both an exhibitionist and a quite violent man, when he did not get his, institutionalized at some point, quite beyond the proper limit apparently …
10 out of 10
Doubt is the name of a fabulous motion picture, with the outstanding Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams - http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/n... - and it also what many feel when the Nobel, Pulitzer or some other prestigious prize is awarded, but in the case of Alice Munro, this reader has no more Doubt, after exulting in The Beggar Maid - http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/t... - and then completing the Virtuous Circle with Who do You Think You Are, included on The Guardian’s 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list - https://www.theguardian.com/books/200... - in the Family and Self zone.
The collection of short stories follows Rose and to a lesser extent, her step mother, Flo, as the former has to endure squalor and abuse as a child, then grows up, while the latter grows old and then loses some of her mental capacities – forgetting who the visitor is at times, though on occasion, as when she scolds the guest that has braved the snowstorm, extreme fatigue to see her and tells her ‘she must not park the car in the street, she has to shovel the snow’, even when the ‘visitor’ insists that one more word would make her depart – ending up in a home, when being alone would no longer be sustainable or safe for her.
In The Beggar Maid, we are acquainted with Patrick Blatchford, the son of the very wealthy owner of a chain of stores and a very peculiar, snobbish, silent and hostile mother – the heroine is worried that she might see some of those traits in her daughter, Anna – who has a period in which he is in conflict with the family, unwilling to enter their business, and apparently in admiration of the woman who comes from such a poor background, but the one who might inadvertently chosen the perfect approach for the cavalier, outré young man, when she came to him to vent the anger caused by a stranger who had just grabbed her ankle, as she was arranging some books in the library where she was working temporarily and the student was reading…
The difference between them is emphasized by many exchanges, scenes and the infatuated use of erudition, such as when he references the painting of King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid – which gives the name to the short story – but this is a bad habit that this complicated man has, he is more than surprised when the others do not know about the said tableau and much else of what he mentions and he is also puzzled when the rest say something he does not know…he is considered a huge catch and girls at the faculty are very jealous and baffled to find that Rose is the one to get him…nonetheless, the young woman – virgin when she has coitus with him – is not so sure that this is the love of her life and the interaction between them is worth reading about, she provokes him – in one passage, she talks about the erectile dimension of his attraction for the old landlady – and in one nadir, she declares she would not marry him, despite the fact that she had accepted, and raises the stakes or lowers them by adding that he is weak, and other insults that appear to make any redemption impossible…
Patrick acts with stoicism and endurance, on the face of it and with hindsight, he would extract revenge for this, by assaulting his wife, literally and psychologically, and before they take their marital vows, he is rather loathsome when they visit Flo and he says that ‘he agrees, it is a dump’ and reacts with horror at the food offered, the tackiness of the place…when Rose declares she is not marrying him, he suggests a period of a couple of weeks of meditation, reflection and the result is that the heroine, who is for most of the time unpredictable, decides earlier on getting married, after asking to be pardoned for the humiliation poured on the poor man…
Poor man who is immediately quite rich, for he accepts entering the store managing business, acquires an impressive house, if not the massive, opulent mansion the parents have, only Rose is not happy with this ‘fortune’ – indeed, positive psychology studies have discovered the Hedonic Adaptation, a phenomenon which has humans adapt to material things…the Coolidge effect might play here too – and she is infatuated (probably love would not do as a proper term) with the husband of an acquaintance, Jocelyn, and this violin player, Clifford, would provide some excitement in her life, for they kiss and embrace within the first few minutes after they meet at a party, then they plan on moving their platonic affair into a carnal sphere, as the man tours with the philharmonic and the protagonist would meet with him at the bus station, in this little town along the itinerary of the musician…
Alas, there is no bus stop and she is terrified after waiting for many long hours, on the porch of a home for the old, planning desperate exits for what looks like a catastrophic scenario, because she only has a dollar or two – whenever she needs something, she has to ask her rich husband, who is not magnanimous, but quite strict – and thus she has to envisage a situation where she claims she has become amnesic and has no idea what she is doing in this place, to be thus able to get away…fortunately, Clifford arrives eventually, but this ends quite horridly, with him saying it would be a Mischief (which is the name of the short story about this) and this is happening again, with differences, when she is separated from Patrick and lives with Anna, in a quite lackluster, poor place and she tries to escape, find solace into another affair, which is blocked by a snowstorm this time – when she tries to travel to meet this other married man, she takes her daughter with her, but there is no way out, the heavy Canadian snowfall has blocked the airport and there is no bus coming and thus departing from her small town…
What happens in the short story Providence is continued with Simon’s Luck, which begins at a party, where the apparently careless, unloving, insensitive Rose tells the story of her cat, which she had not really wanted, but decided he would be hers anyway and just before coming to this do, he jumped into the clothes in the washing machine and when she took them out later, she wondered what fur does she possess…it was the expired tomcat, which provoked laughter among some guests and horror in the host…this where she meets Simon, who comes home with her, play acts some characters, talks about and does work in her garden, mentions arranging the faulty heating system and when he departs, she thinks it is only to return the following weekend and when this does not happen, she is so devastated that she drinks so much it will have become a problem, unless she took definitive action, packed her things, sent some messages and moves altogether, only to leant later about ‘Simon’s Luck’…
In other two short stories in the collection, we learn about the man who has a low IQ, Milton Homer, who takes part in all the parades, when a baby is born, he comes to all the houses and declares that the infants should have a good life and if they die, they will be in the hands of Jesus – something similar I hope – but he has a perversity, which could be explained by his mental derangement, and he appears to be both an exhibitionist and a quite violent man, when he did not get his, institutionalized at some point, quite beyond the proper limit apparently …
February 13, 2017
I was already a fan of Alice Munro´s excellent short stories and this collection is a wonderful way to enjoy them one by one... I had the collection at my bed side waiting for the right moment to read it. It has finally come!
While reading a quite complex historical novel in Spanish, I felt I could "digest" it better when reading a short story from this collection between every two chapters of the Spanish book.
It´s amazing what AM can say in a single short story, and maybe even more amazing is the reflection every story invites us to make. The first couple of short stories in the collection I found to be the ones I least had enjoyed, but they were still very good. In comparison to fellow Canadian Mavis Gallant, another excellent short story writer, who based most of her stories in Europe (France), I must say the stories - especially the most recent ones in this collection - , although they take place in environments and times completely different from mine, feel closer to my own realities, so the reflection they call for seems more intense.
While reading a quite complex historical novel in Spanish, I felt I could "digest" it better when reading a short story from this collection between every two chapters of the Spanish book.
It´s amazing what AM can say in a single short story, and maybe even more amazing is the reflection every story invites us to make. The first couple of short stories in the collection I found to be the ones I least had enjoyed, but they were still very good. In comparison to fellow Canadian Mavis Gallant, another excellent short story writer, who based most of her stories in Europe (France), I must say the stories - especially the most recent ones in this collection - , although they take place in environments and times completely different from mine, feel closer to my own realities, so the reflection they call for seems more intense.
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