Alice MunroThe Love of a Good Woman : Stories

Alice Munro cares about the people she has created, even those who at first seem despicable, and after a few pages I care about them as well.These stories have the depth and texture of novels. And I've now caught the rhythm of her prose so it reads more quickly, with greater clarity. I enjoy reading several books by the same author one after the other, like binge-watching a TV series.SPOILER ALERT -- The first story in this collection, with the same title as the book, is extraordinary in its depth of character and the range of narrative possibilities suggested. I flipped this way and that in my speculations about the death of the doctor. Then seemingly unrelated details from the opening pages came echoing back, making it probable that the dying lady was delusional and the narrator was right to trust and perhaps love the man who might have been a murderer. It all hinged on the cse with the doctor's tools. If it was in the care when he drowned, what the woman said couldn't be true. But up until the last page I expected the narrator to find it in the house.Memorable passages:"What does it mean?"Enid said, "What does what mean?""What does it mean 'God bless'?" p. 53"Lies of that nature could be waiting around int he corners of a person's mind, hanging like bats in the corners, waiting to take advantage of any kind of darkness. You can never say, Nobody could make that up. Look how elaborate dreams are, layer over layer in them, so that the part you can remember and put into words is just the bit you can scratch off the top." p. 74"But once in a while came a moment when everything seemed to have something to say to you. The rocking bushes, the bleaching light. All in a flash, in a rush, when you couldn't concentrate." p. 115

Because I was reading this book on my Kindle, it was not immediately obvious (to me) that this was a series of short stories and not a novel, so I was a little disconcerted when the narrative changed at change of chapter. I kept waiting for the two themes to connect until I finally caught on (dummy!). Some of the plots are perfectly magnificient and they will haunt you for a long time. Munro can certainly tell a story. The only criticism I have is that occassionally she jumps around in time so I was not sure where I was - but it all eventually comes together. This book has made me hungry for more of Munro so I am looking forward to her newest book which I think is coming out soon. If you like fiction, I highly recommend this book.

Great stories by a true artist. You feel like every word and every comma is there for a reason. I will be coming back to these stories again because there is so much being said and there's much more to learn. Not an easy read but very rewarding. Take your time with these stories.

In this book Munro reveals her clean style, representing several histories of love, showing in a particular way her psychological analysis. The lifes descript are quietly in surface, but it's hidden in certain dramatic situations to which Munro has very sensibility for the human details.Therefore the lecture results fluent and intersting just for those situations, and also for the elegance of the style.

I've read two other books by Munro; Runaway and Hateship, Friendship, Loveship, Courtship, Marriage. I enjoyed both these books but The Love of a Good Woman has been my favorite so far. Beautifully written!

I sure would have liked the book cover that is advertised on Amazon.

Highly recommend this author. Alice Munro has a way of drawing the reader into her world as if these characters were part of the readers family or a neighbor. She is one of the greats!

Very well-written stories with rich detail about ordinary people often in extraordinary situations. Personal relationships dominate but local color lends realism. Many of the stories take unexpected turns.

I don’t know where to start with this book so I'm just going to dive in. Alice Munro is a very very good writer, the sort of talent who makes me think of Anne Rice's quip that Renoir sold his soul: it doesn't figure that a person can craft such luminously wonderful art without divine or diabolical help!One of the things she does magnificently is write about children from their perspective in a way that is as delightful and frustrating and surprising as actually being with children. Once you've marvelled at this feat for a while you realise she is somehow doing the same thing with everyone, letting them speak and think and astonish and reveal, as if they live behind the scenes.She is so gentle though, so respectful. She doesn't make that error that Katherine Mansfield stamped on in DH Lawrence of invading bodies and psyches as if we could ever understand others by magical omniscience rather than by empathy. The boys in the title story keep their fierce dignity, their sacred privacy. Even when Munro describes horrible traumatic episodes, she manages, with great sensitivity and care, to maintain a distance that keeps the reader safe from visceral response. You might want to call that shying away, but personally I'm kneeling in gratitude when an author can achieve this balance. I want to hear about trauma without being triggered where possible.Loving Munro is also easy because her ethics of care and compassion for others are embodied by these stories, for example by Enid, the protagonist of the title story. Yet Munro refuses to paint an icon for worship: Enid can live as she does only because of her enabling circumstances, she experiences poisoned fantasies, and her goodwill is not unconditional. The same is true for other characters: each person in the book is carefully drawn as an individual shaped by histories, enmeshed in social structures that influence, constrain, oppress, enable, direct, oppose and support them in interconnected ways. They are at least partly responsible for their fortunes and failings, but Munro never victim-blames or hero-worships.There are vile abusers and detestable bigots. These are villains that propel drama. Mrs Gorrie is a particularly realistic monster, but Munro skilfully uses her to unpick attitudes to disability, poverty and gender roles that are surprisingly mainstream. Sometimes no villain is required; misunderstandings and failures of empathy, the stuff of all our lives, are sufficient to push characters far enough out of their comfort zones to experience transcendence and hand it on to us. The gift Munro has is of keeping each life she fashions open, stretching past the fringes of her telling. There is no answer given, no resolution is final. We go on living.

I had to read this as it was a Book Club choice and perhaps was chosen because Alice Munro had recently been selected as a Nobel Prizewinner. As these are short stories and, as I understand it, most of her writing consists of short stories, some were a little worried as to how we would review it. I have to say that I didn't get time to finish the book within the month that we had. However, those that I read I found very interesting and intriguing. I didn't like the start of the first book but it all began to make sense once I got into it. I wasn't mad about the Canadian setting, unlike some of my friends, who loved it. (Yes, I know Alice Munro is Canadian!) There was quite a wide range of opinions from some who just didn't like it at all, to some who loved it. I will certainly come back to it at some time and finish it.

I give this five stars because Alice Munro is a great writer. (I'd give 4 stars to her shopping list.) But this collection is not easy. There are some intriguing characters and themes but it has the feel of being a practise piece. It is fascinating to read about the murderous confession of an old, dying man but to get to the revealing moments, the reader has to go through long stretches where the author seems to be practising getting her eye in on character and physical description.

Brilliant as always - quirky off beatcharacters and compelling story lines.I found this hard to leave down and the stories are still resonating long after I read them

I find Alice Munro's short stories perceptive, challenging and always interesting. Her 'people' appear ordinary but often exist in extraordinary circumstances and react in ways that we can all relate to. The language is spare but the mental pictures she creates are clear and absorbing. This latest collection reflects the continuing strength of her fiction and mastery of the short story form. Highly recommended.