Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage--Alice Munro
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage is a book of 9 short stories by Alice Munro, a Canadian writer. Her style is distinct, often starting a story in medias res, or perhaps, for example in the story "Floating Bridge," starting with a scene only obliquely related to the main action, designed to give you a different perspective on events.
As with many modern books, most of the stories deal with the silent and not-so-silent disconnects between people--divorces, and "silent divorces" in which the couples remain married, but for all purposes are really divorced emotionally from one another. As a result they can get a little tiresome. It's a malady that plagues most major writers today.
The collection contains nine stories. My favorites bookended the collection. The first story, the title story, tells about a woman who leaves the family that has employed her for a long time to go west in search of a man who seemingly wants her. The whole search is instigated by the forged letters two adolescent girls prepare for the woman. And what looks like it is destined to end in tragedy does not because as Heraclitus observed, and observed rightly, "Character is destiny." The last story, "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" tells of the trials of a man, none-too-physically-faithful in marriage who now deals with his wife's fading years in a way that belies previous years of infidelity.
Overall, the entire collection is strong, with the weakest story, "Comfort," still well above the abilities of a great many writers. Alice Munro is able to capture a moment and the essence of a relationship with a few deft strokes. She doesn't leave one breathless, or command attention, or dazzle with her verbal play. But she has a strong, quiet voice that urges the reader onward, even though onward looks gloomy and filled with sorrow. Often there is sorrow, but not only sorrow--and that is where Alice Munro is strongest--in the blend of emotions, sensitivities, and thoughts that make up a real person. She captures the way people really are--not completely faithful, not completely faithless, but often some random mix of extremes.
**** Recommended
As with many modern books, most of the stories deal with the silent and not-so-silent disconnects between people--divorces, and "silent divorces" in which the couples remain married, but for all purposes are really divorced emotionally from one another. As a result they can get a little tiresome. It's a malady that plagues most major writers today.
The collection contains nine stories. My favorites bookended the collection. The first story, the title story, tells about a woman who leaves the family that has employed her for a long time to go west in search of a man who seemingly wants her. The whole search is instigated by the forged letters two adolescent girls prepare for the woman. And what looks like it is destined to end in tragedy does not because as Heraclitus observed, and observed rightly, "Character is destiny." The last story, "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" tells of the trials of a man, none-too-physically-faithful in marriage who now deals with his wife's fading years in a way that belies previous years of infidelity.
Overall, the entire collection is strong, with the weakest story, "Comfort," still well above the abilities of a great many writers. Alice Munro is able to capture a moment and the essence of a relationship with a few deft strokes. She doesn't leave one breathless, or command attention, or dazzle with her verbal play. But she has a strong, quiet voice that urges the reader onward, even though onward looks gloomy and filled with sorrow. Often there is sorrow, but not only sorrow--and that is where Alice Munro is strongest--in the blend of emotions, sensitivities, and thoughts that make up a real person. She captures the way people really are--not completely faithful, not completely faithless, but often some random mix of extremes.
**** Recommended
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