Munro's View

[commonpeople1]

Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock, 2006
When I was a university student in Canada, a professor told me it was very likely Alice Munro would be the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. All her short story collections were considered brilliant by the critics, to the point where she was hailed the - arguably - best short story writer alive. This latest collection of short stories goes some way in proving this notion. As a departure from what she has done before, this collection is an exploration of her ancestor's lives in Scotland, their move to Canada, and her own life experience growing up in rural Ontario. She looks at the way we tell stories to keep our connections to the past alive, and how these stories sometimes disappear. But, to complicate things, she plays a neat trick by mixing fact with fiction while still seducing the reader into believing it's all true.

This was an easy and enjoyable read, but not all stories were successful. I loved the story about her ancestors crossing the Atlantic, and her life as a young girl; but often I found my concentration drifting away as she waxed elegiacally about the utensils in someone's kitchen, or the trees surrounding a neighbouring farm. Nevertheless, this is Alice Munro, i.e. these stories are still far better than most stuff out there. Her insights into people's lives, no matter how restricted or simple they may be, are full of wisdom. Like her compatriot Margaret Atwood, she comes across as a lady you'd like to have a coffee with and chat for hours.

From now on, I'm cross-posting all my book reviews to GoodReads.com  (which y'all should join and participate in too).