Thursday, October 10, 2013

A Few Years Ago: Reading Alice Munro

A Few Years Ago

A few years ago I despairingly forced myself to read Munro. I couldn't appreciate her style at all: overly descriptive, overly wordy and overly subtle plots. 'Littish wank.'

Yet now I keenly observe everything she does. Her generally subtle plots are wonderful flavours imbuing her work; her significant details enable us to view humanity under a microscope; she evokes relationships with elegant descriptive brushstrokes. Her structure is also unique and effective, almost like biographical or autobiographical snapshots (sometimes a series of snapshots).

I suppose what Munro has taught me is that the more you read and write the more you appreciate different aspects of narrative mastery. The irony is that a few years ago I would have told friends to avoid her, unless they liked wading through a turgid mire.

A few years later and I'm a Munro evangelist: 'Read Munro!'

4 comments:

  1. Just heard the news! Thrilled. So many magnificent short stories.

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  2. I had a simular experience with Munro's work, but she is a quality writer and deserves the Nobel.

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  3. No doubt it was my lack of maturity as a reader. Think Munro is magnificent. I've been reading more and more of her over the past couple of years, along with Richard Yates and Karen Russell.

    I think that the prize is also significant in that it draws attention to 'long' short fiction. Thrilled for her, thoroughly deserved but I'm also thrilled for the genre.

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  4. And appreciate your comments, Jeremy on the shared reading experience.

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