I’m ashamed to admit it but until recently I’d read nothing by Alice Munro – now that’s some confession for a short story writer. Excuses? Well, I kept meaning to and somehow not getting round to it. This Christmas the gift from my daughter of New Selected Stories (2011) changed all of that and I’ve begun to realise what it is I’ve been missing.
So what is it about Alice Munro that’s so great? I’m not sure I’ve nailed the answer to that yet but I have some early thoughts about what it is she does that works so well. So here goes: to begin with there’s nothing fancy or flashy about Munro. Despite the intricate, detailed picture she often builds – we feel we know everything about a place or a person – she keeps it simple. Nothing detracts from the telling, she does not indulge in metaphor or simile over much. Paragraphs are generally short; she uses one sentence paragraphs, but will also use long complex sentences. The language serves the story while at the same time being highly polished and I’m sure highly edited too. The stories I’ve read so far have little or no backstory, what there is delivered in the present – there’s absolutely no backstory dump. We are very much in the here and now.
Her stories are rooted in place which we nearly always see through the eyes of the different generations living there. We see them move through it, she shows us their community. Place is not an abstract, we feel that universal bond between people and the place they come from. She writes about women and girls, although without ignoring men. Generally these are clever women, frustrated by their lives. In the stories I’ve read so far love, sex and death feature large – there’s a strong sexual undercurrent and Munro tells it as it is. As well as precise and subtle she can be gutsy and raw – she has amazing range. People in her stories – and they are all about people – are real, like us: sometimes disappointed, they have secrets, lies, failings, they worry about being inadequate parents…
In all, it’s the human condition that Alice Munro understands so well; and on what seems to be a deliberately small canvas she paints it true and large.
So these are just some of my early thoughts but I’d love to know what you think …
Hi Avril, happy new year!
I’m a little confused. I’ve heard of the Canadian short story writer Alice Ann Munro, and also the American novelist Mary Alice Monroe. Is Alice Munroe somebody entirely different?
Happy New year – No wonder you are confused – forgive me – Munro without the’e’ I have now corrected it. Only excuse too much brain drain over Xmas.
Very interesting post that makes me want to read her work. And learn something. I like the point about the universal link between people and the place they come from. Maybe that’s why your novel. The Sweet Track worked so well. Wx