Alice Munro
Paperback | Pages: 304 pages Rating: 4.06 | 4884 Users | 397 Reviews
Itemize Books To Open Secrets
| Original Title: | Open Secrets |
| ISBN: | 0679755624 (ISBN13: 9780679755623) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | WH Smith Literary Award (1995) |
Interpretation As Books Open Secrets
In these eight tales, Munro evokes the devastating power of old love suddenly recollected. She tells of vanished schoolgirls and indentured frontier brides and an eccentric recluse who, in the course of one surpassingly odd dinner party, inadvertently lands herself a wealthy suitor from exotic Australia. And Munro shows us how one woman's romantic tale of capture and escape in the high Balkans may end up inspiring another woman who is fleeing a husband and lover in present-day Canada.Details About Books Open Secrets
| Title | : | Open Secrets |
| Author | : | Alice Munro |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 304 pages |
| Published | : | November 7th 1995 by Vintage (first published 1994) |
| Categories | : | Short Stories. Fiction. Cultural. Canada. Contemporary |
Rating About Books Open Secrets
Ratings: 4.06 From 4884 Users | 397 ReviewsWeigh Up About Books Open Secrets
030119: incorporates old review. i think i have read everything published by alice munro (i think i will just call her aunt a by now). i have just finished her collection 'runaway', and decided to try a review of one or two of her stories i have not read in years (decades...). the first collection i had read was as a curious child, a paperback of 'lives of girls and women', then found an old copy of 'dance of the happy shades'. i read these easily, swiftly, and this was the first time i wanted aExcellent, maybe the most consistent collection of her writing that I've read. As always, great writing and surprising structure. Nothing quite as good as Bear Came Over, but then again, what is?A few stories of particular 5-star noteThe Albanian Virgin: Starts out well, but that last page is magical.The Jack Randa Hotel: Such a bold story - it just keeps moving.Carried Away: Gets more and more audacious.
These stories are kind of peculiar. Very subdued, and on the surface often uneventful, they're also filled with little details that give a sense of magnitude and richness to their world. If you imagine narrative as a path, these details are like things clustered closely to the path's sides, even spilling over into it, giving you a sense of the wider and ultimately interconnected reality which enmeshes any sequence of events in the life of an individual, fictional or otherwise. Several of the
Funny, ''The Jack Randa Hotel'' is the story I liked the most. I also liked ''Carried Away'' very much.
I have read this collection of self-contained stories many times and each time they offer up something different. Vandals is a favourite, as is The Jack Randa Hotel, but to be honest they're all very good - dense, deep, offering up their own secrets on each reread. And each time I discover bits I've forgotten or overlooked before. I can't recommend them highly enough.
from my 1995 notebook:Just finished Munro's Open Secrets - superb is not the word, for once the blurb is right - miraculous. Histories of people unravel, touch one another. The shock of those hidden depths - the child murderer in the title story, secret child abuse in Vandals. Strange, difficult, sets you thinking for days. Alice, I love you.
You can see why Alice Munro was able to win the Nobel Prize as a short story writer. These are all fully-formed stories with interesting characters and an impressive amount of story development in around 40 pages. They are far superior to any other short stories I have read. She has a particular talent for moving on in time naturally and with minimal explanation so that a lot can happen to the characters and in their lives, without losing anything or it feeling rushed. I didn't really feel any
0 Comments