Sunday, February 7, 2010

Too Much Happiness

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro


I have taken two classes on writing short stories and in both classes I was told to study Munro as she is one of the modern masters. Indeed, her latest collection won the Booker Prize and from the very beginning I found myself stopping to think about how she was able to convey so perfectly what I'd just read. Most of the stories focus on mid-life Canadian women and the different types of sadness they face. None of the stories could really be described as "uplifting," but as is Munro's style, they are all especially true. That is, she has conveyed real life and the struggles within it with a grace that really does make me pause and contemplate how she has made the ordinary sound so extraordinary.

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