h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So she won the Nobel prize in literature this year. And The Pocket Shop had a collection of her short stories. And since I've never read anything by her before, I thought I'd give it a go.

Several years ago, I read a collection of short stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (also Nobel prize winning author) and they were pretty good.

I also prefer Isaac Asimov in short story version - he tends to go on and on and on in the novel format.

So far, I find Alice Munro a bit confusing. I'm thinking the reason some people like her writings are based on nostalgia, or something similar. Or maybe you have to be American. I'm into my second short story, and it just keeps going on and on without any real red thread.

The first short story left me completely confused. To begin with, I got the personae all mixed up. I thought it was a young couple in love, and the young man's mother. Turned out it was a married couple and their daughter.

And then she breaks off in the middle of the story.

The last sentence, for crying out loud, goes:

'She just stood waiting for what ever had to come next.'

What kind of ending is that, I ask you?

[Amy P]

Enigmatic? or the perfect ending for people who cannot

Deb

pebbles, don't do that to me!

>>for people who cannot>>

cannot what? WHAT?

Mwaahahahahaha

The second short story is turning out to be an endless hithering and dithering, like a drunk

I'm about to finish the fourth short story, and I realize it's not my cup of

See, I dont' know what Alice Munro is trying to tell me.

It's not exciting
It's not entertaining
It's not humourus
It's not interesting
It's not educating

If anything, what these short stories (4 so far) seem to be to me is describing how futile life can be.

I'll try and finish the collection of short stories but then I'll put it in the 'pick-a-book-leave-a-book' shelf at the office.

Utter tosh. This author, no matter how great others think she is, is not my cup of .

'I lived when I was young at the end of a long road'

Eh?

*rearranges words*

'When I was young I lived at the end of a long road'

There, much better.

I don't recognize the people, the time, the place or the situations she's trying to describe. And not a single one of the short stories had a proper ending, she just stopped telling the story when she grew bored of it. At least that's the impression I got.

But obviously, others think she's great, so don't let my personal impression prevent you from enjoying her works.

Another way of putting it might be to say that other authors I've come across through all my years of reading are even better in the short format; short and precise.

Alice Munro isn't. Short and precise, that is. She's dithering. It takes her about thrice as many words to tell a simple story than I'd have used myself. But then, I'm not a Nobel prize winner.