Alice Munro
Why Was She So Good?
The Nobel Prize winning, short story writer, Alice Munro, died this week. The Nobel announcement in 2013 described her as, ‘a master of the contemporary short story.’
She was quietly famous in a way that I admire. On receiving the award she said,'I was brought up to believe that the worst thing you could do was to call attention to yourself,’ or ‘think you were smart.’
I came to Alice Munro late but became a huge fan of her work. Here are my early thoughts on discovering her stories - from my blog in January 2013
Alice Munro – Why She’s So Good
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 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 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. Her characters move through the landscape, 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 an 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 …
In all, it’s the human condition that Alice Munro understands so well. On what seems to be a deliberately small canvas, she paints it true and large. For me her stories are a tonic in a world where there seems lately to be a fashion for the more bizarre or obtuse in the short story.
(By the way, if you’re a female writer with short stories to hand then do not miss this opportunity for publication which appeared in last week’s newsletter, closing date 30th May)
You can read, Alice Munro’s, Paris Review interview here.
When I doubt myself, which is often, I remind myself that I have a short story in an anthology, Love, Loss and the Lives of Women, 100 Great Short Stories, chosen by Victoria Hislop, which includes stories from the great Alice Munro. (To be honest it doesn’t work that well. I just tend to think it’s a fluke - and there’s no doubt it did involve a happy co-incidence, but still, it will always be a matter of pride.)
Finally, here’s a real treat - Margaret Atwood reading, Dance of the Happy Shades, by Alice Munro.
Thanks for reading
Avril x
You have me curious. I'm going to sniff her out!