Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Dear Life
Alice Munro
Review by Priscilla Comen
Dear Life
Alice Munro
Review by Priscilla Comen
Dear Life, by Alice Munroe is a group of short stories about how strange, perilous and extra ordinary, ordinary life can be. Their quiet depth will surprise the reader with unexpected twists and turns.
The first is about Katy, the young daughter, Greta, the mother, a poetess, and her husband Peter. Greta is on her way to a friend’s house in Vancouver for a party. Her poems have been published in a writer’s magazine. She gets drunk on a pink drink and a fellow guest puts her into a car. He drives her home and she thinks about him. The next time she visits, she meets Greg and Laurie on the train. Both are actors and engage Katy in games. Greta goes to Greg’s compartment. When she returns to her compartment Katy is gone. She admits to herself she has given her attention elsewhere, and feels she has sinned. When they exit the train, the man she wants to meet is at the station.
The next story is about a woman who has come to see Dr. Fox, a teacher at a school near a lake. The woman, Vivien, is to teach only simple subjects such as drawing, music and stories. Dr. Fox invites her to dinner and she wears her best dress and fancy shoes inside her snow boots. They talk about books and his surgeries. He says Streptomycin is coming soon and it will put him out of business. The following Saturday he invites her for dinner again. He cooks the same pork chops and the same kind of apple pie. He takes Vivien to bed and promises to marry her. In early April they drive to Huntsville and he makes an appointment at the Justice of the Peace. But at the last minute, he can’t do it and buys her a ticket to Toronto to her grandparents. He leaves her at the train station. Years later, she’s still dazed and in disbelief.
Stories about theater ticket-takers and a night policeman follow. Then a story about two sisters. The older one always tells the younger what to do. They live next to a gravel pit that fills with water. The older sister tells the younger to get their mother. While she is gone, the elder one throws their dog into the water and she jumps in to rescue him. The younger sister doesn’t knock on the door of their house because they might be having sex. She carries the guilt with her after her sister drowns.
Stories follow about missionaries going to Africa to minister to the heathen, and others about musicians and a man who dips into the funds of the bank where he works. Another is about a woman who cares for a man who is ill and they live as sister and brother. After he sells his house, they travel to another country together.
Another story tells of a couple who have an affair. The nurse they have working for them writes a letter to his wife telling her of the affair. The nurse wants money sent to her P.O box in cash twice a year. Corrie, the woman in love, gives the money to her lover to deposit in Lillian’s box. When Lillian dies, Corrie wonders about the money. Her lover is out of town with his family. He takes many expensive trips. Corrie feels it could have been worse.
Another story is about Jackson who hops on trains when life gets too intimate. One time he stops at Belle’s house and helps with chores. He does a good job and in the summer they buy a car and drive to Toronto. Belle needs surgery and he takes her to the hospital. He leaves her there and takes a job at a retail store, then gets on a train later in the night.
Another story is about Dolly and Franklin. When Gwen comes to sell them cosmetics, she must stay overnight as the garage is closed and her car won’t start. Frank and Gwen realize they knew one another years ago when Frank returned from World War II.
Alice Munroe grew up in Ontario, Canada. She has won many prizes for her short stories and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013. Find this intriguing book of stories at your Mendocino Community Library.
The first is about Katy, the young daughter, Greta, the mother, a poetess, and her husband Peter. Greta is on her way to a friend’s house in Vancouver for a party. Her poems have been published in a writer’s magazine. She gets drunk on a pink drink and a fellow guest puts her into a car. He drives her home and she thinks about him. The next time she visits, she meets Greg and Laurie on the train. Both are actors and engage Katy in games. Greta goes to Greg’s compartment. When she returns to her compartment Katy is gone. She admits to herself she has given her attention elsewhere, and feels she has sinned. When they exit the train, the man she wants to meet is at the station.
The next story is about a woman who has come to see Dr. Fox, a teacher at a school near a lake. The woman, Vivien, is to teach only simple subjects such as drawing, music and stories. Dr. Fox invites her to dinner and she wears her best dress and fancy shoes inside her snow boots. They talk about books and his surgeries. He says Streptomycin is coming soon and it will put him out of business. The following Saturday he invites her for dinner again. He cooks the same pork chops and the same kind of apple pie. He takes Vivien to bed and promises to marry her. In early April they drive to Huntsville and he makes an appointment at the Justice of the Peace. But at the last minute, he can’t do it and buys her a ticket to Toronto to her grandparents. He leaves her at the train station. Years later, she’s still dazed and in disbelief.
Stories about theater ticket-takers and a night policeman follow. Then a story about two sisters. The older one always tells the younger what to do. They live next to a gravel pit that fills with water. The older sister tells the younger to get their mother. While she is gone, the elder one throws their dog into the water and she jumps in to rescue him. The younger sister doesn’t knock on the door of their house because they might be having sex. She carries the guilt with her after her sister drowns.
Stories follow about missionaries going to Africa to minister to the heathen, and others about musicians and a man who dips into the funds of the bank where he works. Another is about a woman who cares for a man who is ill and they live as sister and brother. After he sells his house, they travel to another country together.
Another story tells of a couple who have an affair. The nurse they have working for them writes a letter to his wife telling her of the affair. The nurse wants money sent to her P.O box in cash twice a year. Corrie, the woman in love, gives the money to her lover to deposit in Lillian’s box. When Lillian dies, Corrie wonders about the money. Her lover is out of town with his family. He takes many expensive trips. Corrie feels it could have been worse.
Another story is about Jackson who hops on trains when life gets too intimate. One time he stops at Belle’s house and helps with chores. He does a good job and in the summer they buy a car and drive to Toronto. Belle needs surgery and he takes her to the hospital. He leaves her there and takes a job at a retail store, then gets on a train later in the night.
Another story is about Dolly and Franklin. When Gwen comes to sell them cosmetics, she must stay overnight as the garage is closed and her car won’t start. Frank and Gwen realize they knew one another years ago when Frank returned from World War II.
Alice Munroe grew up in Ontario, Canada. She has won many prizes for her short stories and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013. Find this intriguing book of stories at your Mendocino Community Library.