tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161136885462262525.post43801334584365033..comments2024-03-09T00:19:36.011-08:00Comments on Reading the Short Story: The Magic of Alice Munro: Family Furnishings: Selected Stories--1995-2014Charles E. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11642048806407593585noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161136885462262525.post-14464437740040782842015-04-29T14:01:12.380-07:002015-04-29T14:01:12.380-07:00Thank you for this comment, Karl. It is an interes...Thank you for this comment, Karl. It is an interesting and important question on which I will try to post a short essay in the next couple of months. Charles E. Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11642048806407593585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161136885462262525.post-69090164029043772242015-04-29T08:37:10.721-07:002015-04-29T08:37:10.721-07:00In an episode of the 1980s British comedy TV show ...In an episode of the 1980s British comedy TV show "The Young Ones," one of the titular twenty-something characters launches into a generation-gap tirade with an elderly man, finishing up by accidentally reversing a classic generation-gap complaint: "and the only reason you don't understand our music is that you don't like it!"<br /><br />I think there's some wisdom in that bit of comedy. Appreciating something to its fullest depths may require understanding it, but often, and I would say for most people, just plain liking the thing has to come first.<br /><br />If there's one thing that you've worked to convey in this blog, it's that a good short story will consist of far more that its plot, characters, and writing style. But even knowing and believing that, I think it's only human nature to respond to those elements of a story, and perhaps to form our initial like/don't-like reaction based on them. For me, the great failing of Alice Munro is her characters. I find them humorless, passionless, dreary, lifeless. Her characters may not be the "point" of her stories, but doggone it, I just don't like being around them. Contrast this with Lorrie Moore's characters, whom I generally fall in love with after the first couple of pages. Or Raymond Carver's, who may not be lovable or even likable, but who are passionate beings whose feelings I can't help but care about.<br /><br />I guess this shows a lack of sophistication in my reading. If I find myself not enjoying a story that I have reason to believe has depth, I should try to withhold judgement on it until I've put some effort into teasing out what a deeper understanding might have to offer. Having read all of this blog's entries on Munro, I plan on reading and rereading more of her stories in the future. It will be interesting to see if I'm now able to get past my initial "don't like," work my way through "understand," and then perhaps even arrive at "like."Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05827682993126698431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161136885462262525.post-74709525879074301602014-12-03T17:39:52.044-08:002014-12-03T17:39:52.044-08:00I'm glad to see "My Mother's Dream&qu...I'm glad to see "My Mother's Dream" appear in the collection. I've always loved that story. I was recently asked to cite examples of first person omniscient point of view. The novel that immediately came to mind was <i>Middlesex</i> by Jeffrey Eugenides and the short story that immediately came to mind was "My Mother's Dream" by Alice Munro.Keith Hoodnoreply@blogger.com