|
Runaway | 
 enlarge | Author: Alice Munro
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.07
You Save: $14.88 (100%)
New (62) Used (107) Collectible (5) from $0.07
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 22247
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1400077915
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781400077915
ASIN: 1400077915
Publication Date: November 8, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ** Possible marking on cover. 100% Satisfaction guaranteed on all purchases.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The incomparable Alice Munro’s bestselling and rapturously acclaimed Runaway is a book of extraordinary stories about love and its infinite betrayals and surprises, from the title story about a young woman who, though she thinks she wants to, is incapable of leaving her husband, to three stories about a woman named Juliet and the emotions that complicate the luster of her intimate relationships. In Munro’s hands, the people she writes about–women of all ages and circumstances, and their friends, lovers, parents, and children–become as vivid as our own neighbors. It is her miraculous gift to make these stories as real and unforgettable as our own.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Interesting, but not earth-shattering, stories June 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Alice Munroe is widely lauded as one of the most brilliant modern short story writers. As a lover of short stories, I was expecting to really enjoy this collection. Certainly the stories are well-written and enjoyable to read. They are peopled largely with women, many of whom seem to exhibit a host of stereotypical feminine flaws (far too subservient or braggingly independent, ready to throw their lives away for randomly met men, etc). It isn't necessarily that the characters are not realistic; they seem real, but in such a way that I think I would despise or pity them if I met them out in the world. A few of the stories also employ thematic elements which struck a false note, at least with me (the main offenders - the mistaken identity of murdered adopted baby, a deaf-mute twin brother, sudden defection of a beloved child to a cult camp). That said, I did enjoy reading the stories, especially the title story (Runaway) and Passion. Worth reading, but I think I will reserve judgment concerning Monroe's status at the pinnacle of the craft.
 How to deal with melancholy June 10, 2008
This offering of short stories by Alice Munro is just about perfect. The stories' characters are unusual, sensitive, vulnerable. Some are isolates. The author uses some of the characters in linked stories. She covers the passage of time in competent, realistic fashion, hiding her mastery of the literary form.
In "Runaway" the goat and the woman both take off and return to the starting points. Temperamentally they resemble each other in their capacity to bring cheer to others. Their parallel development is thoughtful.
In another story Sara and Sam, Juliet's parents, are encountered. Sam had been a dynamic school teacher, but had seemed to undermine authority. As a consequence he was passed over for administrative positions. Sara and Sam were happy to meet Juliet's daughter Penelope. Years later, reading a letter she had sent to Penelope's father during her visit, Juliet winced at the sprightly cover-up of it, the false tone.
The plot turns are particularly good in the story, "Tricks".
 Gorgeous April 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I hope that everyone who can appreciate good writing will have a chance to read Alice Munro's works at some point. Her stories are lovely little works of art. This is a fine, fine collection. Highly recommended.
Truth from an Outsider March 10, 2008
The women in Munro's stories don't seem to fit in, and the narrative gives the reader a vantage point unlike any other. She shines a bright light on many self-limiting beliefs women cling to even today, as they did in the stories set decades in the past. She exposes taboos that are so ingrained they seem like "just the way things are" This is required reading for every woman and girl.
Munro's singular talent is in forcing the reader to challenge assumptions. You never see it coming, but every story has at least one of these moments where everything that came before has to be re-evaluated.
The story-worlds are described with an anthropologist's naivete. Her depictions of southern Ontarians (I am one) make me want to gasp and say "so I'm not the only one who notices that??" In everything she writes about, she picks up on things I have never seen anyone else articulate.
A truly enriching an captivating book. Had me reading into the wee hours of the morning.
The Faulkner of Our Time March 4, 2008
I would relate Munro's writing to the gothic chant of the literary world, no embellishments, no extraneous similes or metaphors, just simple, profoundly moving storytelling. I've read the first story in the collection (for which the collection is named), approximately ten times, and each time it affects me differently.
I think all authors, both short story writers and novelists, should study Munro, and learn from her. She's truly the Faulkner of our times...
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
