May 2014, In My Notebook

2014-05-23T09:03:14-04:00

At the beginning of the month, I made a note to gather the last of Susin Nielsen's books. Because I absolutely loved Word Nerd (2008) and The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (2012). Tundra Books, 2008 Not realizing that the characters overlap, I started with the most recent

May 2014, In My Notebook2014-05-23T09:03:14-04:00

“Family Furnishings” Alice Munro

2014-03-29T21:02:31-04:00

Alfrida's apartment is crowded. “'I know I’ve got far too much stuff in here,' she said. 'But it’s my parents’ stuff. It’s family furnishings, and I couldn’t let them go.' The story about her parents, the loss of her mother, the other family with whom she visits only half-heartedly after

“Family Furnishings” Alice Munro2014-03-29T21:02:31-04:00

“Floating Bridge” Alice Munro

2014-03-24T08:22:28-04:00

Jinny has been standing on shifting ground. Expectations are thwarted: these are times of transformation. This was true, too, in "Gravel" and in "Oh What Avails". But there she is: the space in which she is standing shifts both literally and metaphorically. Things have been all-a-shift for some time now.

“Floating Bridge” Alice Munro2014-03-24T08:22:28-04:00

“Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage” Alice Munro

2014-03-17T13:39:07-04:00

In playing the game, a girl writes the name of a boy beside her own name, crosses out the letters in common and counts off the various states of being: "Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage". This is what matters: her relationship with a man. And, reading it that way, it seems

“Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage” Alice Munro2014-03-17T13:39:07-04:00

“My Mother’s Dream” Alice Munro

2014-07-11T16:57:14-04:00

Perhaps, like many of us, Alice Munro has read and fully inhabited a story filled with wonders only to be cheated with the last-line revelation that the guts of that story were nothing but a dream. In contrast, "My Mother's Dream" subverts that expectation and begins with the dream, before

“My Mother’s Dream” Alice Munro2014-07-11T16:57:14-04:00
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