Runaway

by Alice Munro

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2004

About the author

Collections of short stories of noted Canadian writer Alice Munro of life in rural Ontario include Dance of the Happy Shades (1968) and Moons of Jupiter (1982); for these and vivid novels, she won the Nobel Prize of 2013 for literature.

People widely consider her premier fiction of the world. Munro thrice received governor general's award. She focuses on human relationships through the lens of daily life. People thus refer to this "the Canadian Chekhov."

(Arabic: أليس مونرو)
(Persian: آلیس مانرو)
(Russian Cyrillic: Элис Манро)
(Ukrainian Cyrillic: Еліс Манро)
(Bulgarian Cyrillic: Алис Мънро)
(Slovak: Alice Munroová)
(Serbian: Alis Manro)

Reviews

[cant bug · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Munro story. I've heard a lot of praise for this writer - one of the masters of the he short story is what all the literary boffins say. And I can see why.

This story has plenty of meat on the bone - strong imagery and symbolism. What stood out to me was the rich characters she paints: Carla, Sylvia and Clark. All three feel very distinctive, and very 'real' in their mannerisms.

In a mix of stockholm syndrome, uncertainty and low self esteem, Carla chooses to stay with Clark despite the fact he is horrible, and gifted with a vile personality.

Implication at the end of the story is that the goat Flora was murdered. The goat that 'appears' when Clark confronts and Sylvie, in a supernatural type of event, and weirdly bonds Clark and Sylvie together and stops Clark from doing bad things to Sylvia.

The story was written well - it has all the hallmarks of a great short story. Characters that feel 'alive', tense plot with a neat little twist, symbolism and imagery woven throughout and societal commentary (domestic, gender and class).

Yet despite all that, I can't say I loved it or that it resonated with me. There were bits that I really liked, but on the whole all I can say is that it was good but left no personal mark on me. Regardless, I want to check out more from Munro. There's potential here for her to give me a story that stays with me for a long time. Sadly, it wasn't this one, but still solid writing.