Amundsen

by Alice Munro, Paul Rogers (Illustrator)

"On the bench outside the station, I sat and waited. The station had been open when the train arrived, but now it was locked. Another woman sat at the end of the bench, holding between her knees a string bag full of parcels wrapped in oiled paper. Meat—raw meat. I could smell it".

Genres: Short Stories, Drama

ebook

First published January 1, 2012

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

[Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love in a Sanatorium in a Cold Climate
Review of the New Yorker Fiction online edition (August 27, 2012) of the story later collected in the anthology Dear Life (October 13, 2012).

I realized after Alice Munro's (July 10, 1931-May 13, 2024) passing that just about all of my reading of her was from my pre-GR and pre-reviewing days. But several prompts arrived (see below) to get me started again.

While reading Amundsen it struck me how often short stories are mysteries. I don't mean that they are in that fiction genre. In the space of only a short number of pages you have to figure out the who, what, when, where, and why of the story. So the reader becomes the detective searching for clues and the author is the criminal who hides them. The clues in Amundsen arrive very gradually, some not until close to the very end.

A recent graduate teacher arrives at the Amundsen* Sanatorium in Ontario, Canada to provide schooling for the younger children in the facility. Amundsen is a fictional town as best as I know, so you begin to imagine what is the connection to the doomed polar explorer. You realize the sanatorium is for treating tuberculosis patients and for their recovery. There are references to World War II and the discovery/invention of streptomycin, so you realize the story is likely set in 1944. The chief surgeon is an off-putting character whom you dislike immediately. But a relationship grows with the young teacher, until it all comes to naught.

I enjoyed this revisit to Alice Munro's work and hope to continue with further re-reads, new reads and reviews.

Footnote
When a reference to Huntsville, Ontario comes along late in the story, you realize that the inspiration for the sanatorium in Amundsen was likely the one in Gravenhurst, Ontario. Gravenhurst is about 53 kilometres (33 miles) south of Huntsville.

Trivia and Links
The New Yorker sent out a newsletter with links to some of its Alice Munro stories and related articles. You can see that newsletter here. If you are a subscriber, still have free reads, or are lightning ⚡🏃🏻 fast on screengrabs before a paywall comes down, you can read Amundsen here. Failing those options, it is also available in the Dear Life (2012) collection of stories.

Bonus Tracks
Margaret Atwood did a reading of an early Alice Munro story Dance of the Happy Shades, the title story of Munro's first short story collection Dance of the Happy Shades (1968), for The Guardian which you can listen to here. The Guardian also provides links to several of its related Alice Munro articles which you can see here.

[Soumojit Basu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever felt that there are some writers you read a lot about - the media, a book club, friends - but never get around to reading for some unknown reason? For me, Alice Munro has always been that writer.

So, on one of my rabbit hole expeditions in the New Yorker archives, I found this short story.

The story is set in a small town in Canada and happens somewhere towards the end of World War II. The protagonist, Vivien, has travelled all the way from Toronto and is on a teaching assignment at a sanatorium, which is where people suffering from chronic diseases were kept. In this case, the patients happen to be children suffering from Tuberculosis.

Through Vivien, we meet the ebullient Mary, who is a constant source of warmth and in sharp contrast to the bleak surroundings. But despite her energy and enthusiasm, Mary doesn't have too many friends and the one friend she had died due to illness, most probably TB.

The other person at the heart of the story is Dr Alister Fox, who Marry affectionately called Reddy Fox which is a reference to a children's book character. But a cute nickname aside, Mr Fox turns out to be arrogant, insensitive and has a penchant for snide remarks that he lashes upon Vivien quite liberally.

With this disparate crew, the writer weaves a budding romance that, as a reader, felt tragic considering Alister's proclivity to be a Grade A asshole. Despite Vivien trying her darndest to make something work, her attempt to find love in this frigid backwater concludes not in intensity, love and passion but with a giant question mark.

For me, what I enjoyed most about this short story is not so much the characters - even if Mary is absolutely delightful - but how Munro is able to paint such a vivid picture of harsh, bleak surroundings. The word cold appears numerous times and this has an effect that reinforces the harshness of the surroundings but may also be interpreted to define the barrenness of any real emotional connection between Vivien and Alister.

Hopefully, this story can finally get me kickstarted on getting to know Munro's writings at a deeper level.

[Janna Shaftan · Rating 3 out of 5]

He was evidently the sort of person who posed questions that were traps for you to fall into.

It was just that whatever happened in places they didn’t know had to be discounted; it got in their way and under their skin. Every time the news came on the radio, they switched it to music.

Yet they were in awe of Dr., partly because he had read so many books. They also said that there was nobody like him for tearing a strip off you if he felt like it.

I couldn’t figure out if they thought there was a connection between reading a lot of books and tearing a strip off.

Books suggesting someone anxious to know, to possess great scattered lumps of knowledge. Perhaps not someone whose tastes were firm and exacting.

So it was possible that when he had asked me, “Which Russian novel?,” he had not had so solid a platform as I’d thought.

When he called “Ready,” and I opened the door, I was armed with this new skepticism.

But, in this case, his past and future presence in the house would draw all ordinary comfort out of the situation and replace it with a pleasure that was nerve-racking rather than expansive. I doubted whether I’d be able to read a word.

She plunks herself down beside me and tells me that they have been playing basketball against Huntsville. It was a riot. They lost.

“We lost, didn’t we?” she calls out in apparent delight, and others groan and giggle. She mentions the score, which is indeed quite shocking.

She has not forgotten. Just tidied up the scene and put it away, in a closet with her other former selves.

[Ray LaManna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic Alice Munro story beautifully written.

[Greer Gibney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way Alice Munro conveys the cold, in both weather and people, is completely masterful. I don’t quite understand how she can write stories like this and be who she was

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice writing. Some very good phrases in there. Loved the arc of the story too.

[Hala Akkawi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amundsen is the only work I’ve read so far, and I will surely read more. It is written in the naturalness and directness of Hemingway, leaving the reader to think things through, get heart-broken.

[Cristiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite short stories. Superb ending.