Questions About Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories

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Answered Questions (4)

Is this book suitable for a 15 year old? Does it have any adult content?

Rex Hsieh Adult content, yes, insofar as human relationships are concerned. There is no explicit content. However, I writhe at the notion that a work of literat…moreAdult content, yes, insofar as human relationships are concerned. There is no explicit content. However, I writhe at the notion that a work of literature is "suitable" for a person, partly because the word implies "agreeable". A work of literature is, in no way, agreeable. My preferences for reading poetry of Hart Crane, Wallace Stevens, Percy Bysshe Shelley... are unlikely to be "suitable" for others.

I will say, though, that this collection of short stories is the best I have read from her ouevre (and I have read nine, in total, including her brilliant "Dear Life" and "Runaway"). Munro had not only crafted exception characters, but elaborated them with intricate human relationships, points of view, simplicity (in prose), and a sort of James-like realism. There are plenty of literary merits here, and I think many 15-year-olds would read this just for the fun - of reading and connecting with the stories' aesthetic beauties.(less)

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Why oh why does Keefer spoil the plot of the stories in the introduction? Not fun and not fair.

HansBlog Why oh why do you read the introduction first? Even if it's called "introduction". …moreWhy oh why do you read the introduction first? Even if it's called "introduction". (less)

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This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)

M.J. Fiori Jhumpa Lahiri - Interpreter of Maladies
John Cheever - Collected Stories
Alice Munro - Too Much Happiness (or really any of her collections)
Ted Chiang -…moreJhumpa Lahiri - Interpreter of Maladies
John Cheever - Collected Stories
Alice Munro - Too Much Happiness (or really any of her collections)
Ted Chiang - Stories of Your Life
Raymond Carver - any collection
Jorge Luis Borges - Labyrinths, Ficciones
Milan Kundera - Laughable Loves
Ron Rash - Nothing Gold Can Stay; Chemistry
Danielle Evans - Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self; The Office of Historical Corrections
Ursula K. Le Guin - The Birthday of the World & Other Stories; The Wind's Twelve Quarters
Primo Levi - The Periodic Table(less)

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Does it contain the story, the bear went over the mountain?

thelitgirl Yes it does, amongst other gems. It's the last story in the collection…moreYes it does, amongst other gems. It's the last story in the collection(less)

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Unanswered Questions (1)

Hello, how would you compare Munro's collection "Hateship, Friendship…" with other collections or her novel or her writing from other decades? Not that different? Quite different because…? Would like not unspecific praise ("must-read!"), but useful hints about probable differences or similarities. Thanks!

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