What do you think?
Rate this book
Alice Munro: Paradox and Parallel
Beginning with her earliest, uncollected stories, W.R. Martin critically examines Alice Munro's writing career. He discusses influences on Munro and presents an overview of the prominent features of her the typical protagonist, the development of her narrative technique, and the dialectic that involves paradoxes and parallels.
247 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
3 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 28, 2019
If you are trying to understand Alice Munro and her writing, stay far far away from Martin and his "critical" reveiw.
Be forewarned. In his introduction he says, "I can set out no simple theoretical basis for what I offer...My theory ...is the exating method of close reading...hints, ironies, and nuances."
He says in chapter one that alice Munro's "art is steroscopic and also a complex counterpointing of opposed truths in a memorable model of life and reality...she makes the 'mysterious touchable' and the 'touchable mysterious.'" (no cite for the quotes his his book) Then he leaves it all at that - not one example to guide the student. He continues this format through the book: declarative statement, no example.
Because, as best I can tell from reading "Moons of Jupiter" (my own introduction to Munro), there are no examples.
when Martin gets to reviewing the story "Pru," he says that "Throughout the story the short clipped sentences generate a dry ironic humour..." THAT I could check out. No short clipped sentences and if there was dry ironic humour I certainly couldn't find it.
Save yourself time and money - skip this book entirely when studying Alice Munro. It sends you off on wild goose chases expecting something that simply isn't there. If I could give it less than 1 star I would
Be forewarned. In his introduction he says, "I can set out no simple theoretical basis for what I offer...My theory ...is the exating method of close reading...hints, ironies, and nuances."
He says in chapter one that alice Munro's "art is steroscopic and also a complex counterpointing of opposed truths in a memorable model of life and reality...she makes the 'mysterious touchable' and the 'touchable mysterious.'" (no cite for the quotes his his book) Then he leaves it all at that - not one example to guide the student. He continues this format through the book: declarative statement, no example.
Because, as best I can tell from reading "Moons of Jupiter" (my own introduction to Munro), there are no examples.
when Martin gets to reviewing the story "Pru," he says that "Throughout the story the short clipped sentences generate a dry ironic humour..." THAT I could check out. No short clipped sentences and if there was dry ironic humour I certainly couldn't find it.
Save yourself time and money - skip this book entirely when studying Alice Munro. It sends you off on wild goose chases expecting something that simply isn't there. If I could give it less than 1 star I would
Displaying 1 of 1 review