sábado, 14 de maio de 2016

Book Review | Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Munro

Ten short stories connected by one character and universal questions such as, you guessed it, Who Do You Think You Are? is what composes Alice Munro's novel, where small details and witty remarks and minimalistic but powerful dialogs make up one single story. It follows Rose and her upbringing, then Rose and her adulthood, and throughout Rose and her thoughts. However, I finished the book feeling I don't know Rose at all.

The prose was compelling enough. It was poetic and romantic. It had many details that make one nod in agreement or silently sigh in relief for seeing on paper some quirk or peculiar habit that until then was only his. You know, how nail polish smells like banana and chemicals (chemical banana!).

Something was missing, though. I felt this was one of those books I could not really fully comprehend and thus I could not really like it. It felt like a collection of chronicles, some of them way more personal than others, with no apparent goal other than describe someone the author admires.

The novel was entertaining and I hadn't read any of Alice Munro's stories before. If this one was the best one to start, I do not know. Maybe I didn't feel connected enough with Rose. A few particular scenes showed how obviously different we are from each other. That doesn't usually make me not like a character, but this was in a sense an unusual read. It flew by, but it did not stick. I'm not surprised if I do not remember the details of this novel in a week from now. It was entertaining while it lasted.

6/10

Vanessa

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