Reviews

I like reading and re-reading the first books of the writers I love. They have a certain charm, and an indication of the origins from which their later works flow. They also show the early point of recurring themes, revisited places, and an overall sense of development achieved when compared to the works that followed.

All of these short stories are set in small towns which resemble Munro's hometown of Wingham, Ontario. It was clear while reading these stories that a lot of the material is drawn from memory. An interesting fact I learned about two days ago is that these stories are responsible for seven decades worth of hostility. Elements of a story matching with certain real life events that involve a tragic death, as well as people of the town feeling that characters in the book were actual people who lived in Wingham and who, according to them, were depicted in an unsavoury light, are to blame. The hostility was so great that threats of bodily harm against Munro had her seek protection from the town police when she visited her hometown for a literary festival. Her town accepts her more warmly now, and that she won a Nobel might have something to do with it.

This would be a good place for someone who hasn't read Munro. Not only because these are good stories, but also because the only place to go from here is up as the writing becomes richer, more complex, and more refined with the later works.

prey4thefemale's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

danicareads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

alisonburnis's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Dance of the Happy Shades is Alice Munro’s very first short story collection, which won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction the year it was published, 1968. Munro is excellent from the start; I expected no less, though there were some stories that just felt like short stories as opposed to her incredibly layered ones which feel like novels. This was the only original Munro collection I hadn’t read yet, and it was lovely to read new-to-me Munro. The hallmarks of her work are already strong here, and I found she used more stream-of-consciousness in some of them than she does her in her later work. All that said, it was Munro and I loved it.

teresa42's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5. I enjoy her style of writing and the characters she creates.

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