ALICE’S WONDERLAND - (No Longer Available)
Alice Munro is recognized as one of our greatest living writers, crafting stories that warrant comparison to Chekhov’s in their sharp yet compassionate portrayals of seemingly ordinary characters. Munro’s stories enable readers both to see clearly the details of daily life and to see beyond them, to the human riches that lie beneath. Whether she is describing how college changes the way a young woman sees her family and small-town Ontario home, how a longstanding marriage comes apart, or how a once-philandering husband cares for his ailing wife, Munro challenges us to look more closely and think more deeply at the lives that surround us – and at our own lives. While she is especially noted for her treatment of the lives of girls and women, Munro’s stories feature male and female characters at all stages of life who struggle with problems at once specific and universal. We will discuss stories that span Munro’s distinguished career, drawn from Carried Away, a volume of stories Munro selected as her favorites. In addition to discussing the individual stories, we will be considering what qualities unite them and make them “Munrovian.”
“ALICE MUNRO IS AMONG THE MAJOR WRITERS OF ENGLISH FICTION OF OUR TIME ... IN MUNRO’S WORK, GRACE ABOUNDS, BUT IT IS STRANGELY DISGUISED: NOTHING CAN BE PREDICTED.”
– Margaret Atwood (from the intro to Carried Away)
LEADER
Nancy Carr is a senior editor at the Great Books Foundation in Chicago who is also engaged in freelance teaching and discussion leading. Nancy is drawn to Munro’s stories by their ability to evoke in a few precise lines the intensity and ambiguity that underlie seemingly ordinary lives.
BOOKS
Participants are required to obtain the specified editions in order to facilitate the group’s ability to find and cite portions of the text during discussion.
Alice Munro, Carried Away (Canadians will need to order this book from a US supplier, like amazon.com. The similar book in Canada does not have the same pagination.)
Hardcover. A selection of story titles will be posted on the website.
Everyman’s Library (2006)
ISBN-10: 0307264866
ISBN-13: 978-0307264862
From Carried Away, we will discuss:
“The Beggar Maid”
“The Turkey Season”
“The Progress of Love”
Miles City, Montana
“Meneseteung”
“Carried Away”
“Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage”
“Runaway”
We will also discuss two other stories which we will send to you by email.
“Hired Girl” (from The View from Castle Rock)
“Deep-Holes” (from Too Much Happiness)
DISCOUNTS – one per registrant
- Register before January 1, 2010 and receive a complimentary Soulpepper theatre ticket
- St. Michael’s College blue card holders receive a CAD $50 discount
- Participants who have attended Toronto Pursuits at least five times receive a CAD $150 discount
- Register with a friend, and if one or both are first time participants, each receives a CAD $150 discount
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