Great piece that's fair & raises many of the questions, ambiguous feelings & emotions one now feels reading (or re-reading) her work. I also agree one is inclined to want to read her more than less to try to ascertain what lies underneath - whether generational/regional/small town repression, wilful blindness, compartmentalization between "art / life", emotional if not financial dependency, or even a personal/family history of abuse as some have speculated. Interesting to read this alongside a recent NYT magazine piece that is arguably more judgemental (pasted here). Equally interesting to read the many comments on this article, many of which appear to "cancel" Munro, but a good number also note the daughter's experience & parental response aren't atypical, which is both fascinating & stunning. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/magazine/alice-munro-andrea-skinner-abuse.html?unlocked_article_code=1.i04.KWjE.jhCa1OOF_-yA&smid=url-share
Great piece that's fair & raises many of the questions, ambiguous feelings & emotions one now feels reading (or re-reading) her work. I also agree one is inclined to want to read her more than less to try to ascertain what lies underneath - whether generational/regional/small town repression, wilful blindness, compartmentalization between "art / life", emotional if not financial dependency, or even a personal/family history of abuse as some have speculated. Interesting to read this alongside a recent NYT magazine piece that is arguably more judgemental (pasted here). Equally interesting to read the many comments on this article, many of which appear to "cancel" Munro, but a good number also note the daughter's experience & parental response aren't atypical, which is both fascinating & stunning. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/magazine/alice-munro-andrea-skinner-abuse.html?unlocked_article_code=1.i04.KWjE.jhCa1OOF_-yA&smid=url-share
I'm reading her more too. I think to try and find answers and read her in context of what we have learned.
Literary Review of Canada (March 2025) "Namesake: What I didn't know I knew about Alice Munro" by Robert McGill - https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2025/03/namesake/
Noting this piece in The New York Review of Books (Dec 5, 2024). https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/12/05/alice-munros-retreat-anne-enright/?srsltid=AfmBOoq6wm6meQSqBrr4IDtmmgs0lL2kOxUvlxTHAgtv-4BnL8fQjtHY
Noting this piece in The New Yorker, which is so very detailed ... https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/30/alice-munros-passive-voice