Bear Came Over the Mountain, The by Alice Munro ~ June Book Club ~ Short Stories

[JoanP]

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Short Stories - Some SeniorLearn Favorites - JUNE 1 til mid JULY

It is said that a good short story should include: * a strong theme, * a fascinating plot, * a fitting structure, * unforgettable characters, * a well-chosen setting, * an appealing style.  Let's consider these elements as we discuss the following stories.  Is it necessary to include them all in a successful story? 
 

Notice that the titles are all links to the stories.

Discussion Schedule:
June 1 -June 9: *The Book of The Funny Smells--and Everything (1872) by Eleanor H Abbott *The Necklace or The Diamond Necklace (1880) -  by Guy de Maupassant
  *A Pair of Silk Stockings (1896) by Kate Chopin
June 10- 14: *Babylon Revisited (1931) by F.Scott Fitzgerald
June 15- 17: *First Confession (1939) by Frank O'Connor
June 18-20: *A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1953) by Flannery O'Connor 
June 21-24: *The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (1973) by Ursula LeGuin
June 25-28: *The Half-skinned Steer (1997) by Annie Proulx
June 29-July 2 *The Bear Came Over the Mountain(1999) by Alice Munro
July 5 -July 9:  *The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chechov 1894

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The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro

Here's a brief bio of our author, Alice Munro, who was born on July 10, 1931 in Wingham, Ontario, Canada. She attended the University of Western Ontario and, after two years, left school and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. Her highly acclaimed first collection of stories was published as Dance of the Happy Shades , which won the Governor General's Award, Canada’s highest literary prize. Her story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" was adapted for the screen as the film "Away from Her," starring Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent.  It debuted at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. Sarah Polley's adaptation was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to "No Country for Old Men." In 2009 Munro won the Man Booker International Prize, which "seeks to recognise a living author who has contributed significantly to world literature and to highlight the author's continuing creativity and development on a global scale."  That same year she published the highly acclaimed short-story collection, Too Much Happiness.

Topics for Consideration

June 29 - July 2

? What do you think of the way the author introduced us to Grant and Fiona plus a brief bit about her parents?? ? Did you understand the second paragraph when you started reading it?  That the time had jumped forward so quickly? ? Were you as confused as I when you started to read about Fiona dressing to go out in the cold? ? Did her clothes seem wrong??

DL Contact: Adoannie

[JoanP]

Munro mentions one of my favorite Icelandic incidents:

Pat, from your description, I can understand why Fiona declined to read Grant's work...I gather she doesn't see the magnificence either.

But curiously, she did develop a love for Iceland - and probably knew more of its history and lore than she let on to Grant.

Tomorrow, we'll begin Chechov's Lady with a Dog - an interesting contrast to Munro's Grant.  We're gathering HERE  Can't wait to hear your reaction to his womanizing!    


We'll keep this discussion open for futher comments...love to hear your collected thoughts, Pat!

[ANNIE]

We spent yesterday getting over the 4th of July!  Haha!  And today we attend a memorial for our SIL who passed on June 15th.  There will be a lot of big band music and many tributes to this sweet lady who was still singing and appearing with bands at 80.

I enjoyed Pat's description of the Icelandic poem but good grief, is doesn't sound very crowd drawing.
Well, different for different vikings

On to our new short story later today.

[PatH]

Actually, the poem would have been a crowd-pleaser for those bloody vikings.  They loved long battle scenes (it's all about how impressive Eirick was in the last battle), and it's full of clever word tricks and difficult rhymes, which they also loved.  I have to take that on faith--the translator of my copy of Egil's Saga says "...the elaborately metaphoric nature of Icelandic verse makes literal translation virtually incomprehensible."

About Fiona not learning Icelandic.  Don't forget Fiona's mother was Icelandic.  There could be some emotional baggage there.