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Lives of Girls and Women
Lives of Girls and Women | Alice Munro
The only novel from bestselling author Alice Munro, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Catching frogs, grazing knees, singing songs to save England from Hitler - that was childhood for Del Jordan, and now she's impatient for more. More than she can find in the encyclopedias sold by her mother, or in the half-understood innuendos dispensed by best friend Naomi, or in the whispers of boys during Friday night dances. Just like the girls in the movies, she wants to get started on real life. In her only novel, Alice Munro turns her eye to the frustrations, embarrassments, glee and bewilderment of adolescence, and to the brushes with sex, death, violence and birth that shape the lives of girls and women. 'I am the perfect audience for her brand of quiet, seething feminism' Lena Dunham 'Superb' Independent 'In Munro's work, nothing can be predicted. Emotions erupt. Preconceptions crumble. Surprises proliferate' Margaret Atwood 'Exact and unflinching' Guardian 'She is one of the handful of writers, some living, most dead, whom I have in mind when I say that fiction is my religion' Jonathan Franzen
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TheKidUpstairs
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The literary world lost a giant yesterday. Thank you, Alice, for enriching the lives of all your readers.

CBC has been republishing some great articles about Munro's life and work today.

92 things to know about Alice Munro:
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4088507

11 books Alice Munro loves and you will too:
https://www.cbc.ca/books/11-books-alice-munro-loves-and-you-will-too-1.4088869

CuriousG I just dug out my giant stack of her collections from my shelves. Now to decide what one to read again. Her style is so beautiful and almost understated. 6mo
59 likes1 comment
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Astroneman
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Mehso-so

Choosing a book just because the author has won the Nobel Prize for literature is not always easy.
And this may not be the most significant.. 🤷‍♀️

#books #libro #leggere #litsy #goodreads #toread #bookly #booklover #bookworm #alicemunro #einaudi #einaudieditore #livesofgirlsandwomen

BiblioLitten This was a So-So for me too. 3y
Ruthiella I‘ve only read one collection from her and found it OK. Short stories aren‘t really my bag, however. 3y
31 likes2 comments
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Pia_hb
Pickpick

A story that takes you along on some aspects of growing up and being a woman. I do not feel that the author judges or moralise over the incidents and feelings and gives room for just reading the story on your own.

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Naya
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Pickpick

13/2021

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TheKidUpstairs
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Just a few of the girls in my house!

#Boy #OppositeDay @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

66 likes1 comment
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Josee.lit.a.lu.et.lira
Bailedbailed

#ReadCanada 7/13 #Ontario
Picked it up 4 times, I just could not get into it 🤷🏻‍♀️

MsMelissa That‘s too bad. 4y
MsMelissa You know, I don‘t think I‘ve actually read anything by Alice Munro. I‘m not a short story fan so that‘s probably why I‘ve avoided her, although I realize this one is actually a full novel. 4y
Josee.lit.a.lu.et.lira @Book_Fiend_Melissa yes it‘s a novel. I‘ve come to enjoy short stories in the last few months 🙂 4y
25 likes3 comments
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merelybookish
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One of my favourite quotations from one of my favourite writers. There's always more to people than meets the eye!
Thanks for the tag @vivastory
#thoughtfulthursday

KVanRead That‘s a great one. Love her. 4y
vivastory What a great quote! I have a book of Munro's stories I've been meaning to get to. Might need to move it up... 4y
merelybookish @KVanRead Love her too! 4y
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merelybookish @vivastory Go for it! I don't think you'll be disappointed. 4y
Cathythoughts That great. I have read & loved some short stories... I must get the novel 👍🏻❤️ 4y
Centique I love that quote! 😍 4y
41 likes6 comments
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llwheeler
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Pickpick

Ontario for #ReadCanada done

One of those books where I can't think of how to review without spiraling into essay mode, and I'm not gonna do that. So this not-a-review will be very similar to my last #ReadCanada review... A classic of #CanLit, not surprised that I enjoyed it, and glad I've read it.

Nute All of the colors in this photo are working well together! 4y
MsMelissa I‘ve never read Alice Munro believe it or not. I‘m not a short story person so that explains some of it, but I‘m surprised I never read her back in school. 4y
llwheeler @Nute they do go together nicely eh? 🙂 4y
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llwheeler @Book_Fiend_Melissa I never had to read her in school either 4y
batsy I really enjoyed this one. I should definitely read more Alice Munro! 4y
llwheeler @batsy the only other one of hers I've read is The Love of a Good Woman, which I don't remember a ton about tbh except that I liked it too. Lol 4y
44 likes6 comments
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llwheeler
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Quiet weekend morning ❤️ taking a moment to be grateful for this time, and how delicious these local pears are, and how I have 25 pages left in this book which I've been enjoying.

Daisey This looks like a wonderful way to start the day! 4y
llwheeler @Daisey so lovely. Hope you have a good day 🙂 4y
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merelybookish
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I managed to find my first post for a photo challenge hosted by @Cinfhen . (Took some scrolling!) I've been an occasional participant over the years, but appreciate all that you have done Cindy to make Litsy fun and active. You are #amazing! 💕🙌
#MOvember

Sace Wow! I'm in awe! That was probably a lot of scrolling! 5y
merelybookish @Sace Fortunately I had a book to listen to! 🙂 5y
Cinfhen Oh wow!!! That‘s #AMAZING 🙌🏻😘I‘m not sure I could even find that first post!!! Thank you for joining and sharing all these YEARS ❣️❣️❣️❣️ (edited) 5y
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merelybookish @Cinfhen It was #bittersweetsymphony 😉. Made me realize as much as we feel we've lost people on Litsy, many of us have been hanging around here for a while! 5y
Cinfhen So true!!!! And #BitterSweetSymphony is my FAVORITE song- I should have guessed that would be the first song I used for my challenge 5y
Cinfhen Wow!! Just scrolled through the 58 posts tagged #BitterSweetSymphony 🥰so fun seeing so many familiar names in those posts!!! And unfortunately a few who are no longer on Litsy. Thanks for the memories 😘 5y
Blaire @merelybookish so cool you found this! @cinfhen it also made me go scroll through...does not feel like three years ago! 5y
readordierachel How neat! 5y
batsy Very cool! And cheers to your perseverance 😁🥂 5y
merelybookish @Cinfhen That's awesome! 5y
merelybookish @Blaire @readordierachel @batsy Thanks! It would be ALMOST embarassing to admit how long it took to find...but obviously worth it. 😁 5y
Cinfhen Right @Blaire ?!?? Time flies!!! (edited) 5y
Cathythoughts Nice one 👍🏻❤️ 5y
emilyhaldi Love this!!!! I can't imagine scrolling that far back in my feed 😅 5y
52 likes14 comments
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merelybookish
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Doing some research in the stacks and happened upon this old school #Canlit cover. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of Alice Munro without white hair.

Blaire Me neither! Cool find! 5y
74 likes1 comment
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Suelizbeth
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Pickpick

I feel I‘m supposed to love this book. I don‘t. The author writes well, but the subject is dull. It is a novel but it often reads like a series of short stories loosely strung together. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 1/2 hours into #Readathon #24B4Monday @TheReadingMermaid

AlaSkaat I've had this book for over 2 years and still cannot get into it. Hopefully I'll be able to read it soon! 6y
82 likes1 comment
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Pickpick

I‘m way behind on this one, I should have finished it last month with #Reading1001, but my March plans got delayed.

However, despite my long reading time, and various delays....I really loved this book. It‘s a complete story, told through various sections of a young girl‘s life, growing up and coming of age in rural Canada during the depression, and specifically the women in her life that influenced her as she grew into a woman herself...⬇️

Riveted_Reader_Melissa ...A bunch of characters come in and out of focus over the years, and at first as various stereotypes, maiden aunts for instance, but all the characters are so much more complex than that...and I love the way the whole story together paints a very interesting look into the lives of women as they struggle to be themselves in a world that would be much more comfortable pigeonholing them into their stereotypical box. (edited) 7y
knittedgnome Sounds wonderful! Added to my tbr!! 7y
ephemeralwaltz Her writing is so wonderful 7y
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Jabberwocky I read this in university and I just found it so sad and depressing. Well written of course but the emotions in it just brought me so low 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Jabberwocky I‘m sorry to hear that. The lives of women are never easy, especially in that time period and during the depression. But I liked the way her writing didn‘t gloss over them, their hopes, fears, or struggles (the way some are unfortunately in a lot of literature, esp of that time). And I loved that the central character, Del, saw them, learned from them, and in the end went her own way... I agree they were sad & depressing, but I.... 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa ...found it uplifting to have them represented at all, and for an author writing it in 1971 to have some actualization about the roles of women and publish it. 7y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Darn girls and their reasonableness! 🙄.

Such a profound character flaw😂

Swe_Eva 😂 7y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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“I wanted men to love me, and I wanted to think of the universe when I looked at the moon. I felt trapped, stranded; it seemed there had to be a choice where there couldn‘t be a choice.”

Sadly, I think a lot of women can relate....to this kind of coming of age, what the heck moment, where we hopefully, eventually, realize it is society that is out of whack, not us.

BarbaraTheBibliophage These assumptions about women putting vanity first are deeply annoying. 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @BarbaraTheBibliophage Yes, and I love that an author published in the early 70‘s pointed it out AND how it might affect a young girls perception of self. Something we are still talking about today, how media influences young women and their body image and self confidence. 7y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Riveted_Reader_Melissa Omigosh Yes. I‘m so sad that my granddaughters are dealing with this even more than I did. Sad and mad. 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @BarbaraTheBibliophage Sadly I think it‘s always been there... it‘s just as we get older we see it easier and quicker, more clearly, than we did when we were younger. Then we didn‘t question or even notice it, they were adults and must know what they were talking about. 7y
BarbaraTheBibliophage I think you‘re right. Plus, I‘m so much more aware now that we seem to be sliding back to the 1950s. Ugh. 7y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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“I felt that it was not so different from all the other advice handed out to women, to girls, advice that assumed being female made you damageable, that a certain amount of carefulness and solemn fuss and self-protection were called for, whereas men were supposed to be able to go out and take on all kinds of experiences and shuck off what they didn‘t want and come back proud. Without even thinking about it, I had decided to do the same.”

merelybookish Love Munro! 7y
BestOfFates ❤️❤️❤️ 7y
64 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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sprainedbrain
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Pickpick

Lives of Girls and Women is a really quiet, beautifully written, very quotable book. Some of my favorites highlighted as I went along are above. I love Munro‘s subtlety in presenting Del‘s coming of age in a small town. All of the other people in her life, especially the women, and richly drawn and complex.

Another #1001books success. 😃

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

106 likes2 stack adds
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merelybookish
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"As I walked on into Jubilee I repossessed the world. Trees, houses, fences, streets, came back to me, in their own sober and familiar shapes. Unconnected to the life of love, uncolored by love, the world resumes its own, its natural and callous importance. This is first a blow, then an odd consolation."
#reread #allthebooksof2017 #love #quotsydec17 @tk-421

KVanRead ❤️ 7y
67 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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aloslibrary
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It's arrived and I can't believe I lived without it till now! 😍🦄🐶📚 Thank you so much @bookgogo for my lovely #firstbooksleeve #bookgogo

Bambolina_81 That. Is. Gorgeous. 😍 7y
Michelle_mck 😍😍😍 7y
BookGoGo It made it! Relieved and overjoyed that you love it 😊 7y
minkyb Love mine! 7y
aloslibrary Thank you 😁 @Bambolina_81 ! It's lovely @bookgogo thanks 🦄😊 7y
46 likes5 comments
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merelybookish
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Thanks @batsy for the tag. What a hard task! I went with authors that I have read a fair amount of. Also authors I have re-read or plan to re-read.
If you havent been tagged already want to play? @readinginthedark @Jess_Read_This @tamra @Lacythebookworm @AnneCecilie @Andrew65
Really anyone reading this, consider yourself tagged. Good luck! 😀
#10authorrecommendations

KVanRead Great choices! Alice Munro ❤️ 7y
Andrew65 Only 10, give me a few hours I need to think about this and how I would narrow my list down! I love the books by Kate Atkinson. Thanks for the tag. 😊 (edited) 7y
suvata Not one author in common with my list but still a great list 7y
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BookNAround You know you have Elizabeth Strout twice, right? You must really, really like her. 🤣 7y
merelybookish @BookNAround I do like her but thats what I get for trying to do something quickly! 7y
Morr_Books @merelybookish Great list! I think I'm gonna give it a try. 7y
Andrew65 @BookNAround Well spotted! 😂 7y
Andrew65 @Morr_Reads Is this for our best 10 female authors or authors in general? 7y
Morr_Books @Andrew65 Authors in general 7y
merelybookish @KVanRead Yes, adore Alice Munro. She is probably my all-time ❤️ 7y
merelybookish @suvata Thanks! There are so many to choose from. 7y
Lacythebookworm Oh, I‘ll have to think about this one... Thanks for the tag 😊 7y
readinginthedark Nice list! I've only read a few of these authors! I'll start working on mine...I struggle with these, because I tend to recommend completely different authors to different people, but I'll see what I can do! 7y
batsy Nice list, I've really got to give Rachel Cusk a try soon! 7y
Jess_Read_This Love your list!!! I am going to contemplate mine today! 7y
73 likes16 comments
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RobinGustafson
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Living large at lunch with Alice Munro and Temple coffee

6 likes1 stack add
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TheBrockUEnglishMajor
Pickpick

Beautifully written. A coming of age story without any cliché, a totally fresh look on sexual awakening. Love Munro, her complex characters, and her ability to write the extraordinary into even small town Ontario life.

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TheBrockUEnglishMajor
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Canada Day Reads! Keep an eye out for my month of Canada tbr to celebrate the (controversial) 150th birthday of Oh Canada ❤️🇨🇦#Canada #Canadianauthors #july1st #wine #adultliterature #shortstorycollection #alicemunro #nobelprizewinners

LeahBergen Oh, good! I'll be following. 🇨🇦 7y
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BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

How well she writes. The most difficult circumstances and feelings Munro is able to translate into fluent, easy proze with as little words as necessary. I admire this immensely although I thought the story less than The Beggar Maid. #1001books Picture: Willemstad, Curacao

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TheKidUpstairs
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#life (close enough)

Also, another #onemoretry read for me. Didn't care for it, decided to reread when she won the Nobel Prize, and enjoyed it much more.

#junebookbugs #junetunz
@RealLifeReading @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Not a fan of Alice Munro because I don't really enjoy short stories, but maybe she deserves #OneMoreTry ~ good pick 👍🏻💗📚 7y
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merelybookish
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I had no idea sweet @Cinfhen had created fun #lyricalapril

Rereading Lives of Girls and Women is a #bittersweetsymphony. I was an undergraduate the last time I read it. It's filled with marginal notes in my cramped handwriting. Brings back memories of my youth and why I loved the book so much.

Cinfhen Love how books take journeys with us ❤️always bittersweet to relive certain times in our lives....nice choice☺️ 8y
Cinfhen And thank you for the shoutout 😘😘😘 8y
53 likes2 comments
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TheKidUpstairs
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You could say I've got a few #canadianauthors on my bookshelves 🤗
#proudcanuck #marchintoreading
I had the maple syrup out for breakfast and I had to keep it for the pic 😂
From the top:
Alice Munro
George Elliott Clarke
Emily St. John Mandel
Ami McKay
Alissa York
Lawrence Hill
Gil Adamson
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Margaret Atwood
Sean Cullen
Michael Ondaatje
Robertson Davies
Michael Crummy
Diane Schoemperlen
Annabel Lyons
Elizabeth Hay
☟cont'd

TheKidUpstairs Johanna Skibsrud; Stuart McLean; Emily Schultz; Eden Robinson 8y
Beckys_Books I'm in Vancouver right now and want to get a book by a Canadian author before I leave. Any recommendations? 8y
TheKidUpstairs @Beckys_Books Yes! For authors you might not find outside of Canada: Gil Adamson is a favourite, I highly recommend The Outlander. I also love Helen Humphreys - The Reinvention of Love is wonderful, or The Lost Garden is a favourite, quick read. For classic Canadian authors, my favourites are: Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion or Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace. 8y
TheKidUpstairs @Beckys_Books if you're looking for a great bookstore to visit, I've heard amazing things about The Paper Hound on W Pender St. 8y
42 likes4 comments
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merelybookish
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51 likes3 comments
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laurenm
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Pickpick

Munro perfectly captures the emotional journey of Del Jordan during her transition from girlhood to womanhood. Although it takes place in rural Ontario in the 1940's, I could relate to her experiences of friendship, sexuality, self-discovery, first-love, and to her relationship with her mother.

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laurenm
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Yay! I can participate in Fun Friday. On vacay and only brought a few books (7 to be exact), and I just started this one. Thanks Ange44 for mentioning in your post that Alice Munro is Canadian! 😊 Happy Canada Day!

shawnmooney This is her only novel, and quite early in her career. It's great! Her style and literary technique evolved a lot later on and I encourage you to someday read some of her later stuff too! 8y
laurenm @shawnmooney Thanks, I didn't realize it was an earlier book. I will definitely read more of her writing. What is your favorite work of hers? 8y
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laurenm
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No trip to NYC would be complete without a trip to the Strand. Think I recall Simon and Thomas of the Readers talking about Alice Munro. Something tells me I'm late to the party...

OSChamberlain Went there for the first time in December. It was overwhelming and breathtaking. I wish I worked there 😩 8y
laurenm @OSChamberlain It's pretty magical. 🦄 8y
shawnmooney Never too late to discover Alice! 8y
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laurenm @shawnmooney So I was right. 😉 Looking forward to being introduced to her... 8y
minkyb Love the Strand. So glad the bus was late so we could meet and talk books! 8y
laurenm Me too!! So glad we're book buddies now. 8y
laurenm @minkyb that last comment was for you! 8y
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