In Alice Munro’s short stories, the lives of seemingly ordinary women begin to change through small, seemingly unimportant coincidences.
Stories unfold in ways beyond imagination, leaving a deep and lasting aftertaste.
Munro, a Canadian writer, was undoubtedly a master of the short story. She had an astonishing ability to condense stories that unfold back and forth over decades into just dozens of masterful pages.
Munro, who was described as Chekhov’s successor, died at the age of 92.
She was born in a small Canadian town and attended university, but had to drop out after two years because her scholarship ran out. She gave birth to four daughters, lost one, and continued to write after a divorce and subsequent remarriage.
The appeal of her works lies primarily in the flawless storylines and succinct prose. I remember once reading her interviews one after the other to try to figure out how she could write like that.
She described her process as one of intense daily writing, starting in the morning and followed by relentless editing and revising, even after a draft was completed.
Munro was 82 years old when she received the Nobel Prize in Literature, having already announced her retirement. Due to health reasons, she was unable to attend the ceremony and a recorded video was played instead.
When asked about the hardest part of writing, she replied, “I think probably the part where you go back through the story and realize how bad it is.”
A Japanese translation of “The Jack Randa Hotel” is included in a short story collection translated and edited by Haruki Murakami. The story begins with the protagonist fleeing to Australia to follow her partner and his young love and ends in an unexpected way.
In his notes and a commentary on the novel, Murakami stated: “This is truly an art, and I cannot help but admire it.”
Even Munro herself had great difficulty with her writing and by continuing the process reached unprecedented heights of craftsmanship. My own quick devotion to the challenges of writing is simply pathetic in comparison.
– The Asahi Shimbun, May 19
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that covers a wide range of topics, including culture, art and social trends and developments. Written by experienced Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
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