Too Much Happiness: Stories (Alice Munro)

I'm ashamed to admit I've never read anything by Alice Munro before. Of course, she's a critically acclaimed writer. This book garnered her the Man Booker Prize, though she lost to a pseudo-romance novel for a big prize in Canada. Actually, I read an article in the Washington Post about how this was a travesty. So, I decided to check it out from the library.

This is a collection of short stories, so if you're looking for a novel, move along. If you're looking for something easy to read, move along. The writing isn't particularly complicated, but I will admit that I felt all these stories had a point and it went totally over my head. The first story, about a woman who had basically the most awful thing possible happen to her at the hands of her husband, I did understand. Surprising, since my situation is nothing like hers, but I found the story heartbreaking and beautiful in its tragedy.

Most of the characters in the stories are older, so that's probably why the stories went a little over my head. I can't say that I've shared similar life experiences with them, although that should stop me from understanding them to a certain extent. Adultery makes up a good chunk of these stories and Munro takes a look at it from several sides. I did find her grasp of this theme fascinating.

The story that stuck with me the most, however, was Child's Play. The narrator of that story is an older woman that recounts her experiences with a special needs girl whose family rented a floor in the house where the narrator and her family live. I didn't like her from the beginning and I totally hated her at the end. Munro totally masters the subject. Her writing isn't judgmental at all, but it still manages to create quite a reaction. 

None of these stories have happy endings, actually, so if you're looking for something uplifting to read, move along. Still, I can't deny the power of Alice Munro's writing. She keeps it relatively simple, but you feel the undercurrents of complexity behind the deceptively bare writing. I can't say I will go out of my way to read more of her works for now, but I will be looking her up again later.

Next up: Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris, by Graham Robb

Cleopatra: A Life (Stacy Shiff)

I have read several books and articles about Cleopatra. These include fiction (The Memiors of Cleopatra, by Margaret George) and nonfiction (Cleopatra and Antony, by Diana Preston). Of course, I've seen the movie version with Elizabeth Taylor. And I even watched the mini-series in ABC with Billy Zane as Marc Antony (weird).

I mention this because I want to make the point that I may have read more about this woman than most general readers. Stacy Shiff's book will enlighten most general readers. Her focus lies in Cleopatra's brilliant maneuvering in circumstances that would have bested the most seasoned politician. At the age when most of us now are in college or just trying to figure out what to do with ourselves, she tied her fate to that of the most famous Roman general of her time: Julius Caesar.

She had a vast fortune, and her relationship with Marc Antony--the stuff of legends--made her even wealthier. Most film renditions of her life cut out her three children with Antony. Caesarion always shows up, but only when Caesar recognizes him and towards the end when his mother loses everything. It's easy to forget, then, that Cleopatra had no interest in taking Rome. After all, if she had Caesar's only son, why not try to take over the capital of the nascent empire? Her aim, however, always focused on keeping Egypt independent and a force in the Mediterranean world.

Cleopatra managed to outlive her siblings, no small feat considering the Ptolomys made a nasty habit out of conflicts among family members. This doesn't just mean the normal family drama. The fact that Caesarion never tried to kill his mother and that Cleopatra actually had her son learn about governing made them the exception to the rule.

Schiff's writing makes history interesting. Quite frankly, writers like her keeping coming back to history books. Some writers forget that history has the word "story" in it. Schiff tells Cleopatra's story as accurately as possible while maintaining the excitement of what actual took place. It's really amazing that Cleopatra's story has been embellished so much. As Schiff tells it, the real story is amazing all on it's own.

Next up: Too Much Happiness, by Alice Munro