Do we remember the past in a rosy glow? What interests me is that Masson’s upcoming book was in the air. Or do we face the past and incorporate the truth of it? But I admire what Munro is attempting “Progress.” On the topic of what makes women crazy, she is re-writing Freud. Of course it is craft(wo)manship, but also something that happens over time; as a writer she is now (1986) at ease with all aspects of womanhood comprising five generations. I felt she was a little short of inspiration for the most part and though every story is well written and has some points of interest none had the wow factor her other books had. “The Progress of Love.” Selected Stories. This book, about the small moments between the large ones, has some very strong stories and some weak ones. She, herself, is divorced now, and her boys are in school. Parents Guide. Why does Euphemia hold fast to two versions of the truth? The story begins with Euphemia’s father calling to inform her of her mother’s death. I encountered this character in two short stories so far. She’s looking back on that summer, on the memories that she has of her mother during that time, because her father has called to say that her mother has died. I don't know how she does it. Start by marking “The Progress of Love” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The second assault is her decision to hire her daughter out – like chattel. When I talk with my friends about Munro, many have said that her stories are marked by instances of the bizarre, almost invoking Raymond Carver or Flannery O'Connor. In typical Munro style, the characters are divinely sketched, in even grittier detail than usual, if possible. This story is the first in The Progress of Love, with next Thursday reserved for “Lichen”. Betsy – I appreciated your comment that runaways still have to carry their emotional trauma around with them after leaving. “Moments of kindness and reconciliation are worth having, even if the parting has to come sooner or later.” The last sentence of the story which follows immediately, seems to indicate, for me at least, that the narrator’s knowledge of love has definitely progressed in that she believes that she has learned a more effective way to exist within a relationship than the old way she has witnessed when holding grudges was a common way to deal with problems for some couples and in some families. Munro's undoubtedly skilled at writing complex stories about the commonplace, and her ability to contemplate motivations and inner worlds is a pleasure to read. “The Progress of Love” is told in a narrative structure, exploring the perspectives of Euphemia and her mother, Marietta. There was so much in this story that seemed freighted with meaning I feel like I need to go back and read it yet again. A chronological account might get at “what happens,” but by throwing that out the window and embracing an intricate and complex structure — one that deals with three generations of women, with stories and counter-stories — Munro explores how the weight of the past and of memory, of love and of bitterness comes to rest on a person at any given moment. I deeply admire the choices of names and places that immediately made me believe the setting of the stories. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! It begins with a section in which Euphemia’s father calls her to say her mother has died. Lastly, regarding your three options of dealing with abuse by a mother, I believe the best option is to face the past and incorporate the truth of it. She is divorced and, at whatever times she is telling us this story, both of her parents have died, her mom at home on her couch one day and her father some time later in a rest home. Munro is really skilled at piercing what is seemingly mundane and breaking the skin of our dullest moments to expose the profound and fickle tendencies of our nature. In addition, I concur about the brokenness being passed on from mother to daughter. Refresh and try again. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Quotes and a Free Quiz on Synopsis Euphemia’s mother was named Marietta. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. She visited her childhood home with her boyfriend at the time, Bob Marks. For instance, when Euphemia is a young girl, Marietta’s sister, Euphemia’s Aunt Beryl, comes to visit. The bulk of “The Progress of Love” takes place during the summer when the narrator is twelve. Euphemia echoes this in her relief that she had only sons. (see style) For this reason, it does not follow the common Aristotle plot structure. But the name Euphemia (well-regarded) is also the root of “euphemism,” the nice way of saying something unpleasant. Alice Munro is exquisite. Euphemia’s mother was a devout Christian who married at the age of 25. “Just say the words ‘hippie’ or ‘commune’ and all you guys can think about is screwing! Can she still hold a grudge for something which is, simultaneously, a source of pride for her? Please feel free to check the schedule and join in, for the series, or for a single story. And, in the invented story, he stood and watched and did not protest, when that was what was required of him. I read these stories selfishly. But is there really love? The constellation bears some comparison to “Royal Beatings” in which the father allows the step mother to goad him into beating the daughter. But I have stopped telling that story. Has it really progressed? He stood and watched and protested when it mattered. It is as if Munro, presented with the fact of adult women who are broken, offers us an explanation, offers us a psychological theory: that sometimes mothers deny their daughters unfairly, but since this is unspeakable, the family must call the denial something else. In a very short space, lifetimes were laid out. I'm now going to go and reread all the books of hers I've already finished, and get through the ones I haven't read yet. Sadly reading the first five stories I am disappointed. AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE GET WEEKLY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: Email Address Subscribe Tweet. She posits that some women are driven crazy by the uses made of them by their mothers. While Munro has broken chronology in her stories before, with long shifts from the present to the past, and back and forth, with “The Progress of Love” her late style — longer stories, fragmented chronology, fragmented memory, seamless shifts in perspective — really starts to blossom. She comes to understand that her mother was doing “what seems natural and necessary, and the other (her father) believes “that the important thing is for that person to be free, to go ahead. I think I've had this conversation with Rebecca, but in the past I've often read Munro's stories, thought they were great, and then couldn't remember any of them two weeks later. Some are driven crazy by the slavery that some women impose upon their children — that they be denied an education, they be hired out, that they be sent on a dramatic and impossible goose chase to find the philandering father. It took quite a while for me to read, because each story had so much emotional heft that I couldn't plow into the next one right away. However, each story is beautiful in its own right, with some more memorable than others. As I mentioned above, this story explores three generations. I felt she was a little short of inspiration for the most part and though every story is well written and has some points of interest none had the wow factor her other books had. So in clinging to her fantasy, Euphemia does not have to bear the monstrous truth: that she was expendable to her mother. Am I on the right track? Nevertheless . I’m not sure there is any solid answer given here, and I wonder if there are as many variations in its interpretation as there are readers for this story. One day, she receives a call from her father, who informs her that her mother has died. The experience was very traumatizing for Marietta. She ran along the sidewalk, which was at that time a boardwalk, then on the unpaved street, full of last night’s puddles. Insightful, intimate, and very sensitive novels. This is where Munro’s interest in memory, in refusing to cast things in chronological order — or even casting things as the real truth — allows her to explore the way things happen, and not just the what. . Some of Phemie’s anger, I think is that her mother’s burning of the money foreclosed a possibility of her going on in school. So they don't have as much of the older person's reflections on a full life that her later stories had and because these were not the earliest stories, there aren't as many that recall her childhood, but they have the attributes of all Alice Munro stories, nuanced characters with interesting outlooks on life with wry sentences tying things together that only Munro can write. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. She thought that she seldom concerned herself about Laurence’s being happy. They do not care.” For the narrator this statement “created a little island of surprise and a peculiar gratitude.”