"Brother Grasshopper"

I can say that I am a fan of John Updike. I'd read some of his other work in previous classes and I think he is a very talented writer. I related to this story particularly well in fact. I understand the character Fred's desire to have a brother, and I like the way he describes his father's relationship with his sibling. Updike's description of Carlyle and the color of his eyes and his impassive demeanor was very elegant in my opinion. There was a sense of lyricism to that passage that I quite liked. Later on in the story I started to sense that is was in fact more Carlyle's story than Fred's. I enjoyed the ending very much so, and the death of Carlyle was properly dramatic.

"The Lady with the Dog"

I honestly can't say I'm a fan of Chekhov. And this story did little to change my mind. I respect as a writer, and for what he did for the writing world, but his stories tend to bore me. Here I had little interest or care for the Dmitri or the women he is after. Sure, the technical aspect of the writing is nice, and I'm sure I could learn a lot from it. The plot however, moves too slowly for me, and focuses too much on the mundane. Added with the fact that the central characters are wholly unlikeable just adds to it. Perhaps I should read some of his other work to get a better sense of his abilities, but "The Lady with the Dog" just doesn't impress me much.

Royal Beatings

At first I was a bit hesitant to read Munro due to describing her stories as dealing with "real life." I get enough real life every day, and so when I read I like to take a little break from the woes of reality. "Royal Beatings" surprised me however, and it had a lot to do with the stories inside of the story. If that sentence makes any sense at all. Flo's stories about the butcher and the men that whipped him were zany and more than a little morbid, and they added a lot of character to the story. There was a real sense of depth with Flo's character that I really enjoyed, and honestly didn't really expect. It felt more like her story than Rose, though Rose was a carefully crafted character. I enjoyed the way that the father stayed aloof, but I loved his allusions to famous artists and thinkers. I think most of all, I enjoyed Munro's use of language. The way here passages were composed were very poetic in nature, and it made the story such a pleasure to read. No wonder she's considered the leading fiction writer in Canada. First rate work here.

Comment Response to "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

I've read some of O'Connor's work before, and so I was accustomed to the type of characters that she normally works with. The Old and Strong Women who's ways are completely different from the modern society she lives in, and the son who tries to come to terms with this fact, but never fails to fully remove himself from his mothers reign. Its something she writes often about, but although this story had some similarities I hadn't really anticipated the ending. I really enjoyed it however, and the fact that the killer maintained his civility really added some gravity to the situation that I thought was fascinating. The ending was bleak, and it was a subtle shift from the feeling of awkwardness from the beginning. Excellent work, and far better than I had anticipated.