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.