Reviews for Shug

The average rating for Shug based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-01-27 00:00:00 Mary Mills Title Story Only "America. . . There is where every man is sitting in the midst of his own properties and even the beggers is riding around in carriages. So there you are, my lad, and God grant that one day you will see it closer, and I will myself, if I live." "The View From Castle Rock" shows the excitement and hardship of a family leaving their home in Scotland to search for better opportunities in Canada, and fulfill a father's dream. Eventually, the family crossed the Atlantic to Nova Scotia. The father, James, was homesick for Scotland, and spent the whole trip telling tales about his home in Ettrick to the other passengers. Alice Munro imagines how her ancestors reacted to the Atlantic crossing. The story is partly about new life as baby Isabel was born at sea, and the pending deaths of other passengers on the ship. Andrew was a family man who intended to farm in Canada, and his brother was looking for adventure. There was a sense of excitement mixed with apprehension as the ship approached Nova Scotia. I enjoyed this immigration story, and was left wanting to follow the family's journey into Canada.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-07-22 00:00:00 Chris Batie Dull. And disappointingly so. If you went to college or have read any book reviews in the last 20 years, then you KNOW Alice Munro's work is one of the canons of modern literature (because all your big-brained English teachers say so)....these stories jut fall flat, never ripening into the colorful, fully fledged narratives that one might expect from someone who's won every lit prize known to man. The stories in "Castle Rock" are based on Munro's own ancestors in Scotland and their journey to America, but instead of people who have depth and energy, we end up with lackluster, paper doll-like figures whose feelings are ever so subtly hinted at but never fleshed out. I'd read the title story years ago in college or another collection -- can't remember which now -- and I had this on my shelves for years ever since looking forward to finally sitting down to read the entire collection, but I actually feel like I'm in college again -- reading "important" work by "important" writers and trying to figure out why they're considered this way. I'll still read Munro's other work, but this felt like one of those late-career books published by one of the greats -- and not edited much -- because they knew her name on the dust jacket would sell.