This is a quote from the the collection of short stories called Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro.
Quote by Alice Munro, “Then we are backing out of the driveway with the rising hope of adventure, just the little hope that takes you over the bump into the street, the hot air starting to move, turning into a breeze, the houses growing less and less familiar as we follow the short cut my father knows, the quick way out of town.”
Have you read this any short stories from Alice Munro? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!
If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.
Dance of the Happy Shades – Summary
Here is the book summary:
Alice Munro’s territory is the farms and semi-rural towns of south-western Ontario. In these dazzling stories she deals with the self-discovery of adolescence, the joys and pains of love and the despair and guilt of those caught in a narrow existence. And in sensitively exploring the lives of ordinary men and women, she makes us aware of the universal nature of their fears, sorrows and aspirations.
This is an excerpt from the collection of short stories called Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro.
My mother has headaches. She often has to lie down. She lies on my brother’s narrow bed in the little screened porch, shaded by heavy branches. “I look up at that tree and I think I am at home,” she says.
“What you need,” my father tells her, “ is some fresh air and a drive in the country.” He means for her to go with him, on his Walker Brothers route.
That is not my mother’s idea of a drive in the country.
“Can I come?”
“Your mother might want you for trying on clothes.”
“I’m beyond sewing this afternoon,” my mother says.
“I’ll take her then. Take both of them, give you a rest”
What is there about us that people need to be given a rest from? Never mind. I am glad enough to find my brother and make him go to the toilet and get us both into the car, our knees unscrubbed, my hair unringleted. My father brings from the house his two heavy brown suitcases, full of bottles, and sets them on the back seat. he wears a white shirt, brilliant in the sunlight, a tie, light trousers belonging to his summer suit (his other suit is black, for funerals, and belonged to my uncle before he died) and a creamy straw hat. His salesman’s outfit, with pencils clipped in the shirt pocket. He goes back once again, probably to say goodbye to my mother, to ask her if she is sure she doesn’t want to come, and hear her say, “No. No thanks, I’m better just to lie here with my eyes closed.” Then we are backing out of the driveway with the rising hope of adventure, just the little hope that takes you over the bump into the street, the hot air starting to move, turning into a breeze, the houses growing less and less familiar as we follow the short cut my father knows, the quick way out of town. Yet what is there waiting for us all afternoon but hot hours in stricken farmyards, perhaps a stop at a country store and three ice cream cones or bottles of pop, and my father singing? The one he made up about himself has a title—”The Walker Brothers Cowboy”—and it starts out like this:
Old Ned Fields, he now is dead, So I am ridin’ the route instead…
Who is Ned Fields? The man he replaced, surely, and if so he really is dead; yet my father’s voice is mournful-jolly, making his death some kind of nonsense, a comic calamity. “Wisht I was back on the Rio Grande, plungin’ through the dusky sand.” My father sings most of the time while driving the car. Even now, heading out of town, crossing the bridge and taking the sharp turn onto the highway, he is humming something mumbling a bit of a song to himself, just tuning up, really, getting ready to improvise, for out along the highway we pass the Baptist Camp, the Vacation Bible Camp, and he lets loose:
Where are the Baptists, where are the Baptists where are all the Baptists today? They’re down in the water, in Lake Huron water, with their sins all a-gittin’ washed away.
My brother takes this for straight truth and gets up on his knees trying to see down to the Lake. “I don’t see any Baptists,” he says accusingly. “Neither do I, son,” says my father. “I told you, they’re down in the Lake.”
Have you read any stories by Alice Munro? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!
Dance of the Happy Shades – Summary
Here is the book summary:
Alice Munro’s territory is the farms and semi-rural towns of south-western Ontario. In these dazzling stories she deals with the self-discovery of adolescence, the joys and pains of love and the despair and guilt of those caught in a narrow existence. And in sensitively exploring the lives of ordinary men and women, she makes us aware of the universal nature of their fears, sorrows and aspirations.
Happy (belated) Canada Day! Canada Day is on July 1st, and so for the month of July I’ll be sharing Canadian related content. I’m keen to share books by Canadian and Indigenous authors. I’m also interested in sharing information about the history of our country. I think it’s important to understand our past to continue growing and improving as a nation.
Have you ever wanted to visit Canada? Here’s your chance to visit Canada through reading!
In this list, I’m sharing five modern classics from Canadian authors. I know in Canada we are pretty good at highlighting our home grown talent. But I find outside of Canada, we don’t get that much recognition.
So I want to highlight some of our modern classics to compliment the other famous classics you may hear about. Plus these classics span across our nation, so you’ll get a few different glimpses of life in Canada.
Five modern classics from Canada
Here’s a list of five modern classics with authors from Canada.
Anne of Green Gables By Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908)
Considered a children’s classic novel, has been a huge source of tourism for the small province of Prince Edward Island in Canada
This heartwarming story has beckoned generations of readers into the special world of Green Gables, an old-fashioned farm outside a town called Avonlea. Anne Shirley, an eleven-year-old orphan, has arrived in this verdant corner of Prince Edward Island only to discover that the Cuthberts—elderly Matthew and his stern sister, Marilla—want to adopt a boy, not a feisty redheaded girl. But before they can send her back, Anne—who simply must have more scope for her imagination and a real home—wins them over completely. A much-loved classic that explores all the vulnerability, expectations, and dreams of a child growing up, Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family… and, most of all, love.
Considered a Canadian classic, showcasing small town life on the Saskatchewan prairies
Hailed as a great Canadian classic on boyhood, Who Has Seen the Wind evokes the sheer immensity of the prairie landscape, from the relentless wind to the far reaches of the bright blue sky. Like children everywhere, Brian O’Connal is a curious sort, and with enchanting naïveté he bestows his unforgettable perspective on everything from gophers to God, from his feisty Irish grandmother to his friends Ben and Saint Sammy, the town of Arcola’s local madman. This is no simple, forgettable novel: Mitchell gives readers a memorable glimpse into the ins and outs of small-town life during the Depression years, always through Brian’s eyes, and in doing so creates a poignant and powerful portrait of childhood innocence and its loss.
Farely Mowat’s best-loved book tells the splendidly entertaining story of his boyhood on the Canadian prairies. Mutt’s pedigree was uncertain, but his madness was indisputable. He climbed tress and ladders, rode passenger in an open car wearing goggles and displaying hunting skills that bordered on sheer genius. He was a marvelous dog, worthy of an unusual boy growing up in a raw, untamed wilderness.
Storygraph Categories: fiction, short stories, dark, reflective, medium-paced
Munro’s first collection of stories and won the 1968 Governor General’s Award for English Fiction
Alice Munro’s territory is the farms and semi-rural towns of south-western Ontario. In these dazzling stories she deals with the self-discovery of adolescence, the joys and pains of love and the despair and guilt of those caught in a narrow existence. And in sensitively exploring the lives of ordinary men and women, she makes us aware of the universal nature of their fears, sorrows and aspirations.
Margaret Laurence is considered a major figure in Canadian literature
Convinced that life has more to offer than the tedious routine of her days, Stacey MacAindra yearns to recover some of the passion of her early romance. In this extraordinary novel, Margaret Laurence has given us yet another unforgettable heroine: smart, witty, but overwhelmed by the responsibilities of raising four children and trying to love her overworked husband.
The Fire Dwellers helps us to rediscover all the richness of the commonplace, as well as the pain, beauty–and humor–of being alive. Stacey’s state of mind is revealed in a swift-flowing stream of dialogue, reaction, reproach, and nostalgia. . . . Laurence] is the best fiction writer in the Dominion and one of the best in the hemisphere.–Atlantic
I hope you found something of interest in this list of books written by Canadian authors.
I’m always looking for more suggestions of books to read. If you have a favourite book written by a Canadian author, please feel free to share it in a comment below!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of the book?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below.
