Here is a summary in twenty-two words: nice girl humans interact with other nice humans in ways that are hard to explain but Alice Munro does it pretty good.
If you want a summary in three words, here: soft, nice, goo.
Runaway is filled with quiet moments, wonderfully, empathetically observed human detail and surprising plot developments that bring an aesthetic pleasure akin to sitting in a garden and speculating about some impending event that's sure to be really nice. Perhaps you have a cupcake waiting in the fridge.
I thought I would share the passage with you that profoundly resonated with me and gave me a way of making sense of much of my own behavior:
"Juliet knew that, to many people, she might seem odd and solitary--and so, in a way she was. But she had also had the experience, for much of her life, of feeling surrounded by people who wanted to drain away her attention and her time and her soul. And usually, she let them. Be available, be friendly...Be accommodating to anybody who wants to suck you dry, even if they know nothing about who you are."
Zowie. Wow. Holy moses. I am Canadian?
The stories' abrupt endings mimic the way we actually live, rather than the way writers suggest we out to live. Nothing profound really happens. And the stories whisper rather than yell. Simmer rather than boil. Munro manages to write about gooey subjects--love, desire, regret-- with a perfectly spare and biting, unsentimental style. It is a syrupy indulgence and it made my brain feel very good.
Runaway is hard to explain. Jonathan Franzen says this in his NYT review: "Basically, Runaway is so good that I don't want to talk about it here. Quotation can't do the book justice, and neither can synopsis. The way to do it justice is to read it."
So read it. Or not. Do what you want, I'm not your dad. This isn't much of a synopsis, or a review for that matter, so I'm hoping Mr. Franzen can forgive me.
I rate this books 8 out of 8 sloppy puppy smooches cause it was so nice.
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