A reluctant decision is made to put Fiona in a home catering for those suffering from Alzheimer's. When her husband, Grant, comes to see her, he is confused and dismayed to learn that she has struck up a close relationship with a fellow patient. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveshi A reluctant decision is made to put Fiona in a home catering for those suffering from Alzheimer's. When her husband, Grant, comes to see her, he is confused and dismayed to learn that she has struck up a close relationship with a fellow patient. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. As always, Alice Munro does not disappoint. I kept this book in the car for many months, my emergency book, as my husband calls the books I leave in the glove compartment for the occasions when a doctor appointment takes too long, or a friend is late to arrive. Generally those emergency books do disappoint me, not often as a fault of their own, but because I as the reader don't invest in them the emotional currency necessary for one to truly enjoy a book. Reading is not meant to be done in fragm As always, Alice Munro does not disappoint. I kept this book in the car for many months, my emergency book, as my husband calls the books I leave in the glove compartment for the occasions when a doctor appointment takes too long, or a friend is late to arrive. Generally those emergency books do disappoint me, not often as a fault of their own, but because I as the reader don't invest in them the emotional currency necessary for one to truly enjoy a book. Reading is not meant to be done in fragments - Do really are there people out there that read a page of a book every night? - but I believe that the true pleasure of a book in in the binge, the losing oneself into a story for hours on end, the assimilation of a character into one's own conscience as to smell the smells that they smell, and hunger for the food that they eat. Wow, do I digress. Please forgive me. It is one of those Sunday mornings when one feels metaphysical. Going back to the book them, some of the stories in this collection were re-reads, repetition from other short story collections by Munro. But I think they were chosen wisely, and put together they create a good landscape of her writing. A good collection of her works for someone who never read her before, or for someone wanting to re-read her stories. But I am biased, I love her writing. Love is the most intricate of affections. Alice Munro tackles the emotion in this very honest and sobering of love story-tragedies. In some ways, it's reminiscent of 'The Notebook' -- a man's wife suffers from mental degradation and he must come to terms with it -- but 'The Bear Came Over the Mountain' departs quickly from Nicholas Sparks' premise. Munro's tale is gritty and real, and captures a sense of genuineness that's lost on so many stories about love. The main character is flawed -- vicio Love is the most intricate of affections. Alice Munro tackles the emotion in this very honest and sobering of love story-tragedies. In some ways, it's reminiscent of 'The Notebook' -- a man's wife suffers from mental degradation and he must come to terms with it -- but 'The Bear Came Over the Mountain' departs quickly from Nicholas Sparks' premise. ![]() Munro's tale is gritty and real, and captures a sense of genuineness that's lost on so many stories about love. The main character is flawed -- viciously flawed -- and these flaws are revealed as slowly as they would expose themselves in real life. Alice Munro's short story about a man who loses his wife to Alzheimer's disease, and then may also lose her to another man. Motac Andreea The Bear Came Over the Mountain By Alice Munro What did the bear see on the other side of the mountain? Alice Munro’s short story, “The Bear Came. A Study of Aging and Love in “The Bear Came over the Mountain”. A Study of Aging and Love in “The Bear Came. Why Alice Munro. In spite of his defects, he does what he must for his wife's happiness by putting aside both his ego and beliefs about how his life should have been. Munro also seems to suggest that we may be lost in our pasts, harboring thoughts of what could have been when actual happiness can only be here in our present. This seems to be a rather poignant point, especially when facing the specter of losing one's memories. Sometimes a story moves you the most when you least expected it. I had this sitting on my bookshelf for more than a month before I started reading it, thinking it was really about some bear. I like watching bear videos on Facebook but I don't care much about reading about them in fiction, be them over a mountain nor in a zoo or wherever. But how wrong was I. ![]() ![]() The story is essentially about the struggles of an ageing couple. It strikes a cord in me so frequently and on so many levels, and I'm not Sometimes a story moves you the most when you least expected it. ![]() I had this sitting on my bookshelf for more than a month before I started reading it, thinking it was really about some bear. I like watching bear videos on Facebook but I don't care much about reading about them in fiction, be them over a mountain nor in a zoo or wherever. But how wrong was I. The story is essentially about the struggles of an ageing couple. It strikes a cord in me so frequently and on so many levels, and I'm not even married yet, nor do I know any one with Alzheimer's disease personally for that matter. I suppose that's why Munro is such a good story-teller. Her writing makes you believe in Grant the character, she makes you emphasize with Grant the husband, she makes you Grant the human being. There is magic in the pages that makes you want to stay with the two protagonists until the end, and you don't care whether there is any more plot twist or revelation or epiphany or morals, you just want to know what happens to them, secretly hoping that there will be a happy ending, when you know that happy is only a relative concept now. There are endless stories about love and marriage, infidelity and old age, and there are many well known novels and movies about Alzheimer's already. What Munro has done, by mixing all these together, is to let you look at these elements from a slightly different perspective. I have to be honest I have racked my brains and I still don't understand what bears have to do with the story, I suspect (strongly) I don't even get everything that the author tries to convey, but I suppose that's just one of the many reasons why I will remember this beautiful story in a long time to come. Sebetulnya, judul cerpen ini adalah The Bear Came Over The Mountain. Saya nggak tau apa yang membuat judul tersebut signifikan dengan isi cerita. Mungkin, ada dongeng atau cerita rakyat Kanada tentang itu yang mencerminkan isi cerita ini. Bagi saya, judul Away From Her, walaupun kurang eksotis seperti judul aslinya, memang lebih sesuai dengan kisah di dalam cerpen. Sebetulnya, cerpen ini, seperti beberapa cerpen Alice Munro yang sudah saya baca, nggak bisa dibilang cerita pendek, atau pendek yang Sebetulnya, judul cerpen ini adalah The Bear Came Over The Mountain. Saya nggak tau apa yang membuat judul tersebut signifikan dengan isi cerita. Mungkin, ada dongeng atau cerita rakyat Kanada tentang itu yang mencerminkan isi cerita ini. Bagi saya, judul Away From Her, walaupun kurang eksotis seperti judul aslinya, memang lebih sesuai dengan kisah di dalam cerpen. Sebetulnya, cerpen ini, seperti beberapa cerpen Alice Munro yang sudah saya baca, nggak bisa dibilang cerita pendek, atau pendek yang dimaksud di sini, lebih pendek dari novel tapi jauh lebih panjang dari cerpen-cerpen yang umumnya ada dan pernah saya baca. Cerpen-nya panjang. Dan memuaska. Ceritanya sedih dan terasa linu di hati ketika membaca sambil membayangkan bagaimana perasaan Grant, yang menjadi tokoh utama cerpen ini dan melalui sudut pandangnya pembaca dibawa menelusuri kisah bagaimana cinta dapat bertahan melalui berbagai macam cobaan dan naik-turunnya kehidupan. Cerpen ini tidak menjual romantisme cinta sentimental seperti dalam novel Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook, walaupun apa yang terjadi pada Fiona di dalam cerpen ini mirip sekali dengan apa yang terjadi pada Allie Calhoun. Mereka berdua sama-sama menderita dementia, atau penyakit pikun, dan suami-suami dengan setia tetap mendampingi mereka. Perbedaannya, Grant bukan suami yang seratus persen setia dan bebas affair. Munro membawa kita menelusuri perselingkuhan-perselingkuhan yang dilakukan Grant dan sepertinya diketahui oleh Fiona tetapi tidak pernah dipermasalahkannya. Yang menarik adalah, melalui perasaan yang pernah dialaminya kepada perempuan lain dan pengalaman masa kecil, Grant menemukan perasaannya yang sesungguhnya saat harus berpisah dengan Fiona karena Fiona harus dirawat untuk sementara waktu di Meadowlake. Kutipannya seperti ini: 'It was the longest month of his life, he thought--longer than the month he had spent with his mother visiting relatives in Lanark County, when he was thirteen, and longer than the month Jacqui Adams spent on holiday with her family, near the beginning of their affair. He phoned Meadowlake every day.' Kutipan di atas itu membuat saya memahami apa yang dimaksud: menikahi seseorang bukan hanya karena ingin selalu bersama-sama dengan orang tersebut, tetapi karena tidak dapat membayangkan hidup tanpa orang itu. 'He wanted never to be away from her. She had the spark of life.' Kutipan ini ada di awal cerita, saat Fiona nekad 'melamar' Grant dan Grant menerima lamarannya. Lalu mereka menikah selama 50 tahun, dan selama itu mereka tidak terpisahkan. Yang menarik adalah, selama Fiona dirawat di Meadowlake ini, ia kehilangan ingatannya tentang Grant dan menjalin hubungan dengan seorang pria yang juga menderita penyakit yang sama, pria itu bernama Aubrey. Aubrey dan Fiona, saat masih remaja dulu, pernah saling tertarik, dan terjadilah CLBK di Meadowlake. Grant dengan tabahnya tetap mengunjungi Fiona dan harus menyaksikan kemesraan Fiona dan Aubrey, sampai akhirnya isteri Aubrey mengeluarkan Aubrey dari Meadowlake dan merawatnya di rumah. Cerita tidak berakhir begitu saja. Fiona mengalami patah hati yang sangat parah setelah Aubrey pergi. Grant yang tidak sampai hati melihat kemunduran kesehatan Fiona, lalu memutuskan untuk mengunjungi isteri Aubrey dan memintanya untuk membawa Aubrey mengunjungi Fiona. Grant rela kehilangan haknya sebagai suami Fiona, asal dia tidak kehilangan Fiona. Dan pada akhirnya, Grant memang tidak pernah benar-benar kehilangan Fiona-nya. ***bersambung, banyak yang kepingin dibahas, tapi sejauh ini itu aja dulu yang sanggup ditulis:p. After we strip away shared memory, sexual fidelity, self identity from marriage, do we still have something left? Grant watched Fiona's memory shaken, slipped away, lost sense of direction and self, falling in love with another man (Jeff), while he was treated as a kind acquaintance instead of spouse of half a decade. Grant could have just left, clear of conscience nor guilt, leaving Fiona in her retirement facility, and making plan for himself. Like Marian, the wife of Jeff, full of survival in After we strip away shared memory, sexual fidelity, self identity from marriage, do we still have something left? Grant watched Fiona's memory shaken, slipped away, lost sense of direction and self, falling in love with another man (Jeff), while he was treated as a kind acquaintance instead of spouse of half a decade. Grant could have just left, clear of conscience nor guilt, leaving Fiona in her retirement facility, and making plan for himself. Like Marian, the wife of Jeff, full of survival instinct, practicality, high-gloss exactness, a litchi (lychee) nut -- 'the flesh with its oddly artificial allure, its chemical taste and perfume, shallow over the extensive seed, the stone'. The stony core of self, leaving the grieving Jeff planted in front of TV, handled like a disabled domestic pet, while making her arrangements, Grant, on the other hand, willingly and ironically, offered himself to Fiona by a surprising but not entirely unexpected sacrifice. Love is the question of which the action is the answer. For Grant, there is no 'I' in 'love you'. The only demerit of this book is the preface by Sarah Polley, which serves as a advertisement for the movie she directed. Polley should not attempt to preface Munro's story with her own conversational self-confessional narrative. The contrast of writing quality is too sharply glaring to be swept aside. The preface has damped my interest for the movie. In actuality a novella, not that there's anything wrong with that! Some brutal realities here that support the Bette Davis's notion that 'Old age is not for sissies.' And all of it told with compassion and a nonjudgmental look at the characters. After a discussion this morning with Tim (at Sage Cafe in Cavan Town --- our favorite for a latte and some chat), I think this story might be up there in my top ten list. Certainly on a par with 'The Kitten,' 'The Most Dangerous Game,' and 'Maths Class.' In actuality a novella, not that there's anything wrong with that! Some brutal realities here that support the Bette Davis's notion that 'Old age is not for sissies.' And all of it told with compassion and a nonjudgmental look at the characters. After a discussion this morning with Tim (at Sage Cafe in Cavan Town --- our favorite for a latte and some chat), I think this story might be up there in my top ten list. Certainly on a par with 'The Kitten,' 'The Most Dangerous Game,' and 'Maths Class.' The five star rating is for the story only. The preface, by Polley, is a self-serving disaster. Rating of one for that.
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