I burst into tears when I read this. Tears of absolute joy for her and all Canadians. A Canadian needed to win this soon and it would have killed me if it hadn't been either Alice Munro or Margaret Atwood. But in my heart I wished for Munro to get it and for me she is a better writer. Not to dismiss the incredible contribution Atwood has made to Canadian literature (I often commented that I was waiting for her to write "the great Canadian novel"...well, not to be) and while she has written not only short stories, but also poetry, novels, criticism, and all of it quite good...Munro's work is brilliant and I also love the fact that it is in the format of short story which is often dismissed as not being "serious" enough. And that she chose this form because that's all she could see her way to do in the beginning in between cooking, ironing, child rearing, etc. So....wonderful, wonderful news!
Between the tears I also was laughing thinking about how my Victoria bookclub used to gently tease me about my love for Alice Munro's work...I usually managed to mention her at every meeting!
And to quote the words of Lynne Coady on Twitter (herself a Giller nomination this year)
‘Alice Mun-frickin-ro!’
Yes indeed!!!
And it seems there are two movies of a Munro story, "Away From Her" which everyone is familiar with and now at TIFF this year, "Hateship, Loveship"...wow...that will get a boost!
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/festival/2013/hateshiploveship
The following article is a must read..."Ten Reasons Why Alice Munro is a Genius"
Absolutley perfect.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-genius-of-alice-munro/article13193415/?from=14765485
And who can praise her better than Margaret Atwood...yes, yes, yes!
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/11/alice-munro?CMP=twt_gu
