The View From Castle Rock, the titular story in the collection, traces the immigration of a Scottish family leaving Castle Rock for a better life in the new world. I’ve read that Alice Munro used her family history to write the book. I’m not sure how much is true in this story but what resonated with is that even though our family immigrant experiences were vastly different there are still some things that are shared.

In the story the family embarks on a sea voyage and at one point early on the passengers are alerted to the fact they will now have the last view of Scotland. Some people will stand by the rail to catch a quick glimpse and some will linger on until the last bit fades. The father, Old James, tells his daughter-in-law that she should go say farewell to her native land for she will not see it again.

Something similar happened to me every time we’d go visit our family in Mexico. On our drive back across the border my dad would always point out that we were coming up to the middle point on the bridge. There’s a marker at that mid point, and I would always look out the back window as we crossed the middle point on the bridge. In my mind I was saying good-bye to my family and Mexico. Funny enough now as an adult I think it’s still part of me because every time I go back and forth I always look out for that marker.

But back to the story, to me it just felt very real. I liked how I felt that I got to know each of the members in the story and had an idea about their individual dreams of the new world. And, I felt very satisfied when I finished this story. There are times when I’ve read short stories and feel like the ending is abrupt or just up in the air. Here, the author goes so far as to tell us what happened next after the voyage. I really liked that.

I read this story for A Curious Singularity and also as one of the six short stories I’m planning to read for the Short Story Challenge. This was my first introduction to Alice Munro but I will definitely go back to her writing. I want to see what else I’ve missed.

It seems like all I’ve done since Friday is run around so today I’m planning to stay indoors and just read. I’ve got chocolate nearby and the coffee machine is ready so this should be fun.

I’m about 150 pages from finishing Half of a Yellow Sun. This has been a wonderful story so far but I’ve had to walk away from the story at times. Reading about war time violence is just hard. I know I enjoy murder mysteries and this book is a work of fiction but knowing it is based on a very real conflict makes all the difference.

I do hope to finish the short story The View from Castle Rock tonight. Finally, I’m reading something by Alice Munro. She’s one those writers I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time.

A question for you guys – do you read The Believer? Do you like it? I have only briefly looked through it in the past and now I can’t find it at any of my local bookstores anymore. Anyway, I saw that they have a Believer Jumble Sale – 10 past issues for $15. What a deal. I think I will get that.

Last but not least, if you are interested in joining the next The Slaves of Golconda discussion, don’t forget to vote for your book choice by tomorrow.

Alright, I hope everyone is enjoying The Sunday Salon.