Away From Her
By Alice Munro with a preface by Sarah Polley
Vintage, 76 pages, $9 paper
The great short story writer Alice Munro is so often likened to Anton Chekhov that the comparison has become a cliche. But cliches are cliches for a reason — they’re usually right. Munro’s short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” is the basis for Sarah Polley’s new film, “Away From Her.” I had no interest, despite its generous reviews, in seeing the film about a couple of retired, Canadian academics, one of whom has Alzheimer’s disease. But before heading to the theater, I reread this story — from Munro’s earlier collection titled “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage” — and while I didn’t think of Chekhov instantly, I was acutely aware of reading magic.
