Scan barcode
james1star's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
This was an okay collection of short stories by one of my favourite authors Margaret Atwood. It is split into three parts with first three and final four stories coming from the POV of an older woman called Nell but each story can be read separately and these sandwich eight unrelated stories in the middle, giving us fifteen stories in total. On the whole there are multiple themes and topics but recurring ones focus on grief and this concept of memory. Like her usual style, Atwood also touches on woman’s rights, relationships, sexism and other social/human condition topics. Ageing and what comes with it are also highlighted, as she herself ages, told through the lens of Nell and so to the idea of grief as, like Atwood, she too loses her husband. I didn’t like all the stories with some being rather mediocre but a couple stood out to me, namely The Dead Interview where the author gets to interview one of her main literary influences George Orwell via a medium and I think this was super clever and done so well. Also Widows shone out to me as quite bittersweet as Nell deals with the loss of her husband Tig alongside other characters who lost their partners. There is quite a bit of inconsistency between the stories where I preferred the shorter ones as they held more impact in my opinion.
This is the breakdown of star rating for each story:
First aid - 3.5
Two scorched men - 3.5
Morte de Smudgie - 3.5
My evil mother - 4
The dead interview - 4.75
Impatient Griselda - 3.5
Bad teeth - 3.25
Death by clamshell - 3.75
Freeforall - 3.75
Metempsychosis: or the journey of the soul - 4.5
Airborne: a symposium - 3
A dusty lunch - 2.75
Widows - 4.75
Wooden box - 3.25
Old babes in the wood - 3.75
This averaged to 3.7 ⭐️ overall and I will certainly continue to read more of Atwood’s works as I really love her writing style and imagination.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Death, Sexism, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Blood, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and War
More...