A fine collection of stories, vignettes centering around a woman over the course of her life from young girl to older adult and the ups and downs, joys and trials, and memories gathered over that lifetime. ( )

The most subtle and smooth of Atwood's books, this series of connected short stories seems semi-autobiographical and is one of my favorites of the year so far. ( )

It took me a while to get into this book and a long while to get through it even then. I found it a little hard to follow and although it was a collection of short stories, the majority were closely related (continuations really) of earlier stories with the same character up until the final one or two stories. That ended up confusing me - I was so used to the characters recurring that it took me a while to realize it was someone entirely new (or at least I think it wasn't related - the horse mentioned in the story had the same name as the main character in the stories prior). ( )

I don't think I would have appreciated this collection as much if I'd read it when I was younger. Life has had a fair amount of time to knock me around so the struggles (and hopes!) portrayed as the narrator aged throughout the short stories resonated. Adore her prose:

But I wasn't without social resources. I didn't take off my clothes and sing in public: I acted in acceptable ways. I smiled, nodded, made conversation, and so forth. I could do a good imitation of a competent young woman.

Maybe she would grow cunning, up here on the farm. Maybe she would absorb some of the darkness, which might not be darkness at all but only knowledge. She would turn into a woman others came to for advice. She would be called in emergencies. She would roll up her sleeves and dispense with sentimentality, and do whatever blood-soaked, bad-smelling thing had to be done. She would become adept with axes. ( )

This book has been sitting on my TBR file for awhile, and I decided it was time to read it. It's not my first Margaret Atwood book, but the first I've read that portrays her minimalist writing skills. The book is a series of "snapshots in time", or vignettes that trace a life. The book opens with the heroine, Nell and her husband Tig later on in their lives. Then it switches to Nell at eleven years old. Then proceeds with eight more vignettes of her life progressing from that age to about 45 years old.By that time Nell and Tig have lived a full life with all its stumbles, missteps and, in fact some positive happenings, but truthfully the vignettes depict the tough times much more than the happy ones. The book is not a happy and joyful read, but it says so much in so few well-chosen and well-crafted words and sentences. The last two vignettes are two separate depictions of end-of-life experiences. These stories are so well-illustrated that I had to stop for awhile between them to reflect and get back my equilibrium. At my age, death and dying are a fact of life, but I must admit that I don't dwell on those or on the inevitable consequences. Atwood made me examine these topics, make an assessment and then assimilate what she says so that it makes sense to me. She is a very talented writer, and her books are a journey more than just enjoyable fiction. Glad I took the time. I have one more of her books that has been sitting for ever on my shelf - The Robber Bride, and I want to dip into that pretty quickly. ( )

Not the most compelling Atwood—maybe because these interrelated short stories seemed to offer the worst of both worlds: an expectation for the plot development of a novel that short stories can't deliver on, but some "carry-over" from one story to the next that seemed to detract from the impact of each story on its own. Nevertheless, even mediocre Atwood is better than most other authors at their best. ( )

Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood (2006) ( )

I loved this book. Margaret Atwood’s prose is very poetic. The stories work as a mural or picture book of the main character’s life, from childhood until middle age, following a refined plot line. This is Margaret Atwood at her best. ( )

Really lovely, original book with many inter-related stories building into a wonderful character collage back and forward in time of the protagonist and her family. Laugh out loud funny in some places, wry and quirky in others. No one, absolutely no one, writes like Margaret Atwood. ( )

An intriguing mix of connected stories that deal with the complexities of human experience, from love to parenting, aging, and death. ( )

Beautifully written. A poignant description of life, growing up, and the challenges associated. There wasn't a compelling "story", however. It felt too much like reading about someone else's mundane life. 2.5 stars. ( )

A collection of eleven excellent stories from Atwood. The stories of a young Nell in The Art of Cooking and Serving and The Headless Horseman were my favourites closely followed by the stories featuring Nell's attempt at farming in Monopoly, Moral Disorder and White Horse, all of which reminded me of my own (less funny) efforts at farming. ( )

Hint: Read as a novel, not as a short story collection. ( )

this is fine but i'm not sure i'm getting the deeper meaning here, assuming there is one. as far as the collection goes, it's mostly linked short stories (except for the last, which is entirely autobiographical, and so i'm not exactly sure what she's saying about how her true story sits with the previous fictional ones) about the same few characters. as with any collection, there are a few that stand out above the others, but in general they're all just fine. none are terrible and none are great, although there are a handful of really nice lines throughout. ( )

I wasn't really able to relate the title of the book to the stories it contained. Written with skill, but my imagination failed to engage with the characters. "By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, tragic, earthy, shocking, and deeply personal" -- to me it was none of these things; I even wonder if the reviewer was describing a completely different book. Ultimately, somewhat dull and tedious. ( )

This is a strange cross over between series of short stories and a novel. You could easily make a case of it being a novel, but I think it is best described as a set of short stories - but it's marginal. The stories concern Nell and her family. At first a lot is not knosn about her, the first story finds her married, age uncertain, name not mentioned. The second story, she's 11 or 12 and her mother is pregnant with a baby who turns out to be a younger sister. It conerns the same woman each time, although it jumps around in time, such that it is not chronological. Some times what you learn turns what you thought you already knew on it's head. It's about the nature of families and of love, and I think, how your current state can be deceptive, but is shaped by our pasts. it's well written and, at times, evokes a world that has long past, and the trials of continued existence, in a sympathetic way. ( )

I read this book with a tight swelling of love in my chest. It's about generations of women and the way that they see the world around them. I found myself missing my own mother and reflecting on all the things that we leave unsaid to the ones we love. ( )

As usual, her writing is a charm. In this collection of stories she writes about her life from different angles, and in different periods — some about her childhood and her family, and some of her younger and later adulthood. Through the stories unfolds the story of an inner journey of a woman, which we accompany, not necessarily chronologically, throughout her life. It seems that the Canadian culture and way of life allow for an inner journey that ends with a bit of revelation and a lot of acceptance, a 'revolution' or 'enlightenment,' which has something far more extreme and hasty. ( )

A series of largely autobiographical short stories, featuring the author in old age...caring for frail elderly parents...but also times in her youth: memories of school, leaving home...the complicated early days of her relationship with her husband, when he was a newly separated husband and father; their efforts to run a farm.

This is fabulous writing, as even incredibly funny tales have a much deeper resonance. I was struck with "My Last Duchess", where she recalls an English class studying a poem. The light hearted side of teenage school life is set against her increasing awareness that the 'darker side of life' portrayed in the set texts is only too real.

"(The teachers) knew something we needed to know, but it was a complicated thing - not so much a thing as a pattern...These women - these teachers - had no direct method of conveying this thing to us, not in a way that would make us listen, because it was too tangled, it was too oblique. It was hidden within the stories."

Also "The Boys at the Lab" where the author visits her 90-something mother, blind, bedridden and losing her memory. They talk of events in their past, things so vivid at the time, now so long gone. Only distant recollections and old photographs attest that they ever were:

"She had to bend over so she was close to the page: not only was her eyesight failing, so were the photos. They were fading, bleaching out."

Wonderful writing as all her books. ( )

Moral Disorder is a fantastic collection of Atwood tales. I did come away thinking that Moral Disorder is part novel, part short story collection. The stories are more than “intertwined” and exist as individual entities to varying degrees. ( )

This series of stories captures periods in the life of Nell from the birth of her younger sister to dealing with the last years of her parents lives. The voice is mature throughout, told in language which has accepted the ambiguities of the past. I was left feeling I wouldn't be able to recognize these individuals involved other than the ex-wife and the real estate agent after ½ an hours conversation, but the language has a hypnotic quality and in the descriptions creates a dreamlike claustrophobic sense of entrapment. ( )

It's somewhat rare to read a collection of stories where each one stands alone, but they also come together to tell a single story. A thoughtful and unflinching look at the ups and downs of life. ( )

I enjoyed how the book was character-driven, how each chapter could stand on its own as a "short story" and still be connected to complete a larger narrative and character history. ( )

Lots of interesting short stories. For Atwood fans or those simply wanting a taste of her genius. ( )

Strong writing, but the subject of many of the stories was only mildly interesting to me. It seemed too domestic on the whole, with the main character taking up residence on a farm. There were some notable exceptions though - “The Headless Horseman”, “My Last Duchess”, “The Labrador Fiasco”, and “The Boys at the Lab” are all very good.

Just this quote, on aging:
“People she loves – people her own age – a lot of those people have died. Most of them have died. Hardly any of them are left. She wants to know about each death as it happens, but then she won’t mention those people again. She’s got them safe, inside her head somewhere, in a form she prefers. She’s got them back in the layer of time where they belong.” ( )