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Old Babes in the Wood: Stories
Old Babes in the Wood: Stories | Margaret Atwood
A dazzling collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed, award-winning author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, stories that look deeply into the heart of family relationships, marriage, loss and memory, and what it means to spend a life together Margaret Atwood has established herself as one of the most visionary and canonical authors in the world. This collection of fifteen extraordinary stories--some of which have appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine--explore the full warp and weft of experience, speaking to our unique times with Atwood's characteristic insight, wit and intellect. The two intrepid sisters of the title story grapple with loss and memory on a perfect summer evening; "Impatient Griselda" explores alienation and miscommunication with a fresh twist on a folkloric classic; and "My Evil Mother" touches on the fantastical, examining a mother-daughter relationship in which the mother purports to be a witch. At the heart of the collection are seven extraordinary stories that follow a married couple across the decades, the moments big and small that make up a long life of uncommon love--and what comes after. Returning to short fiction for the first time since her 2014 collection Stone Mattress, Atwood showcases both her creativity and her humanity in these remarkable tales which by turns delight, illuminate, and quietly devastate.
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LapReader
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Pickpick

Last night‘s scores from the book swap on the way home from ballet. I‘m getting stronger every week under Georgia‘s expert tuition. She makes me feel like my next exam is doable to my standards. This feeling is costly though $ Ha!

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DuckOfDoom
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This was totally not what I expected. But the stories still got to me.
There was a lot about getting older and feminism.
My Evil Mother was especially amazing and The Wooden Box made me put me in the shoes of my grandma.

17 likes1 stack add
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Balibee146
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UK kindle Daily Deal today
#99ponkindle

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vlwelser
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Pickpick

It's possible I'm on an Atwood kick lately. To the point where my brain sort of expects all books to meet her level of awesome. Totally unrealistic but there you have it. Bar firmly set.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 11mo
50 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

My last #bookspin of the year, and what a way to go out! Atwood is amazing as always, and I see myself rereading these stories often. @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 12mo
42 likes1 comment
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Jen2
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Pickpick

Great narrators

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BirdLaVie
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Pickpick

Margaret Atwood is a treasure. I cherished going to the bookstore to pick up her latest, it‘s a gift to live in the same time as this brilliant woman. Atwood has a way of being equally grounded and ethereal. Her short stories offer comfort, hope, intrigue, and new ideas; especially about death and aging. She always leaves me in a state of pure awe. 5⭐️✨

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Sophronisba
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“Now it's the first decade of the twenty-first century, space-time is denser, it's crowded, you can barely move because the air is so packed with this and that. You can't get away from people: they're in touch, they're touching, they're only a touch away. Is that better, or worse?“

#SundaySentence

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ilyssa.g
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Pickpick

My latest Atwood read! The stories were so well-written! I loved how each story connected to each other in some way; I have never read another short story connection that maintains such well-rounded connections. There was a diverse mixture of emotions. “My Evil Mother” and the “interview” with a famous past author were my faves but no story was boring or irrelevant. Atwood remains an outstanding author that I always look forward to!

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ju.ca.no
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Today is a national holiday, my boyfriend is away to play a tournament and it‘s raining- so it‘s the perfect day to read🥰I really want to finish this one, I‘ve been reading it for quite some time now. It‘s not as gripping as I was hoping🙈

britt_brooke Love that cover! 2y
55 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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rachaich
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I've borrowed this from a friend who attended the Margaret Atwood talk with me.
I like the story telling, the characters whom she's using.

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Lindy
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Pickpick

Stories from the sage and witty viewpoint of a woman in her eighties: I‘m here for this. Some of these start out humorous and turn to pathos near the end; I would have to stop reading in order to weep and recover my equilibrium. These are the stories I liked best. Only one, The Dead Interview (a conversation between Atwood and the ghost of Orwell) didn‘t work for me. #CanadianAuthor #ShadowGiller2023

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Lindy
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It‘s an optical illusion, the retreating figure dwindling, growing smaller and smaller and then disappearing in the distance. Those retreating stay the same size. They aren‘t really diminished, they aren‘t really gone. It‘s just that you can‘t see them.

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ju.ca.no
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My boyfriend took a photo of me reading today😅 best way to spend your weekend! The book so far is also good, even though the first stories felt a bit random

SamAnne Love the photo! 2y
Leftcoastzen Great photo! Beautiful kitties 2y
AmyG Looks like a great day! 2y
dabbe Dose kitties! Cuteness overload! 💙🐾🐾💚 2y
49 likes4 comments
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Lindy
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“Hurt, fiddlesticks! I wouldn‘t give them the satisfaction,” she‘d said with a lift of her chin. “They may not like me, but they respect me. Respect is better than like.”
I disagreed. I didn‘t care about being respected—that was a schoolteacher thing, like black lace-up shoes—but I very much wanted to be liked. My mother frequently said I‘d have to give up that frivolous desire if I was going to amount to anything.

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Lindy
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My mother had a thing for blue tableware; she said it warded off any evil eyes intent on ruining the food.

Cuilin I use blue tableware too. 🥰 2y
Lindy @Cuilin Have you noticed any magical effects? 😉 2y
Cuilin @Lindy only that boring looking food (think cauliflower or mashed potatoes) looks better on a blue plate. Salads look amazing. 2y
Lindy @Cuilin 💯% agreed! 2y
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Lindy
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—I did not make a very convincing Spaniard, needless to say, so my unauthorized presence in their worthy domain did not go unnoticed for long. Thus it was that I kept my rendezvous with the sardines.
—Ah, the evil sardines.
—The British rescued me from these malevolent fish. They traded me for a sack of flour.
—A sack of flour?
—Yes, a sack of flour. However, attention please! It was a very large sack!

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Lindy
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“You see,” said François, “in the internment camp it was nothing but sardines. We boiled them, we fried them, we toasted them. We made tiny lamps with their oil. Everything stank of sardines, sardines, sardines morning and night! We ourselves, we could not get the smell of them off our skin. So, for me, sardines have ceased to be possible.” He gave a little shudder.

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Aimeesue
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I do love me some Atwood. ❤️

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BookishTrish
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I‘m not a huge short story fan, but Atwood‘s writing and story crafting is so exceptional I can‘t resist.

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Floresj
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Fine collection of short stories by Atwood. Some are phenomenal, some are not, but all are creative. Some are odd, but work so well; some are odd and miss the mark for me. I love this genre, as it feels as if in this collection, Atwood writes a few stories for everyone.

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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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Check out these endpapers! Gorgeous!

Branwen WOW! 😍 2y
61 likes1 comment
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ju.ca.no
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New in! I‘m looking foward to reading it 🥰🥰

Aimeesue Such a brilliant cover ❤️ 2y
55 likes1 comment
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Sophronisba
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Lovely interview with Margaret Atwood: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/11/margaret-atwood-it-would-be-fun-to...

“I can see Wife of Bath syndrome going on all around me in women my age who are thinking: 'I‘m not done yet, I‘ve had all this life experience and here‘s what I have to tell you.'“

(I haven't read Old Babes in the Wood yet but I'm on the library list.)

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Texreader
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Tonton
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Here‘s a link to read one of the stories in this boo, from the Guardian; enjoy!

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/widows-by-margaret-atwood-read-the...

Suet624 Thank you! 2y
Tonton @Suet624 🌟👍❣️ 2y
24 likes2 comments
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Leftcoastzen
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I didn‘t know ,did you?. March, 7th,2023

BookwormM No but I gotta read it Babes in the Wood was my favourite nursery rhyme 2y
TrishB Going to see her talk on 17 March 👍🏻 2y
Leftcoastzen @TrishB oh wow! Have fun , I bet it will be great. 2y
TrishB There‘s a group of people from work going, should be very interesting. 2y
53 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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Sara_Planz
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This book features stories like "My Evil Mother" and my personal favorite, "The Dead Interview", where Atwood "interviews" George Orwell via a spiritual medium. "Impatient Griselda" is a pandemic story featuring an octopus shaped alien telling a fairy tale to its human audience in a quarantine room. With this variety of stories, Atwood shows her ability to explore different genres with her incredibly engaging writing style.

Leftcoastzen Well you knew cuz I saw your post when I was posting mine. 2y
36 likes1 comment
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Sara_Planz
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Book mail today and what a surprise! The new Margaret Atwood collection!!!

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