>>REVIEW
MORAL DISORDER
Margaret Atwood
McClelland and Stewart, 225 pp.
It seems as if every author must, at some stage, start tackling the big questions. What happens when I get old? Will people still listen to my stories? And, most importantly perhaps, will anyone remember me when I'm gone?
These thoughts dominate Moral Disorder, the new novel by doyenne of Canadian literature Margaret Atwood. Via 11 interconnected short stories, the book chronicles 60 years in the life of a Canadian family, with the focus on freelance editor Nell and her relationships with her parents, siblings and loved ones, and the struggles and victories that occur therein.
While Atwood's usual theme – how we survive in a world where society's boundaries may be very different from one's own – is very much present and correct here, the work is dominated by the fear of growing old. The stories, told by the aging Nell, looking after her blind, incapacitated mother, are infused with the sense that if they aren't shared, then her life, and the memories within, will be lost forever.
The tales themselves range from Robinson Crusoe-esque accounts of surviving in the countryside, to childhood reminiscences and middle-aged brooding, but the tone throughout is resolutely Canadian and, somehow, rather emotionally restrained. While Nell does run off with a married man, there's never any sense of moral disorder, despite the book being titled exactly that – the decision appears reasonable to the reader, and the characters' motives are easily comprehensible.
Unlike some of the author's previous work, there's also a definite sense of autobiography here. It's difficult not to read in comparisons between Atwood and the introspective protagonist, who's of a similar age and career as the author, and who is telling her stories to secure a lasting place in history.
Despite that, or maybe because of it, this feels like a very normal, and slightly dull, Margaret Atwood book. While the stories therein are well written, poignant and engaging, they lack the spark of genius and imagination that made A Handmaid's Tale or The Blind Assassin so compelling. It’s difficult to escape the feeling she could have written something as mild and inoffensive as Moral Disorder in her sleep.
Ultimately, Moral Disorder is a decent book that addresses the big questions in a reasonably engaging way but, surely, that's not enough for an author of Atwood's stature. It won't be why she'll be remembered, that's for sure. |
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