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The Labrador Fiasco
The "Bloomsbury Birthday Quids" are small editions of short stories by major writers, in a format and style of the "Bloomsbury Classics". Printed on high-quality paper, designed by Jeff Fisher, the books should become collectors' items. This title is "The Labrador Fiasco" by Margaret Atwood.
41 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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436 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Atwood
669 books90.2k followersMargaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.
Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.
Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.
Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.
Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.
Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.
Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
July 3, 2024
Aging is the absolute worst.
Atwood, in the short span of 40 pages, produces a story within a story, one set in the month of October. "But which October?", ponders the narrator. The unnamed narrator, presumably female, walks into her parents' house and finds the mother reading a passage from the doomed expedition of three hikers who set out to explore a region called 'Labrador'. The father, in a stage of decline post a stroke, is amused with the back-to-back terrible decisions that the adventurers took. As the story proceeds and the hikers find themselves in mortal peril, in parallel, we follow the father's slow descent into senility, brought upon by time.
I read it in a span of 20 minutes or so, when people were standing inside my flight even before the walkway to deplane had connected to the airplane. Atwood knows how to pack a punch.
Atwood, in the short span of 40 pages, produces a story within a story, one set in the month of October. "But which October?", ponders the narrator. The unnamed narrator, presumably female, walks into her parents' house and finds the mother reading a passage from the doomed expedition of three hikers who set out to explore a region called 'Labrador'. The father, in a stage of decline post a stroke, is amused with the back-to-back terrible decisions that the adventurers took. As the story proceeds and the hikers find themselves in mortal peril, in parallel, we follow the father's slow descent into senility, brought upon by time.
I read it in a span of 20 minutes or so, when people were standing inside my flight even before the walkway to deplane had connected to the airplane. Atwood knows how to pack a punch.
November 11, 2021
read this in one sitting on the train to birmingham. it’s a great short story, tinged with the sadness that comes with watching the deterioration of a person you love. it’s a clever piece of fiction that intricately sows together the narrative from a short adventure story with the withering away of the unnamed narrators father.
a quick read on the train and something that may have reignited my desire to start reading short stories again!
a quick read on the train and something that may have reignited my desire to start reading short stories again!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2017
nice, easy read that still punches you in the feels.
May 11, 2019
No matter how well we prepare for the adventure that is our life, Death will find us.
September 21, 2019
Figured I’d check out this short story by Atwood while in the middle of “The Testaments” to give myself a little break… I’m not really sure why this was written or what Atwood thought was so riveting about this story because all 41 pages of this (minus the last 5 pages or so) were unbelievably bland. That’s all I have to say about “The Labrador Fiasco.”
September 20, 2021
Short, sweet and pulls at your heart.
April 29, 2022
The pacing is really interesting, was sad but i fcked w it
July 19, 2022
Sorry Margaret Atwood but I didn't get it. I think you need to have prior knowledge of 'The Lure of the Labrador' by Dillon Wallace (1905). Nice sort of atmosphere and tackling of dementia though, reminds me of the film 'The Father' (2020).
June 29, 2015
3.5/5
I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing style is very interesting, just in between autobiography and fiction. There is no narrative structure, but the short stories are in chronological order, which makes think it is a real autobiography.
The main character really looks like Margaret Atwood. Aware of the life nonsense, so creative and imaginative, she made me emotionnal as much as she made me doubtful. In turn, I was bored by the story (especially when it deals with the farm part), and about to cry. Atwood described in a bitter-sweet way, the complexity of family relations. Responsibilities, love, things coming to terms. They all meet up in the stories, and create mixed results and feelings.
My reading time wasn't always thrilling. But the end of the book was incredible! And it left me a good impression about it.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing style is very interesting, just in between autobiography and fiction. There is no narrative structure, but the short stories are in chronological order, which makes think it is a real autobiography.
The main character really looks like Margaret Atwood. Aware of the life nonsense, so creative and imaginative, she made me emotionnal as much as she made me doubtful. In turn, I was bored by the story (especially when it deals with the farm part), and about to cry. Atwood described in a bitter-sweet way, the complexity of family relations. Responsibilities, love, things coming to terms. They all meet up in the stories, and create mixed results and feelings.
My reading time wasn't always thrilling. But the end of the book was incredible! And it left me a good impression about it.
March 19, 2011
I read the book during a two-day meeting and I really enjoyed myself. The analogy of the travelers being lost in the Labrador winter and the father being lost because of a series of strokes is touching. Not overdone at all. I always love Margaret Atwood's writing.
June 23, 2009
A short piece, very well written (but then again, it's Margaret Atwood). Thanks for letting me read it!
March 16, 2012
Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors. It was a nice little story but as I'm not a short-story fan, I was left slightly unsatisfied.
February 1, 2013
A short quick read contrasting the Labrador wild tale with the story of aging.
November 11, 2019
Not bad for a short story. Two stories of a journey. One into the wilderness and the other into old age. Whatever you decide to do death will be the end result.
June 20, 2025
La première histoire commence très mal. Soit ils s’agit d’une très mauvaise traduction soit les premières phrases étaient originellement alambiquées et peu engageantes d’un point de vue lexicales mais j’ai bien failli arrêter tout net la lecture !
J’ai néanmoins poursuivi.
J’ai été très touchée par l’histoire de « L’autre maison ». Elle explique son itinérance plus jeune et sa peur de ne pas vouloir rentrer dans le moule de la maison avec enfants, ce qu’elle a quand même finit par faire. elle garde néanmoins cette maison a l’intérieur d’elle même. Et si cette maison était ce qu’on appelle parfois son « jardin secret ». Un endroit où seule elle peut aller et qui lui permet de se ressourcer. Je lis beaucoup de la culpabilité de ces femmes qui ont abandonné leur liberté au cadre patriarcal mais sans colère, juste avec de l’étonnement et une sorte d’hébétude.
Je trouve le récit parfois un peu trop journalistique : j’ai fais ceci, puis j’ai fais ceci puis il s’est passé cela … j’ai parfois du mal à voir l’intérêt dans certaines histoires. Je cherche toujours une sorte de morale ou leçon que je ne trouve pas toujours.
C’est parfois un peu ennuyeux, comme l’histoire à la ferme. C’est peut être fait exprès, pour traduire l’ennui de l’auteur dans sa vie. J’ai l’impression d’une longue succession de tâches à la ferme qui m’épuisent. Je pense que c’est le sentiment que l’autrice a dû vouloir donner au lecteur. On se demande à quel moment est-ce qu’elle va exploser et combien de temps elle va tenir ce rythme de vie.
Je ressens beaucoup de peine pour cette femme trop gentille qui se fait balader par tout le monde et qui pense aux autres plutôt qu’à elle, à pourvoir financièrement l’ex femme de son mari plutôt que son propre enfant. J’ai par moment envie de la secouer.
C’est un peu lourd comme histoire parfois et je ne vois pas où elle veut en venir.
La dernière histoire m’a plus ému sur comment les souvenirs se perpétuent et sont sauvegardés d’une génération a une autre.
J’ai néanmoins poursuivi.
J’ai été très touchée par l’histoire de « L’autre maison ». Elle explique son itinérance plus jeune et sa peur de ne pas vouloir rentrer dans le moule de la maison avec enfants, ce qu’elle a quand même finit par faire. elle garde néanmoins cette maison a l’intérieur d’elle même. Et si cette maison était ce qu’on appelle parfois son « jardin secret ». Un endroit où seule elle peut aller et qui lui permet de se ressourcer. Je lis beaucoup de la culpabilité de ces femmes qui ont abandonné leur liberté au cadre patriarcal mais sans colère, juste avec de l’étonnement et une sorte d’hébétude.
Je trouve le récit parfois un peu trop journalistique : j’ai fais ceci, puis j’ai fais ceci puis il s’est passé cela … j’ai parfois du mal à voir l’intérêt dans certaines histoires. Je cherche toujours une sorte de morale ou leçon que je ne trouve pas toujours.
C’est parfois un peu ennuyeux, comme l’histoire à la ferme. C’est peut être fait exprès, pour traduire l’ennui de l’auteur dans sa vie. J’ai l’impression d’une longue succession de tâches à la ferme qui m’épuisent. Je pense que c’est le sentiment que l’autrice a dû vouloir donner au lecteur. On se demande à quel moment est-ce qu’elle va exploser et combien de temps elle va tenir ce rythme de vie.
Je ressens beaucoup de peine pour cette femme trop gentille qui se fait balader par tout le monde et qui pense aux autres plutôt qu’à elle, à pourvoir financièrement l’ex femme de son mari plutôt que son propre enfant. J’ai par moment envie de la secouer.
C’est un peu lourd comme histoire parfois et je ne vois pas où elle veut en venir.
La dernière histoire m’a plus ému sur comment les souvenirs se perpétuent et sont sauvegardés d’une génération a une autre.
March 15, 2021
My 1st @therealmargaretatwood & i am soooo excited!!
🌼 This tiny little beauty by @bloomsburypublishing caught me by surprise!
#365days365shortstories
🌸 Have you read from the author's work? If yes, which is your fav.?
🌼 The "Bloomsbury Birthday Quids" are small editions of short stories by major writers, in a format and style of the "Bloomsbury Classics".
Printed on high-quality paper, designed by Jeff Fisher, the books should become collectors' items.
🌼 This book is around 50 pages but is a piece of work which needs to be read at a calm pace, devouring every bit of it.
Its paperback but the pages are pretty thick.
🌻 Although one may find the beginning a bit unsettling but THE END LEAVES ONE EMOTIONAL..
old age..aging parents.. old age diseases & discomforts..memory loss..failing body..ample time to pass..bewildered spouse finding it difficult to cope up with all of this..& almost helpless, busy children. Plus there's a story within this story..
🦉
Have you ever wondered how lonely our aging parents can be?
🌼 About The Author:
MARGARET ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over forty countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, now a successful MGM-Hulu television series currently preparing its fourth season, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize; The Penelopiad; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-seed; and The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, published in September, 2019. She lives in Toronto some of the time.
🌼 The story related within this story maybe found in its original version,
The Lure Of The Labrador Wild
by
Dillon Wallace, published in 1905.
🌼 I got this collector's item from @book.chor .
#noorthebookwormreviews
#thelabradorfiasco
🌼 This tiny little beauty by @bloomsburypublishing caught me by surprise!
#365days365shortstories
🌸 Have you read from the author's work? If yes, which is your fav.?
🌼 The "Bloomsbury Birthday Quids" are small editions of short stories by major writers, in a format and style of the "Bloomsbury Classics".
Printed on high-quality paper, designed by Jeff Fisher, the books should become collectors' items.
🌼 This book is around 50 pages but is a piece of work which needs to be read at a calm pace, devouring every bit of it.
Its paperback but the pages are pretty thick.
🌻 Although one may find the beginning a bit unsettling but THE END LEAVES ONE EMOTIONAL..
old age..aging parents.. old age diseases & discomforts..memory loss..failing body..ample time to pass..bewildered spouse finding it difficult to cope up with all of this..& almost helpless, busy children. Plus there's a story within this story..
🦉
Have you ever wondered how lonely our aging parents can be?
🌼 About The Author:
MARGARET ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over forty countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, now a successful MGM-Hulu television series currently preparing its fourth season, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize; The Penelopiad; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-seed; and The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, published in September, 2019. She lives in Toronto some of the time.
🌼 The story related within this story maybe found in its original version,
The Lure Of The Labrador Wild
by
Dillon Wallace, published in 1905.
🌼 I got this collector's item from @book.chor .
#noorthebookwormreviews
#thelabradorfiasco
March 6, 2022
In this poignant short story, Atwood parallels the well-known Canadian story of the Labrador expedition and the journey of a human's life. Both adventures are doomed, for no one survives, despite having the right supplies this time. The story is told in the first person, from the perspective of a daughter observing her aging parents, especially her father's transformation from an active man into a confused old man dependent on the help of others.
I particularly liked the notion of "home" not as a physical space, but rather like the way we used to be before - that is, younger, self-sufficient, and powerful.
"You seem to have become very old all of a sudden," he says.
As far as we can tell he's missing the last four or five years, and several blocks of time before that as well. He's disappointed in me: not because of anything I've done, btu because of what I've failed to do. I've failed to remain young. If I could have managed that I could have saved him; then he too could have remained as he was."
I particularly liked the notion of "home" not as a physical space, but rather like the way we used to be before - that is, younger, self-sufficient, and powerful.
"You seem to have become very old all of a sudden," he says.
As far as we can tell he's missing the last four or five years, and several blocks of time before that as well. He's disappointed in me: not because of anything I've done, btu because of what I've failed to do. I've failed to remain young. If I could have managed that I could have saved him; then he too could have remained as he was."
January 19, 2022
Technically, this was part of Moral Disorder which I read a short time ago, and by itself it's more like a verbose gift card... super short, super cute, super small. The story itself, however, is gold. Few, if any, books scare me and this short story was engaging enough that it terrified me. Slow death lost in the wilderness... cripes. Great short read.
January 5, 2024
This is the first I have read of Atwood, I liked it specially her writing when the plot is going back and forth between story of American white men in a jungle and the actual story of father's illness. It's seems very hard to grip up but with her writing I didn't felt that even for once more over I was amazed that how she made it so easy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2021
Very short epistolary story about turn of the Canadian adventurers who embark on a fateful trip through the wild terrains of Labrador province in Canada. Atwood is an amazing story teller as always - she sparingly uses words to express a multitude of emotions and philosophies.
August 10, 2022
Sad, nostalgic, beautiful. I am always a fan of Atwood short stories. Yet another example of Atwood’s fondness of writing about a story within another story. The message that we can never be properly prepared or have the “right supplies” for death is very powerful.
December 30, 2018
A masterwork of a short story.
July 12, 2020
Central metaphor maybe a touch strained but some lovely phrases
March 18, 2022
Atwood at her usual best. I really liked the Chinese Box effect done in this way and this poignant and very real perspective on dementia, a fantastic short read.
August 7, 2022
A short story of loss within a short story of loss that’ll make you feel.
June 25, 2024
A Bloombury Quid
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2025
I was disappointed when this ended
September 3, 2025
A short story wrapped in a book for a quid. The story felt a little too close to home upon reading it, otherwise it might have got more stars. It's a very quick read.
June 17, 2021
Her style of writing in this story is unexpected. Bitter sweet.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews