Rating: 
Summary: the best book i've read in years
Review: This story is truly a masterpiece! Atwood weaves all three narratives successfully and beautifully. Her prose was fluent and witty. I loved her character, Iris, because of her cynicism towards life. It really is a wonderful book. If you haven't read a good book in ages, this is the book you should read. It was a pity the ending was a bit abrupt, but I'm certain it was Atwoods' intention to make you yearn for more. Read this book, other books after this, however, will pale in comparison.
Rating: 
Summary: reread another atwood!
Review: To any Atwood fans out there (and I'm one of them), reread one of her other books! Ultimately, the failure is in the main character. Iris is not likable, interesting nor even despicable. It's impossible to see how she could arouse any sort of passion in anyone - including apparently, Atwood herself. I forced myself to plod through hoping for redemption by the book's end. I didn't get it. Boring and ultimately not believable. Margaret, try to have more fun next time. Feels like this was written as an exercise in narrative rather than creativity.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing complicated and SURPRISE!
Review: This book is too short-- 3 parallel stories went simultaneously, and none was fully told. And This book is too long-- since we knew these three tories must related to each other and indeed was a story, the main stream went so slow that sometimes I lost my patience. It's frustrating that after more than 300 pages I still could not catch the main theme of this novel. I believe this WAS the devise of Atwood, but still the feeling of uncertainty annoyed me. While after 500 pages I finally could depict what I thought the story was, or should be. Then a SURPRISE! The truth was so amazing, some even were in the opposite to my prediction. So the whole novel has a new meaning and deserved/needed a re-read, in the new light. Such reaction must have been controlled by Atwood, and she designed it really well. In addition to the plot, the prose was so good that some passages read like poems. Some sentences were that special that I adore the imagination of Atwood. The most disadvantage of this book, in my opinion, is the some-what one-dimension personality of the characters. Reenie was kind, Laura was passionate, Iris was dark, Richard is pale, Freddie is noisy, etc. It will be better if Atwood add some conflict essence to each of these characters. Anyway it needs a patient reader, and is a good book indeed. I am glad I finish it.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy ending for novel and story within story
Review: I found the story within the story to be fantastic, however irrelevant to the real life characters. but, just like the novel itself, i felt it's end was premature and abrupt. i enjoyed her subtle and descriptive writing style, but not enough to pour through 500 pages only to have the story be turned on it's head and summed up sloppily in the last 25 pages.
Rating: 
Summary: I envy Atwood
Review: I love to write, and when I see an author with the skill that Atwood has it makes me jealous. Really it does...she is so enjoyable to read from a writer's perspective. But, I found that the story itself was lacking. The idea is wonderful, and of course the characterization was, but I found that when I got to certain parts I wanted to skip ahead because I was bored. This won't make me stop reading Atwood, however, she is still one of the best writers out there.
Rating:
Summary: Talented and Poetic but Tedious to Read
Review: This dark tale of family triangles and secrets is at first
confusing and intrigueing. I had a hard time getting into it at first but once I was in the midst of it it became like an addiction. I appreciated her lovely descriptions, details and dynamics. The romance, the death, the family struggles were presented excellently. I could really feel the feelings and emotions of the characters. I was however very bored with the story line of science fiction parable. I felt that it was completely unnecessary to the story.When I was at those points of the story I wanted to shout WHY!? The darkness that ensued and never ended was also something I did not enjoy. I was looking for a little brighter outcome. She created the dark characters very believably but yet there needed to be something somewhere to counteract that doom. The characters needed to have more conflict resolved. It somehow felt incomplete. If you want to be engulfed in a family's tragic reality from the
very beginning this is your book. These characters were anything but typical. The way the plot moved was nothing if it wasn't intricate. But if you want an easy mellow feel good read this is not yours. If you enjoy resolution and clear cut ideas this is not yours either. Prepare to be melancholy and sullen but seriously taken under and curious as this tale unfolds.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story, beautifully written
Review: I loved reading the Blind Assassin. The book is comprised of three narratives, which I think made it initially difficult to get into the story but which I eventually found increased my enjoyment of the book. The reader is aware from the first few pages that one of the main characters commits suicide, creating a dark edge to the story and a sense of tension as you learn about the events leading up to this tragedy. This constitutes one of the stories told in the book. The second story is the of 'The Blind Assassin', a tale of pure fantasy created by two unnamed lovers. The narrative of the lovers provides the book with a romantic storyline, with a twist as the true story of how the Blind Assassin came into creation is revealed. Lastly, the narrator and the main character of the book, Iris, tells of her life as an old woman, reflecting on past events and trying to exorcise the demons of her past. I initially found myself almost wanting to skip these parts of the book as they are a little slow, but it is these chapters that we learn a lot about Iris and her feelings towards other characters in her stories, leaving the reader with a real compassion and understanding of her bitterness.
In summary, this was an excellent book, with well developed, accessible characters, intriguing storyline and unusual narrative. Well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Atwood deserves the Booker prize
Review: The Blind Assasin is the best book I read this year. Atwood is a master writer. Some of her passages read like poetry. I loved the plot and the story within the tory feature. Ingenious. And skilfully blent together. The characters are masterfully analyzed and reveal themselves slowly to us page after page, chapter after chapter. Iris, the narrator, is pragmatic, stoic and tender, biting at life with al her teeth and facing old age and sickness with realims and courage. She is a survivor. Alex, her lover, a free spirit socialist, appears to be cynic at first until we discover his tenderness and his fears and we realise he is a most decent man compared to Robert, Iris' husband. Laura is the innocent victim consumed by her love for her family and humanity. The period is realistically depicted. In short, I find this book a masterpiece to read over and over again. Atwood deserves her Bokker prize.
Rating:
Summary: I tried, I really Did -- more of a 2.5
Review: I wanted to like this book -- and tried to make myself finish it, but finally, after two months and several other books in between, I called it quits and begged my online book club to tell me what happened.
I've never read Atwood before, and have heard this book is not her typical work. So I do plan to read her again sometime, but this book was so tough to get into. From the beginning I was compelled to keep reading by her excellent, poetic writing. However the people were not incredibly likeable -- were almost one dimensional, and I couldn't develop an interest in them. I felt that because of the acclaims this book has won, I had to keep going, and I did. Until page 200. And a lot happened, in fact three stories were going on at the same time. But not one of them interested me. I usually love books of this time period and of this genre. But this book was so dark. It was as if the world the Author was paining was black, and the lives of the characters were so one dimensional that they had to create parallel universes. Or maybe I was creating them in my mind to try and forage an interest in the stories. Regardless, despite interesting concepts and ideas... Atwood just didn't carry it out for me. And I now know what happens in the end and I am glad I decided not to finish because the darkness just gets darker. And the lives of the characters in the story are never fulfilled -- nothing to learn, nothing to gain, and nothing to think about at the end except for why did I bother reading this as long as I did? I can see some people liking this all the same -- maybe it is a book that people should attempt because they would either love it or hate it. I was pretty indifferent.
Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: The only Margareth Atwood book I had read before this one was Alias Grace - a book I loved, so I had great expectations when I started The Blind Assassin. I have mixed feelings about the book. It really took some time to get into the story, but once I was there it was hard to put down. The Blind Assassin is the story of two sisters and the way their life turns out. It is told by the older sister Iris, written by her late in her life, looking back at her life when she was a young girl, through her growing up and through her life as a married woman. There are three lines, or threads on the story, paper clippings, "The Blind Assassin - a sic-fi book said to be written by her sister who took her own life when she was young, and then the story of Iris's life. All three threads sewn together. It was at first hard to keep the stories away from each other, but the more I read the more Atwoods way of writing took me. And the more I saw the masterly way she blended the stories together. For me this is a very sad book. About a lonely woman who looks back at her life, a life she has wasted in so many ways. A weak woman apparently, but when you read between the lines you can also easily see her strength. Still it makes me so sad and so angry the way she was unable to do something about her life when she was actually living it. Britt Arnhild Lindland
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